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| Hi all. I have tried googling this and did search previous threads here, but I have thus far been unable to find the answer.
Currently have a couple of 40,000 gallon ponds out back behind my horse facilities, as well as a half barrel in a flowerbed. The half barrel has a pump for.movement and aeration, but otherwise is kept clear by the plants I have in there. I have it chock full of lilies, pickerel, cattails, and oxygenating plants (drawing a blank this.morning on the name). Water stays clear, but almost no fish load most of the time. Just put in a preformed pond next to my henhouse which is the largest one lowes/ home depot sell. It has a couple of shelves for shallow pots, then a deep basin and is irregular in shape. Working on getting the plants off and running in there, and won't be adding fish until it gets the filter and water levels lined out. I did go ahead and fill it even though we have not built filtration so the plants could get going - my half barrel was temporarily housing both its own plants as well as some I had already purchased for the bigger pond. Anyway, planning on a skippy mini me filter in a lined whiskey barrel elevated upon a tower to resemble a cistern. Going to pipe the return water through a pipe to fall back into the pond like you would see filling a stock tank on an old homestead, and have purchased mini calla lilies to grow in the cistern. Bought a 550 gph pump for this, but may end up needing a bigger one even though the rise will only be around 8' and the pump says it can go 14'. Now I know skippy says you don't need a drain, but reasoning and reading tells me that vortex of sludge can't just keep building up in there. What size drain do I need on the bottom to let it out, and what do you think the best way to plumb it on the whiskey barrel so as not to spoil the old fashioned look of the unhidden " decorative " filter?
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Obviously I haven't posted pics here in a while. Gee, I plum forgot how. Cheers |
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| (arghhh! my entire post disappeared! happening a lot here lately for some reason when I try to submit msg???) Hi aladatrot. Sorry but out of time now & gotta run. Adding a link to Anne's skippy construction below which includes a bottom drain. Looks like maybe 1"(?) which would be MORE than enough for a mini-me. Will check back later to see if this helps. Maybe someone else will jump in, in the meantime. blessings, ~digger |
Here is a link that might be useful: skippy bottom drain
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| Thank you. That does look like a 1" drain, and it looks like I can perhaps just use a ball valve to open the drain. On a mini me filter, shall I place the drain dead center on the bottom of the whiskey barrel? Seems like that's where the sludge would congregate naturally thanks to the vortex the offset elbows would create. I have been reading that the media needs to be about 12" deep and no more. Does this sound kosher to you? Thanks again for your input. Cheers |
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