Question about suction filter

[biederboat]

All righty, then! So I can ASSUME that you have a fairly high fish load in this pond, which will definitely contribute to any algae problems. Don't mind me if I ramble a bit, I'm just sorta thinking aloud, as it were. Do you ever test your water, especially for ammonia? Curious bugger, aren't I? That long, stringy crap is called hair algae. It's called a lot of other things too, none of which are printable in a family-friendly forum! The relationship between various algae is complicated, but let's just say that some algae will produce substances that retard the growth of other algae. Hair algae has been shown to kill off green-water (single-celled) algae under some conditions. Can you see where I'm going with this? By "finally eradicating" the slimy stuff, you may inadvertantly have created a different problem! Hope I haven't lost you yet. So, the filter I'm thinking of would not be IN the upper pond, but behind or beside it. this location would allow you to have a drain valve at the bottom of the filter which would permit the draining of collected sludge on a regular basis, like every day to begin with. A 2" or larger pipe or hose would carry the waste to a suitable location, where it could fertilize plants, or whatever. My filter set-up consists of two 45 gallon olive barrels, the first one about a foot higher than the second. Water is pumped down through a pipe to a swirl apparatus which sits about 6" off the bottom of the first filter. it percolates upward through about $100. worth of dish scrubbers, flowing through a 2" pipe into the top of the second filter. Virtually all the crud is left behind in the bottom of the first barrel, and can be drained via a 2" slide valve and about 40' of hose leading to a low spot in the yard. Occasionally, I'll dump a pail of water in the top to help the crud along, but this year I haven't had to do that yet. OK, if rou're still with me, this is the good part! The water now flows into the lid of the second section, where a LOT of 1/2" holes spread it out so that it trickles fairly evenly over a 12" round column of bio-balls, and drains out the BOTTOM through another 2" pipe, and back into the pond.
Now, to the point of all this rambling! The second barrel is my biological filter. The column in the center is always wet, but never submerged in water. This permits the maximum growth of aerobic bacteria, which break down your ammomia/nitrites into nitrates, which feed the plants. This stage is totally absent in your filter set-up! Muck builds up so fast that tbe bacteria are smothered in it, and can't do their job! I for one believe that this is the biggest problem facing you, and one that must be addressed.
John

Please don't get me wrong, I'm NOT trying to be critical. I AM trying to find a solution!
Time to go and ice my typing finger.

Hey no worries, I'm definitely open to options. I think I mis-characterized the other plant though. It was definitely NOT an algae, it just grows in what looks like long "tails" (many feet long, about 2" diameter) and can quickly spread. It was easily sucked into the intake and would choke the pond strainer. I'll have to ask the wife when she gets home what it was.

I'll have to digest a bit on what you're recommending for the filter. I can drain the upper pool as the pump feeds it in from the bottom and has a T. I turn the pump off, open a leg on the open end of the T and out it goes. There isn't much room to stack much and I'd also be worried about head loss pumping up the extra 3-4 feet (if I understand it correctly).

For the foreseeable future, I'm seeing two options:

1. In the current configuration, keep the dirty filters in a slosh bucket of pond water so they don't dry out and aren't killed by chlorine.
2. Put a screen in the suction that is a finder mesh than the pump strainer. Go back to a "lava bag or something in the upper pool (any recommendations?).

Any other "quick and easy" options? These would not necessarily be long-term solutions, just things to get the needle to shift in the right direction.

Thanks!
BB