Advise regarding pool pond cleaning

[veggiedog]

Thanks for the heads up. At the most, I would be willing to run my pool pump (220V) through the 625 gallon tank (probably more like 550 gallon usable filter volume). I also would rather not run the pump continually (24/7). I will investigate the flow of the in ground pool pump, and limit the fill volume to correspond with running that pump approximately 8 hours daily. I don't necessarily need the water to be crystal clear, shooting more towards a sustainable pond. I also don't need to swim in it, I just need to keep the fish healthy and support naturally occurring visitors (frogs, toads, dragonflies, ...). I'm OK with limiting the pond volume via partial filling of the pool to accomplish that goal within the constraints imposed by the equipment and materials I have on hand. I intend to add plants as well, but that will happen as time and energy permits.

Again, thanks for the heads up: I will obviously need to do some investigation and calculations.

 

[veggiedog]

After more than two hours of hard labor, I managed to clean the fiber fill somewhat, and I got the drum filter back in operational order. Rather than replace the fiber fill, I cleaned it with pond water using several containers and a mop bucket with wringer. I originally designed the filter inlet to allow quick disconnect of the input from the submerged pump by merely not gluing in the inlet bushing, and I was able to fill the buckets with pond water rather easily using the pump output. I then churned up the fiber fill by tamping down and stirring with a 2x2 piece of lumber, drained the brown water, wringed them out in the mop bucket, and repeated the process for a total of three times each for three separated piles of fiber fill (about 2 buckets total). Fortunately, I was visited by birds, dragonflies, and a large swarm of minnows that typically collect under the discharge of the filter. A couple of beers helped take the edge off the warming day. Already the pond appears to be healthier, I suspect the dirty filter was hurting the pond rather than helping it, as pointed out by MitchM, and the water is back on the path to being 'not so bad' (doesn't reek anymore...). I also skimmed the surface leaves into one of the buckets, added pond water to cover and support the inadvertently collected tadpoles/toadlets, then placed the bucket in a cool spot under the trees. In the original photos of the pool, you can see large lengths of lumber I placed at the shallow end of the pool to give the toadlets a path out as they mature; I also added a board in the bucket under the trees for the same reason.