DIY biofilter

[koikeepr]

As I mentioned, I use two layers--a black and a green one. I use PVC pipes/elbows as a stand, you can see it in the link of my barrel that I already provided you a bit back in this thread. You can use a milk crat if it fits in your barrel, why not!

I have one barrel and then an old Laguna pressure filter that can serve a 3,000 gallon pond. My barrel is first and gets rid of the thick stuff and then my pressure is next and serves more as a fines filter.

 

[Schroeder1959]

Do you think I should use both barrels, or will one do for my 2,400 gallon pond? Thanks for your help!

 

[koikeepr]

As I mentioned in the thread already, and I think koiguy also suggested, you should use two. The rule of thumb is one 55g barrel for every 1,500 gals in a pond. It's way better to overfilter than underfilter. And inevitably we put too many fish in our ponds because we're nutty about collecting them.

I can assure you that you will be sorry if you only use one because it will be way harder to keep tip-top water conditions. Try to do as much as you can right the first time so you don't have to keep fixing things later.

 

[Schroeder1959]

Roger that! I need to go back and read! I will use both of them. Thanks for your help!

 

[Schroeder1959]

Me again, is there any benifit to having my rear barrel higher than my front barrel that spills down to my waterfall? That is, will I gain anything by having the back barrel higher than the second barrel? I found out today while removing my old system that I don't have a lot of room between my fence and my garage, it is going to be a very tight fit, and the less I have to do to get the barrels in there, the better. I am attaching a photo of my three 30 gallon barrel system. That is what I mean by having one barrel hight than the other, but in my new system, I am going through the sides, not the top as shown in my old filter system. Also my bulkheads arrived in the mail today, but the bad thing is, I threw my back out getting the old system out, and now I am resting.

 

[newday3000]

the height (or drop) from one barrel to the next helps with more pressure (higher drop equals more atmospheric pressure) and would increase flow rate but it's only a few inches so not sure it's going to make a huge difference.

 

[Schroeder1959]

So you are saying that it would be benificial to have the staggared system. I was thinking about 8", or the height of a concrete block. Just going to be a tought squeeze is all.

 

[koikeepr]

i agree with newday in that I really don't think it's going to make a difference. Any filter system like this that I've seen has never had any barrels raised higher than others. But perhaps the resident scientists here have another opinion.

Anyway, I thought you were going to do the two barrels as independent units rather than have them connected?

 

[DoDad]

As for 21" scrubbing pads do a goggle search. It's been a long time since I used them and lost the link where I purchased them.

 

[DrDave]

I think that cascading drums is a potential for failure. Having them independant of each other allows you to service any one without disturbing the other. Also, if you had to take one out for any reason, the pond will continue to get filtation from the remaining ones.

 

[koikeepr]

and i'd worry that the downstepped barrels like that could also lead to overflow, too...

 

[Schroeder1959]

I don't want to run two pumps, my old system had three barrels attached to each other, and it seemed to work pretty well, I just wanted to up my filtration. Only one of those barrels had media in it, the other two just got rid of sediment. So I am going from one 30 gallon barrel full of media, to two 55 gallon drums full of media. It is going to be similar to the image below, but all my lines will be 2" lines. Also, the water will be swirlled as it enters each barrel, and I am going to put drains in the bottom of each barrel. The first barrel will have the lid left on tight, and the second will not so the water will free fall back to the water falls. So, that being said, what are your suggestions?

 

[koikeepr]

The image as you have it will work perfectly, yes. If you want the water to swirl, then you should put elbows on your incoming pipes like in my barrel design that I sent you the link to you earlier in the thread. That will push your sediment down below your eggcrate and your clean water will rise.

 

[nc0gnet0]

1) Your goinig to have overflow issues with your first barrel.
2) Whats the point of having filter media then bio media, then too filter media, then once again to bio media? why not have one barrel dedicated to mechanical and one barrel dedicated to bio? That way you don't have to disturb your bio media when you need to rinse/change your filter media.

 

[Schroeder1959]

That is exactly what I plan on doing. This was a design I found on the net, but I plan on the first barrel just being mechanical, and the second barrel being all bio. How does this plan sound?