Filter question

[shad3rd]

I have a filter question.

I have a small pond (250 gal) - full sun. I run a bio-falls (with bio-balls and filter pad) and a skimmer with a filter pad before it is circulated back to the falls.

My pond is crystal clear. However, in order for that happen, I have to place a piece of quilt batting in front of the filter pad in the skimmer box. I must change it everyday. The batting comes out of the skimmer pretty dark brown/green. Without the batting the pond starts to cloud up. This pond has run continuously since the beginning of July. The Bio-Falls has never been touched (or cleaned) since it was started.

Do I need more filtering? I guess I am not sure what to do next. I don’t mind changing the batting (since messing with the pond is fun to do) but I would think that this might be a step in pond care that I should not have to do.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am looking ahead to next year and planning changes that need to be made.

Rich

 

[sissy]

how big is your filter and i just rinse quilt batting let it dry while I put another piece in .

 

[shad3rd]

I have several pieces and switch between them. My filter is small! I only need a piece about 11'' x 10" to cover the surface of my skimmer filter pad. The problem is I have to do it everyday. Don't use the batting, cloudy pond.

 

[sissy]

I use a furnace filter on top of my quilt batting it picks up the heavy stuff and quilt batting under it stays cleaner longer ,I also keep bags of activated charcoal in my filters and I grow plants in my filters and I use lava rock in my filters
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[shad3rd]

Wow, I don't have NEARLY the filtering power that you have. Perhaps I need to rethink how I filter the pond. If I may ask, do you have to "mess" with your filter on a daily basis to keep the pond clean or can you go several days without changing or rinsing filter material?

 

[mrsclem]

You said you haven't cleaned your bio-ball filter? Have you checked to see if the filter pad in it is clogged or if there is a lot of crud on the bioballs? They can be rinsed off but be sure to use pond water so you don't kill off your good bacteria. Your pond is still very new and it takes time for things to balance out. I flush my filters out every 2-3 weeks when I do water changes.