DIY biofilter

[koikeepr]

But why can't you just use your existing barrels and just replumb them? Drill bottom drains in, etc. Yo've got the right holes in place...at least from what I can tell.

I'm assuming you are just getting new barrels free?

 

[koiguy1969]

instead of running your filters in series. i would run them parallel. this would cut the poop soup in the sump area of the barrels in half for more efficient flushing instead of having it all in one. you just build 2 identical filters and split the input between. if you decide to feed your filters from the bttom and not from the top down to bottom you will need a check valve(s) on your input line to keep your filter(s) from flushing back into the pond on the chance your power is cut to the pump for any reason.. if you feed from the top down.. a simple tee pipe set up will break the syphon as shown on my filters build thread.
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/koiguys-55-gallon-bio-filter-skippy-style-t4339.html

 

[nc0gnet0]

So many opinions,,,,,,,,

If you go in series I would dedicate one barrel for mechanical filtration and the other strictly for bio. You could effectively make the first filter pressurized/sealed and the second a trickle down.

If you go in parrellel I would go the last yard and seperate them completely with each its own seperate pump. You would have 2x the turnover rate (assuming identical pumps) and redundancy should you be gone for the weekend and have a pump failure. If you already have the pump, the cost is minimal.

Running them in parellel off of the same pump doubles the size of your media but more than halves the flow rate through the media. It would sense if you have a big enough pump, but loses it effectiveness if you don't. When you go with a skippy style filter with a bottom feed into a 55 gallon drum, your effectively adding quite a bit to your head height, this effect would be X2 in a parrellel single pump system.

 

[Schroeder1959]

But why can't you just use your existing barrels and just replumb them? Drill bottom drains in, etc. Yo've got the right holes in place...at least from what I can tell.

I'm assuming you are just getting new barrels free?

Nope, bought the barrels online last week, and received them yesterday. $94.00 total, not bad. The existing barrels are only 30 gal. and they already have bottom drains, but they over flow from time to time, and my pond gets pumped out to the level of the skimmer where my pump is located. I don't have a bottom drain in my pond. Not my fault, it was built by the previous owner.

 

[Schroeder1959]

Here is another question for you all. Here in Central Illinois it started to get COLD a couple of weeks ago, so I shut down my pond. But it has warmed up, in fact, it was 73 yesterday. When do you cold weather friends shut down your pond?

 

[koiguy1969]

i shut mine down mid september but my guys winter in the basement pond... and i have to get in the pond to catch and relocate them so im doing it when i can stand the water temps.

 

[Schroeder1959]

I think I will go in series, I measured when I went home for lunch, and there is room for the barrels. I will run my 2" line that comes from my skimmer well underneath the barrels and then into the last barrel at the bottom about 6" up from the bottom. I will make the first barrel mechanical with matala mat or even floor scrubber pads. The second barrel will have that media I mentioned earlier in it for my bio filter, then back to the pond. How does this sound? There's the bell!!!

 

[Schroeder1959]

i shut mine down mid september but my guys winter in the basement pond...

My guys all stay outside! They are still moving around, but very slowly.

 

[koiguy1969]

either way you should be O.K series or parallel

 

[nc0gnet0]

but they over flow from time to time, and my pond gets pumped out to the level of the skimmer where my pump is located.

This made me go back and look at your pictures and I can see why it overflows. As your filter media in the second barrel accumulates debris it is not allowing water to enter the second barrel fast enough causing the first to over flow. You can overcome this two ways, seal the top of the first barrel or feed the second barrel with a top feed.

 

[Schroeder1959]

Another question I have is what should I use to clean out my barrels? They held hand soap, but I am sure they need to be washed out.

 

[koikeepr]

This made me go back and look at your pictures and I can see why it overflows. As your filter media in the second barrel accumulates debris it is not allowing water to enter the second barrel fast enough causing the first to over flow. You can overcome this two ways, seal the top of the first barrel or feed the second barrel with a top feed.

Or the pipes could have been too small to allow for the proper flow through. Barrels above ground like this should also have an emergency pipe built in so that if there is possibility of overflow, it will just go right back into the pond by bypassing the barrels.

My barrel top is underground and just the top is is just a few inches above water line, so water finds it natural level. I can't ever have an overflow.

 

[nc0gnet0]

My barrel top is underground and just the top is is just a few inches above water line, so water finds it natural level. I can't ever have an overflow.

Not quite sure I understand this......your barrel is completly buried? Am I reading this wrong or did you mean to say your barrel is underground with just the top a few inches above the water line? That would eliminate/minimize a backflow during a power failure but unless the top of the barrel is sealed, not an overflow......(but I think I am understanding you wrong)

While its true water will find a natural level in a powered down state (no pump running), this doesn't apply once you kick the pump on. If the top of the barrel is off and the pump running, enough restriction on the discharge pipe and its gonna overflow..........(in relation to the OP setup/diagrams)

The dynamics change a little bit with the addition of a second barrel in a series setup.

 

[koikeepr]

Yes, I have a filter pit because I have a retro bottom drain...so you need gravity. My barrel meets waterline and then the top is maybe 5 inches higher to prevent overflow.

I've had the power go out a few times, actually. And the water in the barrel has never gone higher than the point at water line. It's the law of physics. water will always find it's natural level.

My barrel is not sealed. It does have a cover on it, but it is in no way hermetically sealed so that water could not escape from it.

I know it sounds crazy, and I kept fretting about it. But all the engineers kept assuring me it couldn't overflow. Sure enough, they were right. I do have a check valve in place so that the water in my pipe can't come back into the barrel to overflow it, however, in the case of power outage.

I'm gonna see if I can draw a really bad photo...

 

[nc0gnet0]

Koikeeper.......

You misunderstand me. I have no doubt that your barrel cannot overflow in the event of a power outage. Thats not what I was saying at all. What I am saying is that it could overflow if the pump was running and the outake tube became plugged. While this in all probability will never happen, in small part that is what was happening to the OP and the cause for his overflows, and the problem with a series two barrel system in which the second barrel is bottom fed. While the second barrel might not actually never become fully plugged, it could develope enough resistance to the water flow to cause the first barrel to overflow if it is not sealed.

To this end I gave two alternatives to prevent this from happening......either seal the first barrel, or top(trickle) feed the second.

Sorry for the confusion.