trickle filters

[whiskey]

hi ...can we use any kind of media and what types 1st, 2nd,3rd and 4th. completely new concept to me, so advice please.

 

[Catfishnut]

Whiskey,

Just recently Larkin (Fishin4cars) posted a video regarding his pond skimmer that is really excellent!

Take a look here: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/8184-skimmers-protein-skimmers/

Gordy

 

[whiskey]

hi catfishnut seen video and waterbug comments so, concept great but speed issues , was thinking putting trickle tower after bio filter as only 1200 gph so quite slow, its knowing what to put in tower media as cannot afford house media.
Do you keep catfish in your pond

 

[Catfishnut]

hi catfishnut seen video and waterbug comments so, concept great but speed issues , was thinking putting trickle tower after bio filter as only 1200 gph so quite slow, its knowing what to put in tower media as cannot afford house media.
Do you keep catfish in your pond

Whiskey,

Would a media such as Zeolite (rather than a pad) work for you? Zeolite is a natural mineral that is mined. It has a huge suface area per weight or volume. A 5 gallon bucket of the crushed media is equal to about 107 acres! I am going to apply this Zeolite in my bait tank filtration system.

I will have a prefilter or more appropriately, a sediment trap filter. This is the first stage and will just slow the water flow enough so that the heavier solids will drop out at the bottom of a 55 gallon barrel and I can exhaust them. Finer solids will be filtered out through coarse rock and progressively finer sized rock. I can clean it out with purge (compressed high pressure air and water).

The normal filtration flow will take the water into my bio-converter. Which is another 55 gallon barrel filled with 1.8 cubic feet of Kaldnes K3 bio-media. The media here will be circulated using air and water flow from a pump. It will not be "static" meaning that the media is always in motion, circulating with the water and air flow in an aggressive action. Like boiling noodles in a pot on the stove. This is where the beneficial bacteria will live and grow and do it's job on the ammonia and nitrites.

The outflow from the bio-converter will dump into yet another 55 gallon barrel where the water will be aerated and where the recirculation pump will be located. It won't serve any other purpose than this and is more akin to a water drawing tank or reservoir. Just something to keep all the filtration chambers separate. I can even install a pond heater here easily. I kinda left this barrel open for future ideas and modifications. Not sure what all I am going to use it for, but it has expansion capacity.

The output of this tank, propelled by my pump, will pass through a bed of Zeolite and possibly then on to a bed of activated carbon or charcoal. It will pass through these media beds for final water clarification and for catching any ammonia and nitrites that the bio-converter misses.

The zeolite and the carbon filters will be supplied with aerated, pressurized water from the pump (950 GPH) from the final or third 55 gallon reserve tank in the filtration system.

So, I am not using a "trickle filter" in this application. Although everything is gravity fed up until the last 55 gallon barrel, then from that point on, I have to use the pump to get back up to water grade for the tank. Got to put the pump somewhere. This would be the cleanest water in the system, so that is where I chose to put the pump. Long live the pump! He he!

You could use an upflow filter, something rather passive and small but with water supplied by a pump to percolate the water up through a media such as zeolite. You don't need much zeolite for this and you can buy enough zeolite to keep some fresh always at hand. When it needs rejuvenation, swap the used zeolite with the refreshed zeolite and then treat the used zeolite in a separate system from your pond. You refresh or rejuvenate the zeolite with 3% saltwater and flushing and rinsing with freshwater. Works just like a water softener.

That's just some information for you to ponder and dwell upon.

As for keeping catfish in my pond, yes. Well, they are a breed of catfish. I will be keeping bullheads, sunfish, bluegills and red-horse shiners (like a minnow) in the tank or pond. My bait tank is pretty large to just call it a tank, It is nearly as large as many people's small ponds. About 1,000 gallons.

I use these fish for bait for going catfishing. Catfish hate bullheads, which are a species of catfish really. They are competitors for the same food and space. Bluegills are also natural enemies of catfish as they try to eat the catfish eggs, so the catfish naturally eat both of these two fishes, regardless if they are hungry or not. They are doing so for their own protection. This works really well for fishing strategy as the catfish doesn't have to be hungry to bite on this bait. They do so instinctively because they are protecting their turf. It's class warfare or cold-war scenario's, catfish style! LOL

Gordy

 

[Waterbug]

Media can be pretty much anything, lava rock is the most common media, but any kind of rock could be used or plastic from curlers to army men.

All the different kinds of media used in Skippy could be used too. But the finer the media the more clogging is an issue. It's just a trade off deal...more effort to keep fine media from clogging. Media like rock doesn't require any maintenance really as it stays clean on its own.

So to me the media choice is different for each pond owner. First criteria is need. How much ammonia has to be removed. Second criteria is space. A pond in a huge backyard has lots of options where a pond on a balcony may not be able to support a ton of rock. Third criteria is maintenance. Is the ponder committed to keeping fine media clean. Fourth criteria is cost. For someone with a huge backyard and lots of small rocks available the free media is a good choice. For the guy with a pond on a balcony the cost of high tech media could be a bargain compared to space gained.

