Filter Chambers...how many?

[junglegeorge12]

I would replace the settling chamber with a vortex, put some k1 in there to beef up biological filtration as needed, and put a shower at the top where the k1 barrel is. A 3 teir shower can be made up the same height as a large barrel. That will also add biological filtration to your skimmer circuit. I assume the skimmer will have good screen in it. That will give you better oxygenation and gas exchange, and over time when the funds are there you can change out lava rock in the shower for BH.

Your system as it stands is a nitrate trap, unless you plan to drain the whole filter and scrub it every six months. You will need to put a shower or will regret it later.

For me, vortex, mechanical barrier(screen, seive, etc), and a Bakki are the best. K1 can be added in the vortex and in a chamber after the mechanical barrier if you like. My view of airstones is they cost to run, cna break, and have a tendancy to not do all the water. They also provide minimal gas exchange. A shower does all that stuff much better and has no seperate air pump to worry about or break down. Since you already planned to pump up to a barrel anyway, you will be saving power by running less air.

Luke, who is it you have building those prop pumps? If they dropped it talk to me and I can help you find someone else to pursue it, and get you patented as the inventor. I think that idea is invaluable and will save ponders tons of money on electricity.

[Mike Mazur]

Quote: Originally Posted by jdfloyd45 Here's what I'm planning for my stream. It's just a schematic and not to scale. Also everything is subject to change Dwight

froma what it looks like it would work, a bit confusing in the plumbing dept and the pump setup but to aid in a final bactrerial colony in the static K1 barrel I would runa big air pump into that, say 3 cfm of air to "boil " the media and allow for aerobic conditions. 55 gal barrel with about 2.5 cu ft of media is about right for keeping it moving.

[luke frisbee]

Quote: Originally Posted by MikeM I am not the best person to answer your question, Monscine. I am hoping one of our filter gurus will come along and give you some direction. But, if you are planning to move 22,000 gallons per hour through the filter system, I will say that you are going to need a bigger vortex than I have ever seen, or a bunch of them. I am currently moving approx. 6,000 gallons per hour through a 50+" vortex. It does a good job, but not as good as I would want if I was relying on brushes in the next stage. I certainly would not want to move any more through it. Vortex settlement is more efficient than a settlement chamber such as Dwight shows in his drawing, but still depends on relatively slow water flow for debris to settle out. If you were referring to the dwell time in the filter system, think again. You want to run the volume of the pond through the system within two hours. I try for a 45 minute turnover of the pond volume, and use multiple separate systems to accomplish that.

Oh contrare! You have seen the Island at lakeluke. that island is a 10ft wide (on the inside) by 6.5 ft deep vortex chamber...so you have sen pics of one. With a six inch exit pipe and 8 four inch feeds from bottom drains. I even have a couple of steps in it so I can get out

[MikeM]

Aging gray cells.

[junglegeorge12]

Quote: Originally Posted by MikeM I am not the best person to answer your question, Monscine. I am hoping one of our filter gurus will come along and give you some direction. But, if you are planning to move 22,000 gallons per hour through the filter system, I will say that you are going to need a bigger vortex than I have ever seen, or a bunch of them. I am currently moving approx. 6,000 gallons per hour through a 50+" vortex. .

Where did the 22,000gph figure come from? I did not see any size specs on that last drawing, or are we on different ponds?

You can make your own vortexes, there are several ways. One is out of cement like Luke did. The other is to customize a 1000 or 2000 gallon plastic cistern. I can send you a drawing of how to do that easily.

How much gunk are you pulling out of your vortex now luke, and has the green water cleared?

[Dwight]

[quote=koiczar]
I see in your design concept that you have 2-6" pipes between bays which is excellent. However, I also see a 6" pipe from the filters and skimmer to your pump.How does that work? It looks like you're running a single pump and that your skimmer isn't really being filtered properly. Also, one bottom drain is planned to be placed in the area above the spillway. Is this going to be working all the time or just for cleanout as necessary? Also, it won't be pulling waste from the fish or any serious amount of debris from the "pond" bottom. In theory, then you really have 2 bottom drains running 4" pipe. How far are these drains away from the settling chamber?


Mike , thats my design . I'm working on it for my stream that I'm building and I included it here as an example. The pump is a 3/4 hp Dragon so I think water movement won't be much of a problem.
Dwight

[monscine]

Quote: Originally Posted by junglegeorge12 Where did the 22,000gph figure come from? I did not see any size specs on that last drawing, or are we on different ponds? You can make your own vortexes, there are several ways. One is out of cement like Luke did. The other is to customize a 1000 or 2000 gallon plastic cistern. I can send you a drawing of how to do that easily. How much gunk are you pulling out of your vortex now luke, and has the green water cleared?

HI JG,

It is my future pond to replace the existing pond. I haven't have any drawing nor specs of it. It's still in designing process and then I wonder how many filter chambers I actually need to have efficient yet effective filtration process. I would use a vortex then brushes/jap mat, and then bio balls.

Cheers,

[koiczar]

JDFLOYD45

So what you're saying is you're simply adding a stream to your existing system?!? Sorry, I got confused. Thought we were talking about a whole new system

Mike

[chewed]

Handy,

why don't you consult Tjo when you come down to SIngapore the next time? So far his pond have the best water among the dealers in Singapore.

cheers

Quote: Originally Posted by monscine HI JG, It is my future pond to replace the existing pond. I haven't have any drawing nor specs of it. It's still in designing process and then I wonder how many filter chambers I actually need to have efficient yet effective filtration process. I would use a vortex then brushes/jap mat, and then bio balls. Cheers,

[monscine]

Quote: Originally Posted by chewed Handy, why don't you consult Tjo when you come down to SIngapore the next time? So far his pond have the best water among the dealers in Singapore. cheers

Surely Derrick, I'll ask Tjo about it soon enough.

See you,