Idea for new project, will this work?

[Nepen]

Hi all,

So I'm looking for a bigger filter and couldn't find anything that might fit my small space where the filter/ waterfall will be. So i searched and came across two pictures that got my idea going.



So the idea is to build a planter with woods like the first picture (without the top) a little higher may be. The planter will basically sit on top of the wall of my pond (bricks) then ill have to make the place for the waterfall like in the second picture, might buy waterfall outlet from koiguy for that.

Then ill line the planter with pond liner and put the PVC pipes in then fill it with pea gravel and make it a bog.

For a 600 gallon pond, will this small planter be enough space for a bog? I think it'll be about 120-150 gallon depending on how big I can build this planter and that my pond wall will support all the weight from rocks and water.

The bog plants will be only shade plants though, looked around and I think it's double.

What do you think? Is my idea realistic? Will wood planter be able to handle the water/ rocks pressure?

Ill have to coat my wood with polyurethane, can that leak to my pond you think?

Typing out actually made me see more problems this might have...I still want a bog though, so hoping that the idea is good enough to follow through.

-A

 

[JohnHuff]

A 600 gallon pond will not generally require a very big filter. Have you thought about building a shower filter? It will definitely fit in the space of the above pictures.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

A 600 gallon pond will not generally require a very big filter. Have you thought about building a shower filter? It will definitely fit in the space of the above pictures.

That's exactly what I though when I saw that. Showers have much better biological potential, and way better oxygenation than a bog.

 

[Sunshine]

I like the second picture. Looks great.

 

[Nepen]

What is a shower filter?

Right now I have a waterfall filter which work great in reducing the ammonia and stuff but don't really have space to put mechanical filter in so I build a pre-filter and that works great too.

But now I'm hoping for something that require minimum maintenance (like cleaning) just so that I can go on vacation without having to worry about it. And I just love plants

Thinking about it some more and think to be safe, for my bog idea, it might be a lot smaller, around 60 gallon.

 

[Nepen]

Ar... Just went outside and it might be smaller then 60 gallon now, thought I had more space. May be I might not be able to do it after all. Unless I don't need 10% of the total volume of my pond. Well, I did pretty well with just 2 gallon waterfall filter right now (it handled 20 goldfish for sometimes once before I gave most away) I so guess that should be an indication that I should be ok with the filter less than 10% of my total pond?

Still have to search for shower filter...


Just calculated how much it will weigh and it comes to about 500lbs......have to g talk to my husband if this is doable for my brick wall.....might really have to go much much less.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Do a search for bakki shower and you'll find lots of info.
Essentially it is made by stacking tubs or tray with holes in the bottom and bio-media inside, the water "showers" through the tubs over the media, thus the media is never completely submerged and is more exposed the the oxygen in the air, this is increases the bio-bacteria's growth and efficiency. Also if take up a smaller footprint since you could have more trays stacked vertically, which sounds like it would be important for you if you are lacking space.

 

[sissy]

look on you tube they have quite a few builds on there step by step .Not sure about the angles and how the water would come out unless you did pvc or abs pipes
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like this because you would need to keep wood some what dry or it will turn black .Woold be neat coming out of each level like a water feature .You could cut out a piece of wood and hollow it to make a cap for over the outlet pipes or better yet use bamboo .

 

[Nepen]

I see the shower filter, thanks Mucky. I still don't have an idea of how to make it for my pond yet so it'll fit the style of the pond, or what to use to stack them up. Where will the machenical filter go in this setup, probably the top of the stack?

It's a good idea but I still favor the bog (for plants) Idea for right now until I can figure the way to make the shower filter I want

Sissy, are you talking about the bog water outlet?

 

[sissy]

my filters are filled with lava rock and plants .they clean the water and help hide everything.I have 2 filters built the same way
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[Nepen]

Thanks sissy. The thing about my filter is I just want a bigger one with space to plant plants. My filter right now is small and the water run through it pretty fast I can't really have plant in there. Also no space (very little) for mechanical filter (quilt batting).

I actually used a lot of your advised for my filter (lava rocks, mesh bags, quilt batting). I'm thinking now that to build a bog I want will be too heavy for my pond wall to handle.

so I'm thinking about using just a normal rectangular planter and put holes in both ends and somehow connect hose from pump to one end and then more hose to connect to my existing waterfall filter. And I can have a mini bog that way.

I can also have a mini shower filter run on the side, but that will need another pump...

So many thing I want to do, so little space!!

 

[sissy]

you could use those big fiberglass planters a lot of places have them end of year sale .My tank is 60 gallon stock tank and the other filter is 40 gallon one .I put plants in pots with kitty litter in them .I have changed my filter at least 6 or 7 times going bigger each time .

 

[Nepen]

Thanks for the suggestion sissy, fiberglass one would definitely looks better than a plastic one I thought about

I actually just saw a DIY mini shower filter that JohnHuff made and that's quite cute and I may try to find a way to build one for my pond later on.

Right now the rain and leafs are making my water very brown and cloudy. I hardly able to see my fish it just started yesterday from the rain and probably the leafs catcher make the water brown too. Oh we'll, ill have to do water change before long anyway

 

[sissy]

to keep leaves out you may need a net over it or like I use window screening

 

[JohnHuff]

I've done 2 shower filters, but if i were to do another one, I'd make one like this:

http://www.koiforum.co.uk/diy-tips-tricks-diy-projects/7146-home-made-diy-bakki-shower.html

I've seen these plastic storage drawers at the Container Store and Target and you can make them any size and height you want.

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/storage/drawers

The best thing about these drawers is that you don't need to make the supports. You just need to drill holes, add media and hoses. I used K2 for media so they act as moving bed filters as well.

If you buy something like this:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/storage/drawers?productId=10027797&N=62561

you can make the first drawer a settling tank, put mechanical filtration the next drawer, bioballs in another, a shower filter when water falls from one level to another, moving media in another, lava rock in another. In fact, this is the best filter ever. I feel like rushing out and buying one right away! Amazetastic!!!