Does anyone have suggestions for a homemade filtration system? I have a 18000-20000 gl koi pond with plants. My waterfall filter is not sufficient for this size of pond. We bought a rain barrell and have rigged the plumbing to come in through the bottom and out the top. Now I need some type of filtering media. Would sand and lave rock work? Any suggestions will be appreciated. Sharon, Broxton, GA
homemade filter for large pond
Lava rock would be excellent. The sand might be a problem, depending on how it is placed in the filter. It can "clog" easily and quickly go anerobic. From time to time you will be cleaning the Lava rock from collected debris. You might consider placing it in large nylon mesh laundry bags. You can pull out the bag(s) easily to rinse the lava rock free of all the chunks and other stuff that collects over time. If you can get enough laval rock it should be all you need.
That's a honkin big pond. Please share pics!
That's not a pond, that's a lake! Please post pictures for me to have Pond Envy . . .
Wow, that is a huge pond! Is one barrel enough? For such a large pond, you probably need half a dozen.
I don't know how to post photos here, but I have some on Robin Rudy's web site. http://pondshowcase.com, click on watergardens and sharon's pond. If anyone can tell me how to post photos I will tomorrow when I get to work.
Thanks for the info on the laundry bags. Sharon Broxton, GA
Wow, that is gorgeous and huge! I love the setting:) I agree, I think you are going to need a lot of filtration for that size of pond with koi. Does it have a bottom drain? A bottom drain to a large settlement chamber to several large filters is probably the way to go.
I bet your koi are very happy!
That'll give ya pond envy! Is that an EPDM or earth bottom pond?
I don't have a bottom drain and the liner is similar to EPDM. I can't think of the name right now. Thanks for the information and the compliments. Sharon
They have retro bottom drains too. Aquaart.com has good sketches on how to set up drains, including retro, to settlement chambers to filters. I found their info to be some of the most useful when building my pond.
Wow, that is a really great looking pond!
I looked at the Pond Showcase-wow on your pond and the size!!!! I was right, it is a lake. Lake Sharon!
I peeked through the other ponds in the showcase. Very cool-bookmarked it. Winter has been very long in the cold Chicago area. Your showcase will help me cope for a time . . .
Linda
Thanks, Sharon
We have a much smaller water garden -- about 1000 gallons, but probably 35 or so large (6") to small goldfish and a 2 ft channel cat. We built a biofilter last Spring out of a smaller formed plastic pond -- probably 150 galons -- that we built up above the fish pond upon a walled area that we built out of large posts and garden stones and dirt. We filled it with a foot or so of pea gravel and larger stone and ran plumbing from the bottom to filter up thru teh gravel and rocks then spill over down a water fall, and filled that with water hyacinths. We planted lotus and arrowroot in pots in the pond, and water lillies. It worked beautifully. We strung fishing wire across the pond in several places and never had a problem with the heron that plagued us earlier in the year. I know I haven't described it well, but we planted the area around the filter with sweet potato vine and creeping jenny and it was stunning. I should say I aslo got a couple dozen big trap-door snails and a couple dozen fresh water clams, both from ebay, that were thriving and clening like mad, too. Our water was crystal clear all Summer long. I'll post a pic when I figure out where they are!
Sounds cool!
Thanks for the advice. I have lava rock already but the pea gravel will filter the finer particles out even better. Do you use any filter pads or barley bales? i will be looking forward to the photos. Sharon
I don't know if this will help or not...in my research for my own pond, I came across this site or was referred to it. You may able to get ideas from it.
http://www.koiclay.com/diy/pg5.htm
http://www.koiclay.com/diy/pg1.htm
Here is something regarding using filter media
http://www.skippysstuff.com/media.html
Keep in mind that I do not have the experience yet...my poor pond is at a standstill yet. I just can't proceed until I am sure of how I want to set up all the plumbing. If I could only bury the filter barrels from a bottom drain...I have no where to place them so that they are not visible...that is a topic for another thread... Hope this helps you in anyway...I wish you and your pond the best...
RatherB
Bummer, I can't view your pond pix for some reason? :(
You can get 55gallon or so drums from the local car washes, free or very cheap and daisy chain them together.
Suggested media would be:
(some expensive and some inexpensive)
Black Knight Filter Brushes
Bioflow 9 or Kaldnes type Media
Embossed Strapping or PVC Shavings.. If you know someone that shave PVC for you this would very inexpensive.
Matala
Floor Buffer/Maintenance Pads - just harder to clean than the above
Scrubbies
Gravel
As far as Lava Rock if using it I'd recommend a Trickle Tower application...
Here's a couple of links that I have bookmarked:
http://www.mikebentley.com/ponds/homemadefilters.htm
http://www.geocities.com/ghawkins_ca/Myfilter.html
RatherB, you are smart to stop with the pond until you get the plumbing worked out. I have my pond but am still trying to figure out a permanent solution to the plumbing. My other problem is also hidding the filters and such. I'm thinking of getting posts and putting up bamboo or reed fencing and then planting around it. I really don't want to dig a pump pit but feel like I should...
If you dig a pit for the pump, how would you do this? Is there anyway to dig such a pit for the filters? Is this possible? Would it work? I want my pond to look as natural as possible with adequate filtration... (may be a topic for another thread...) Otherwise, I too will be thinking of how and what to use to construct a barrier for cosmetic appearances.
If you want your system to be gravity fed, you have to have a pit. You can include most of the components in the pit - filter, pump, UV, in-line heater (if you have one), etc.
It is just digging another hole next to or within a few feet of your pond hole to house all the components, and some sort of decking to top it with. You can use concrete blocks to reinforce the walls. You need to know the size of all the components before you make the filter pit, so you leave yourself enough room.
How would you drain out the filter? I am picturing the drain at the bottom of the filter...do you dig a channel and place a hose underground out to an area that is lower than the drain spikot?
I used a foam mattress top in my filter. Cut it up into 4" squares and put them in a mesh laundry bag.