Water Gardening: Help! Advice needed for skimmers/filters, 1 by dax080

dax080 wrote:
Hi folks - I need your expert advice and preferences regarding skimmers/filter systems. I first thought I could have a natural balance in my animal friendly water garden, but failed to take into account the two huge trees (lindenwoods) whose leaves make a beeline for the entire water course. My brothers and I put it in last May, and I LOVE IT! I spent all summer planting the gardens, but soon learned that netting the pond every day still didn't keep up with those darned leaves. Also, I had real difficulty keeping up with the algae blooms - both string and the other kind. Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice since I got completely confused when I saw all the different choices of skimmers and filters there are out there. HELP!! I'll go through the general specs with some pictures - what would work the best for this set-up? I don't care about perfectly clear water, but don't want it to be murky green either. I think a skimmer would take care of the leaves before too many of them sink - right?

This will take about five separate messages -
Falls - 6' height - 7' length
Top Pond - 8' X 10' - 18" depth - Oval shape
Bog - 6' X 8' - 12" depth - Rectangle - filled with pea gravel, lava rock, other stone
Pumps - Bog - 350GPH; Falls - 3600GPH