 

[Catfishnut]

Oh, forgot to explain the details of the Zeolite filter bed. How I am setting that up.

It is a very simple and crude design. Since my system at that point will be under pressure from the pump, I will just route a 3/4" PVC tube from the pump outlet to the inlet of a 4 or 6 inch diameter PVC tube. Using reducer fittings, I will take the 3/4" inlet pipe into the 4-6 inch tube. That tube will be 3-4 feet in length and have a drain grating at the bottom, like a shower drain for preventing hair and soap from going down. It will be a large enough grating opening as to not restrict the water flow, but small enough to hold a layer of pebbles or coarse rock or gravel from passing through the screening. The Zeolite will rest atop that layer of pebbles or coarse gravel.

The outlet from this Zeolite filter will exit through reducing PVC bushings to 1" or 3/4" and be routed back to the bait tank where the inlets will be positioned to swirl the water in the tank from opposite corners. This will provide a mild current flow in the tank (pond) and also direct the solid wastes towards the drain near the bottom, center of the tank and go out the drain and start the whole cycle all over again.

Do you like my design? Is there any notion that here you can adopt for your pond?

Gordy

 

[Catfishnut]

Media can be pretty much anything, lava rock is the most common media, but any kind of rock could be used or plastic from curlers to army men.

All the different kinds of media used in Skippy could be used too. But the finer the media the more clogging is an issue. It's just a trade off deal...more effort to keep fine media from clogging. Media like rock doesn't require any maintenance really as it stays clean on its own.

So to me the media choice is different for each pond owner. First criteria is need. How much ammonia has to be removed. Second criteria is space. A pond in a huge backyard has lots of options where a pond on a balcony may not be able to support a ton of rock. Third criteria is maintenance. Is the ponder committed to keeping fine media clean. Fourth criteria is cost. For someone with a huge backyard and lots of small rocks available the free media is a good choice. For the guy with a pond on a balcony the cost of high tech media could be a bargain compared to space gained.

I really loved the comment about plastic army men! Yep! That would certainly work, you just have to steal all the soldiers from your kids toy box! LOL

Women's hair curlers (the cylinderical rollers made from plastic) are great! It is open and won't clog up, but still provides a lot of area for the bacteria to live on. Yo9u can get a lot of aeration through them and water will not be restricted.

The finer you go down in mesh size, the more cleaning you may have to contend with, but the more effective it will be as a bio-converter. So, like Waterbug stated, it is a trade-off. You just need to match the media to your system.

I don't think that anything is ever going to be completely maintenance free, but if you experiment around, you can find the happy medium. The point where is works very well with the least amount of work required on your behalf to maintain it.

Gordy

 

[minnowman]

The plastic rings that hold six-packs of beverage cans together work well for trickle tower media. They are light weight, have lots of surface area, don't pack down too much, and they are free if you know someone who owns or fills vending machines.

 

[Catfishnut]

The plastic rings that hold six-packs of beverage cans together work well for trickle tower media. They are light weight, have lots of surface area, don't pack down too much, and they are free if you know someone who owns or fills vending machines.

Hey, now that is a good idea! Unique and doable, too! Cheap (I mean inexpensive). I suppose that there are lots of ideas that we could come up with here. All will work, just need the surface area to get 'er done.

Gordy

 

[whiskey]

thanks guys lots and lots of feed back , all good for me and im sure for all readers and pond lovers. i will be revamping pond and filter system between now and march 2012.

 

[Waterbug]

The plastic six-pack rings could be great media structurally. However, by Federal law they're designed to start breaking down in sun light within 90 days or less so they would have to be shaded. Hard to keep out all UV so they may not last too long. When plastic breaks down it causes a bad mess, really fine bits.

I'd also do a test first just to make sure bacteria can stick to the plastic. LDPE is pretty slippery stuff.

 

[minnowman]

I successfully used six pack ringers in a trickle tower for a year or so and as submerged media for several years without any noticeable deterioration. They will break down in direct sunlight, but I always try to block all sunlight for the benefit of the bacteria.

 

[Waterbug]

Cool. I'm definitely keeping them in mind. I'm planning my next pond to have a large fish load.

 

[Mmathis]

Can you mix your filter media, like mix curlers with scubbies, with plastic strapping, etc, etc?

 

[Catfishnut]

Can you mix your filter media, like mix curlers with scubbies, with plastic strapping, etc, etc?

M,

Absolutely. It might even to prove to be a beneficial notion. The habitat for the bacteria would be more diverse. You would create some small pockets here and there. I don't know if these pockets are beneficial or not, but I always think that diversity and trying to replicate nature is best. In nature, the habitat is not homogenous.

I think that as long as you don't trap large amounts of air and gases in the layers it would be fine. If you trapped a great deal of gases, it might make your media float up and then the top layers could push up out of the water and dry out. Here I am thinking of a bio-filter where the water percolates up through the media. But, if you are using a gravity (downflow) type of filter where the water runs through and over the media from the top down, it shouldn't be a problem unless there are huge volumes of gas trapped. Then you don't really have a water filter, you have an airbag.

Gordy