Outdoor pond question?

[srtn8]

I know this is a reef forum but I was wondering if I were to break up charcoal (for grilling-but definately not the ready light type..lol) and place it in a bag if it would work similar to regular carbon in filtering out pond water.

 

[chuckh]

srtn8, i have a 3000 gallon pond, i dont know if what you are suggesting will work. but i was looking for a filter for mine without paying out the butt for it. after doing some research i found this site and built this filter myself for about 140 bucks.

http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

it works great i have no algae in my pond except for a little bit on the sides. its all up in the filter area.

i purchased nothing from them. instead of their spounge stuff i used furnace filter stuff from lowes, its the blue stuff that you cut to fit your furnace size. its like 5 bucks for a big sheet of it. i got 6 sheets, then i went to the walmart and got washable pillow stuffing and 2 laundry bags to hold the stuffing.

this is kinda how i have it set up from the bottom to the top.

egg crate
laundry bags with pillow stuffing on top of the egg crate
then the blue furnace filter squares on top of the laundry bags.

in 4 years my pond has never looked as nice and clear as it has this year.

hope this helps

Chuck

 

[srtn8]

my pond is smaller and is around 1100 gallons in size. What do you think i should use for containerizing this all? do you think a regular 5 gallon bucket should suffice? thanks for your help

 

[mattyice]

after reading that site it looks like a 50G rubbermaid stock tank is what they use

 

[chuckh]

i used the 100 gallon rubber maid for mine. but for 1000 gallon a 50 would probably work, mine is hidden and its where the water comes back into my pond. here is a link to a photo of it. this is about 2 weeks after i installed it so its not hidden yet so you can get an idea of how i did mine. its hidden with rocks and plants now so you cant really see the pipes and tub now. i actually put a old mj power head in the tub with some hose attached to and made another little rock water fall out of the rocks that are hiding it.

http://eriereefclub.com/downloads/pond.jpg

but it works great. i have seen people use garbage cans to make them as well. just he basic filtration concept is what works.

Chuck

 

[bigdaddyadam]

not all carbon is filter carbon, you need activated carbon and high quality, otherwise you will put in more bad stuff than you take out

 

[ThrowinRoost89]

people with freshwater tanks use lava rock sometimes as a bacteria colony... like bio balls.

 

[seabisque]

I know where you can get some large koi to help filter!!!!Farm raised. 15 min sw of akron