Filter Chambers...how many?

[monscine]

Hi folks,

We get use to see a lot of ponds with each filtering systems being used. One of them is a pond with filter chambers for mechanical and biological filtering process. Each time we build a pond, usually people would build filter chambers on the pond design for the two kind of filter process. I have questions, how many chambers actually we need for a pond? Is there any formulation to determine the amount of chambers we need for a pond beside the filter volume compare to the pond size? Some say that the more the chambers, the better the filter process...is this true?

Cheers,

[MikeM]

I do not believe the number of chambers necessarily matters, but the overall filter design does matter and that could influence the number of chambers. For example, I had a multi-chamber filter composed of: a net to capture leaves and large items, followed by large brushes, followed by smaller brushes, followed by Japanese blue matting, followed by sponges, followed by bioballs. That took 6 chambers. It is important to maintain high levels of dissolved oxygen to maximize nitrification. This can be done through pumping air into the system via airstones. In some filter designs, however, the water flows up through a media and then falls over a weir to the next chamber where it flows downward. These up/down flows expose the water to the atmosphere and allow some gas exchange. If the chambers are too large, the gas exchange is not optimized. So, in those types of filters, the chambers need to be smallish and you may need more than one chamber for a particular media.

To answer your question, it all depends on the filter design overall. As one of our occasional posters is fond of saying, "It's a system."

[keokoi]

Tend to agree with Mike. I think its not how many but how efficient each chamber is working.

Joe

[luke frisbee]

three efficient ones....passive settlement... Mechanical barrier..... and gas exchange shower

[Dwight]

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

[Charlie_23456]

I believe the basics would be: Vortex/Settlement...Mechanical...Biological.

[monscine]

Hi Mike,

I just wonder how if the filtering process being lengthen for nitrification. Let's say, I would build a 22000 gal pond with a vortex, a chamber of brushes and the others filled up with full of bioballs or jap map (up/down design). Each biological chambers will be heavily airated to support nitrobacter. The filter system will be calculated to achieve minimum 1 cycle per hour water flow rate thorugh the piping design.

What makes me curious is, if I divide the chambers into ...let's say 10 chambers... to maximize nitrification process, would the optimum filtering system achieve because the water get through that many chambers to be processed?

cheers,
Handy

[monscine]

Quote: Originally Posted by keokoi Tend to agree with Mike. I think its not how many but how efficient each chamber is working. Joe

Hi Joe,

Actually that's the final answer I seek for....how efficient the filter system. But how could we predict or estimate or even calculate the "efficiency" before we build the pond?

Cheers,
Handy

[koiczar]

To figure out efficiency prior to building the pond, think about how much surface area of the type of media(s) you want to use and the best flow rate - vs- the size of the filter bays. Water MUST BE SLOWED DOWN through your settling chamber for the rest of the filters to do a proper job of removing DOCS and TDS. The media bays should be heavily aerated for peak efficiency.

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?

Some basic input needed - what are the measurements of the pond, waterfall and filter bays? How deep is the pond going to be? How many gallons and what is your planned flow rate?

Mike

[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.