[gcuss]

Ok, first off, thanks again. Can't tell you how helpful this is.

My filter system...

My water goes through a bottom drain and then passes a settlement chamber. From there it's pumped through a Tetra pressurized filter, the up through a bog/bio falls. It's probably not the best way to do it, but the hobby snuck up on me by accident and now I'm planning a "good" pond for the spring next year.

The bio/bog thing is simply a 100 gal holding pond above the main pond. The water comes up through a drain in the middle and I've filled it with scrubbie type things (big mat, that I cut up) and I have it packed with floating/submersible plants. Surface area is about 16 sq. ft. and you can't see the water for the plants. Completely DIY...

I don't have a skimmer but the main pond is covered so I don't get a lot of debris at all.

I back flush the pressure filter once a week (this is how I evacuate some of the water for the water change along with settlement chamber cleaning) About once a month I pop out the pressure filter and clean the mech portion of it taking care to be quick so as not to damage the bacteria colony in the bio part. All sponges from filter are rinsed with pond water before putting them back in after cleaning. The scrubbies aren't really mucked with in the upper pond. I check my water constantly for nitrite/amonia/salt/ph and see hardly any variation in the results. (the salt moves around a titch but the ph/nitrite/amonia are pretty much fixed)

I have a 20watt UV on a seperate pump that I've positioned to help things along on the bottom of the pond to keep stuff moving towards the bottom drain. (again, my newness shines through, and what I thought was a reasonable slope towards the drain was painfully inadequate... lesson learned)

Open to suggestions, and I'll be using and abusing all who can help next year before I "break ground" on the new pond with regards to design and such....

Grant

*** I have iodine but I'm unsure of what/where to get the triple antibiotic ointment. Also ordering the tri-neocide as suggested.