Question for Mike_IL re filtering techniques

12 years ago

Hi Mike,

Saw your responses to Jeff on his new pond build and your comments regarding settling chambers were interesting. I do not have an SC, but I do have the general problem you describe: I think a small amount of material makes it through to my pump which churns it all up into *very* small material which is then really tough to get out of the water. That being said, my pond is pretty clear any way - but I think it could be clearer still. And, as I am considering an expansion I'd like your opinion on the "ideal" filtering approach you have seen or used in your work.

I currently have a 2000 gallon pond, with a bottom drain and skimmer. The BD is plumbed to the front chamber of the skimmer. The skimmer has a net filter, then two different levels of matala. Gets most material, but as you point out, not all. I have an external 6000gph pump, in a pump chamber below water level. I pump that water up about 60 feet to the top of my stream where I have a DIY skippy bio-filter. It's a 100 gallon rubbermaid container with 18 inches of stacked matala from the least dense (green) on the bottom through to the most dense (black or grey - can't remember) on top. Water flows up through the matala then out one output near the top feeding two portions of my 60 foot stream.

As I said, my water is fairly clear, but I would be intersted in hearing how I could improve my overall filtration of the system. Oh, BTW, have two KOI and two comets. No other fish.

Always looking to learn so I appreciate any info. Attached is my pond album from pre-pond to post-pond if the pics help you at all.

Thanks!

-Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: My pond album

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Comments (6)

jeff_in_wi
12 years ago
Chris: I just looked through your photo album . . . WOW - when you looka at some of those photos of your stream I would have thought that that stream was there for a thousand years . . . Excellent job - very natural looking. I can only hope I acheive a fraction of the effect you have with your pond.

I noticed a tent in the background - did your wife make you sleep out there when you tore the lawn up with the backhoe?

Jeff
mike_il
12 years ago
Chris,
Nice job on the pond. Matala is being used more and more for filtration and for growing bacteria it is fine. But for catching debri it is not very good. The very reasons why people like it is the reasons that it is not good at catching debri. It is easily cleaned and doesn't clog up as quick. The reason why it doesn't clog up as quick because it doesn't catch as fine a debri. It is easier to clean because it doesn't hold debri as well. The pond water flowing thru it takes some of the debri with it. When Matala first came out 12 years ago I tried the white material which was the finest or the same as grey today in my skimmers. I found that it didn't work as well as the polyester pads. I used it for about 3 months before I stopped and went back to the original pads. The second thing I would think about would be to go to using the pump to running the bottom drain.

I would guess that if you are running 2" PVC from your pump to the stream you should be getting about 4500 gph at the filter. Here I am going to suggest something that is old school. If you split the flow and put in a properly constructed bog filter your water clarity and filtering will improve a lot.

There is no such thing as an ideal filter. The closest thing that has ever been on the market was a Nexus with an Answer. They no longer make the Answer so this filter is no longer even close to what it was. But a properly built bog filter will work as well as any thing else and in most cases better.

By the way the least dense Matala is black. It goes black, green, blue and grey from the least dense to the most dense.

Mike
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chris_in_ct
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the compliment - appreciate it. Lots of hard work, but I'm happy with how it came out. I must have looked at thousands of pics of streams and my one conclusion was that random rock size/placement is best. Use that rule and voila - natural stream. I'm ignoring the times where I ripped up my previous work 2, 3 or 10 times until I was happy with the outcome, but you get the idea... ;-)

Ahhhhh, the tent...funny you mention. There were some comments made when my wife came home and found that I had rented a backhoe and was ripping up her green lawn. Yep, she was not too happy about that. About a year in, when it was still a muddy mess in my backyard, I think I was in agreement with her (that I was making a mistake), but now that the plants have grown in, almost all of the liner has been covered (I only recently finished the last section of stream) and things have "matured", do I think I've actually improved on what was there before.

Long story short, be prepared for the long haul. This is my third year with the pond and I'm just now getting to the point where I see the daylight at the end of the tunnel. I only work on it sporadically, so you may progress faster. But you (or I) can only lug so much rock in a day. BTW, I purchased 7 tons total.

Good luck!
chris_in_ct
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Mike,
We posted at the same moment and my msg to Jeff crossed yours. Thanks for the feedback. Would it be possible to put the bog filter prior to the pump, or is this not a good idea?

So you use polyester pads in your skimmer? I do, every once in a while, wrap some cotton batting around one of the matala pieces in the skimmer and it does a much better job of catching that fine stuff. Do you buy your polyester pads online - somewhere you can direct me to so I can read up a bit?
mike_il
12 years ago
Chris,

I would not try to put a bog filtration before the pump. It can be done but works the best using the output of the pump. I would use the bog filter to start the waterfall or stream.

The polyester pads that I use is 2" thick course pads that are standard equipment on skimmer or waterfall units. When I want a finer filter I use the light green 1" thick fine pads. No I do not buy my pads online. I buy full rolls of this material which is 56" by 90 ft long for the 2" material and 56" by 120 ft long for the light green. I usually get 2 to 4 rolls a year. So as you can guess I sell hundreds of pads a year.
Mike
chas045
12 years ago
Chris,
Great pictures. I love a natural looking stream. I'm sorry that I have been so lazy not to have a place to load photos, but my stream isn't as impressive as yours anyway, and my drop is only a foot or so. However, the layout is almost identical to yours.

I really don't think you need to make efforts on your filtration. Just get more plants in the stream. I'm almost certain that my stream IS my filtration. It pulls out tons of mud when i remove overgrown plants. I don't even make a careful effort to catch all the crud as it falls off the roots and turns the downstream and even the pond into a clowdy mess because in a few minutes the stream will be clear and in a couple of hours the pond will be clear again as ALL the other root masses catch the circulating crud. Your stream should be 10 times as effective because of the flow and length. Of course some of your beautiful baren rocks will become partially hidden.