pond pump/filter question

[koiguy1969]

well as long as the tanks above ground you just open the flush / drain valve.you wouldnt need a pump. but its no big deal either way. i made a lid for my skippy i move my media.. open the valve and spray it out.. put the lid on and its clean and dry come spring.
,this setup would allow you to increase your fishload quite a bit... although i would only bury at most 2/3 down at ponds edge and make second waterfall

 

[j.w]

Ok and thanks for all the info. Now I have some thinking and planning to do on it

 

[koikeepr]

Koiguy, you would want to put the stock tank BEFORE the filter--not after. You want the stock tank to act almost as a pre-filter for your pressure filter. This way your filter (in this case the pressure filter), would not be the thing collecting all the muck.

I have this same set up. My barrel sits BEFORE my pressure filter. Because of this layout, I NEVER have to clean out my pressure filter but once per season. My barrel, which has a bottom drain, easily drains out in just 3 minutes and has caught all the gook that may have headed to my pressure filter.

Technically, JW, all you really need is a pressure filter that is suited to the proper size of the pond (tho I would go a bit larger). I had a pressure filter working alone for many years (without a barrel or stock tank) and had excellent results. The reason why I added the barrel was for it to act as a pre-filter for my pressure filter since it would be easier to clean and mean less work for me; and to add more bacterial filtration so I could get a bigger colony. All, I can say, is that you will get a finer quality of water if you have both.

 

[koiguy1969]

no i would run the pressure filter first let the backwashable filter,easy to clean filter do the majority of the mechanical filtration.not to mention the skippy will hold alot more bio media too! if your using a submersable pump like her and i, you cant run it your way... ... the skippy is gravity return , youll never keep up with the flow out of the skippy., going into a pressure filter. so what keeps the skippy from just overflowing all over? not everyone wants to run a external pump and have a filter pit..
basically.. a pressure filter can easily feed a skippy located anywhere, can you explain how a skippy can feed a pressure filter when its partially above ground? and partially buried theres no way to flush it

 

[koiguy1969]

to further elaborate on this ... you wont be able to flush the skippy because its partially buried. so your not eliminating the wastes from the system.. your just relocating them. if you locate the pressure filter first you can locate the skippy anywhere you like.and you can eliminate the wastes from the system without having to take apart the skippy.

 

[koikeepr]

we're basically violently agreeing koiguy! LOL!

We are saying the same thing essentially. If she needs to bury the stock tank, it will make it harder to clean. If she puts the pressure filter first, she will then need to clean out the pressure filter more often.

And no one should be fooled into thinking that cleaning a pressure filter is just using a backwash. If you have a pressure filter first, you will need to clean it each week. So, you'd clean it one week by just backwashing--but the following week or two you'd need to do a backwash to clean out the pads, but then you'd also need to crack open that pressure filter and really give it a good scrubbing to make sure all the gunk in it out of the bottom, wipe down the UV bulb (if you have one), rinse the bioballs or whatever filter media is inside. Though pressure filter manufacturers would like to tell you that all you need to do is backwash all season, that is sheer nonsense. Backwashing does get rid of the thick stuff, but it does not rid the filter and media of the finer stuff that inevitably leads to water not being 100% clear.

If you have the stock tank first, then it grabs the big junk before it ever hits your pressure filter. In this manner, you can basically got the entire season without having to touch your pressure filter but once a year since it is only receiving what your barrel misses. When I open my pressure filter midway in the season, it is usually very clean and there's not much for me to do but wipe down my UV bulb.

My layout is my barrel receiving water (via gravity) from the pond, then it heads into my pump, which then pushes it to the pressure filter. The pressure filter keeps up with the flow from the 55gal barrel just fine.

One important note, whether the pressure filter is in front or in back, you need to make sure you are using the largest size hoses that the pressure filter will accomodate. For example, most pressure filters will take 3/4, 1" and 1 1/4" hosing. Make sure to use the 1 1/4" (or whatever the largest size it can handle), so that you get the best water flow. Don't cheap out and use 3/4" hose.

 

[koiguy1969]

you cannot feed a pressure filter with a skippy filter unless your pulling the water thru the skippy. if your pushing thru, the water is under pessure, as it leaves the skippy its gravity feeding the pressure filter, the pressure filter adds resistance...basic physics says you cant do it... she cant pull the water she uses a submersable pump. without a filter pit she cant do it. shes got 2500 gallons and just a few goldfish she should not have to even flush her pressure more than once a month. your works because your filters are in a pit...