skippy filter size and filter media

[MitchM]

You say that the previous pressure filter wasn't cleaning anything, but that the pads had to be cleaned every other day, so they had to be cleaning something. Perhaps your pond was extra dirty at the time.
I don't understand what your stocking level is. You had 20 goldfish, but what was that about the turtles? Did you have turtles? What size were the fish? How often did you feed them?
What part of the country do you live in?
What didn't work about having 4 filters hooked up to the pond?
Have you ever done any water tests?
(lots of questions)

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[Trent]

I have small feeder goldfish the type you would feed a pet turtle. I don't have any turtles.I feed them a small hand full once a week on a Saturday or a Sunday. I have in the pass had my water tested, but not in 2 years. The previous filters never made the water clear so you can see the fish. I live in Ohio.

 

[MitchM]

I have small feeder goldfish the type you would feed a pet turtle. I don't have any turtles.I feed them a small hand full once a week on a Saturday or a Sunday. I have in the pass had my water tested, but not in 2 years. The previous filters never made the water clear so you can see the fish. I live in Ohio.

I don't think your present setup of the remote skippy is going to work, so that means giving another try to those pressure filters, but that's up to you.
Water test results and cleaning any sludge that's built up on the bottom of the pond by now would be my suggested place to start.
- Unless someone else has a better suggestion as to how to reconfigure Trent's skippy setup.

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[sissy]

Better aeration may be needed 2 spitters may not be enough water movement .love your pond and lighthouse

 

[Trent]

Thank you MitchM for the great advice. I'm think I'm going to remove the skippy filter and replace it with a large "something" pressured filter in the filter house, that uses 1 pump to feed it. I keep reading about a pressure filter made out of a rain barrels and uses K1 & Micro media I don't want sponges that I have to keep cleaning. My ultimate plan was to get a working filter built this year. And then next spring, empty the pond, clean it out good and replace the water. The water is 3 years old. I just wish i could salvage this skippy, but it's too far away from the pond I guess. I had no other option where to put it. I could tear down the pond, move the gazebo and the pond out by 5 feet and start rebuild it with the filter in the back of the pond, but the wife is already mad at me for building it in the first place. But I don't have that type of money.

20 year old pond

Pond #2 never finished.

Next year Pond #3

The next year...

This year....

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Yikes!!!
Sorry, but that was my initial reaction when I read the extent of 'overkill' in providing filtration for this pond. It is not that the provided filtration is not beneficial, for it is. It is the unnecessary expenditure for completely oversized pumps and lengthy plumbing runs.
This pond should function quite well with a in-pond filter such as this.

http://www.lifegardaquatics.com/products/lifegard-all-in-one-pond-filter-system/

Part of your current problem is your fish load. You state that you have 20 small Goldfish. Given the 900 gallon capacity of your pond that is one fish per 45 gallons which is considered a fairly high stocking density. And, these fish will grow. Reduction in fish load will greatly reduce the nutrient levels in your pond allowing the water to clear naturally.
Elaborate filtration for your pond is not a requirement.

 

[MitchM]

A problem with extending the pressure filter to the enclosure is that the piping run is only 1 inch diameter flex PVC. The pumps that you have require much larger pipe diameter than that, otherwise they will burn out.
It would be best if you had a single submerged pump in the pond itself pushing water to the enclosure and back.

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[Trent]

Ok i've been thinking..... If i took out my existing waterfall and build a frame I maybe able to put the skippy filter there, then rebuild the waterfall box around it leaving the roof open. Would this fix my problem?
Now can someone tell my wife for me......LOL

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If the problem that you are mainly concerned with is 'Green Water' then you are approaching this the wrong way. A biofilter will not eliminate green water no matter what size or water flow is used. The algae causing the green water is being supported by the nutrients, Nitrate and Phosphorus, in the water. the Nitrate is produced by the bacterial activity in the filter, the Phosphorus from decaying organic matter (plant material, fish poop, uneaten fish food etc.)
In order to eliminate the green water the nutrient load must be reduced either by the addition of more plants, a reduction in the fish population, and/or reduction in feeding.
You obviously have sufficient bioconversion taking place otherwise you would not have green water. So focusing all of your attention on filtration is not going to solve your problem.

 

[mgmine]

The problem is the way you have it piped. The water from the blue barrel should be exiting from the bottom not the top. Also the blue barrel is most likely too low for gravity to work. Don't forget that water seeks it's own level. I would eliminate the blue barrel and pump the water into the bottom of the skippy filter. I would put a pipe near the top of the skippy for the water to flow back to the pond. As long as the skippy filter is higher than the pond it has to flow back. If the water being pumped into the skippy flows over the top before going into the return line it means you are pumping too fast. To resolve this problem either put a larger return pipe in or a gate valve to adjust the flow. A 1" return is too small especially when hooked up to a pump.