what a lovely pond area. A very nice start! That is a great price for the laguna! I would snap it up for that price if I were you! It's a steal! You will get many, many years of great service out it. The energy savings alone from that other pump you were talking about will help pay for it in two years. And I can't tell you how my poor laguna pump has been abused and the thing has kept on ticking. It has run dry so many times for so many hours (for a whole host of stupid reasons I won't go into), and I've just hosed it off and stuck it back in the water and thing just keeps going like a tank.
Your biggest dilemma is that barrels work best when gravity fed. And you have no real place for gravity. You have a similar situation to my pond in that it's hard to hide stuff. Mine is actually worse in that it's not even near the house the way yours is, but rather more in the open. So I had to dig my barrel under the ground in a filter pit so that I could get the gravity flow my external pump needs. If you get a submersible, gravity flow won't be such an issue.
Anyhoo, see the area in pink that i've drawn here. I can see a lattice fence or barrier of some kind on the side of your house that you can use to hide your barrel. Just enclose it in the lattice so that it's easy to access, but can't really be seen. Then run your hosing to your pump. You could also make a wall like you have with your stone there, but I think it will be easier to access on the side, as an idea. Here's a pic for you!
In terms of flushing your barrel, you simply drilll a hole and insert a 2" ball valve on lower few inches of the barrel. U then simply open it to get rid of all the muck. I recommend buying a cheap long hose so you can direct the muck to go to wherever you want--like a flower bed (it already looks like you have plants on the side of your house), which will enjoy the muck as food. Look up my post for how I did my barrel to see my drain...here's a quick shot of it. http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu310/lfreem2/CIMG2347.jpg You would not use the elbow pointing down tho since your filter is not under ground. Others have posted their fiters as well.
If you don't want to bother with a DIY barrel, as I said there are laguna pressure filters. For your size pond I would go with the 9000 gallon one...but it ain't cheap. Am not sure what they cost these days...might be the same price or more than that pump.
Your biggest dilemma is that barrels work best when gravity fed. And you have no real place for gravity. You have a similar situation to my pond in that it's hard to hide stuff. Mine is actually worse in that it's not even near the house the way yours is, but rather more in the open. So I had to dig my barrel under the ground in a filter pit so that I could get the gravity flow my external pump needs. If you get a submersible, gravity flow won't be such an issue.
Anyhoo, see the area in pink that i've drawn here. I can see a lattice fence or barrier of some kind on the side of your house that you can use to hide your barrel. Just enclose it in the lattice so that it's easy to access, but can't really be seen. Then run your hosing to your pump. You could also make a wall like you have with your stone there, but I think it will be easier to access on the side, as an idea. Here's a pic for you!
In terms of flushing your barrel, you simply drilll a hole and insert a 2" ball valve on lower few inches of the barrel. U then simply open it to get rid of all the muck. I recommend buying a cheap long hose so you can direct the muck to go to wherever you want--like a flower bed (it already looks like you have plants on the side of your house), which will enjoy the muck as food. Look up my post for how I did my barrel to see my drain...here's a quick shot of it. http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu310/lfreem2/CIMG2347.jpg You would not use the elbow pointing down tho since your filter is not under ground. Others have posted their fiters as well.
If you don't want to bother with a DIY barrel, as I said there are laguna pressure filters. For your size pond I would go with the 9000 gallon one...but it ain't cheap. Am not sure what they cost these days...might be the same price or more than that pump.