Filter Material Question

[xiaohuang7]

I'm pond building, and wanted to get some suggestions on filter materials. Pond is not finished (~4,500 US gals), but the attached filter is.

Option 1: j-mat in first two, gravel in last two

Option 2: springflo in all

I was designing for Option 1, but hate cleaning gravel (even if air-assisted) and j-mat would be like $2.5K to fill just one chamber! Springflo's a lot cheaper and very tempting...

Water is hard, located in Southern California. Don't trust the drip system yet.

Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks.

And Koinut, you'd better answer, Jason and I lugged a s***load of cement and blocks up for that d*** filter!

[koiczar]

You provided a nice schematic of the size of your filters except for one thing - how wide are they?
From the looks of it, you're going to have enough filtration for 15-20,000 gal system. I agree with you, as I would hate to clean gravel as well, but using it correctly in the last chamber would really put a nice polish on your water. Still, I just don't trust upflow filters as you can't see what's underneath the media. Having said that, I have seen many gravel filters that utilize a blower for cleaning that work really well.

As far as springflo goes, there's a material that may even be cheaper that does the same job. It's PVC ribbon. If you need a source, send me a pm and I can direct you to the website. I would use this in the first two chambers and Matala mat in the third one. The matala is far superior to j-mat, reason being it is more rigid, cleans MUCH easier (usually shaking it up and down will release the dirt and debris and has more surface area than j-mat (comparing the grey matala). There are four different densities available from black (very open), to green (somewhat open), to blue (tighter weave still) and then grey. I've been using it on my Q-tank bio tank for several years. Holds up really well and is UV resistant. J-mat is not!

[xiaohuang7]

Oh yes, it's 2.5 feet wide. All dimensions are internal. =)

[koiczar]

Xiao

Okay, you have about 375gal per tank with about 50 cu.ft. The dimensions work really well for the matala mat as it measures 44" X 39". Some minor cutting and presto, you have a very nice filter chamber. You can even mix the green, blue and use the grey for the last few sheets prior to the outflow to your gravel tank. This would give you one hell of a system for 4500 gal pond.

Mike

[gaetano]

What about using moving bed filter media?

[MikeM]

Do not use gravel.

[dinh]

Quote: Originally Posted by MikeM Do not use gravel.

and the reason is .......? thx Mike -

[gaetano]

gravel will clog in no time, almost impossible to clean giving freeplay of anaerobic acitvity.

[mitten]

X Man 7-

Five sheets of Matala would make a 12" deep cartridge with spacers. 5 x $60 = $300.

Let me suggest #1- pvc ribbon, #2 - Matala cartridge, #3 - K1, #4 - some form of fines catcher like static K1 (must be daily maintainable) or even a foam block. Bay #4 could have a recirculating shower - pumped up out of the tank and over the shower right back into the filter.

If there is only one 4" pipe between each of these bays you will only be running 3000gph. Otherwise this filter is sized for a 7 - 10k pond using the guideline of 25% of pond surface for filtration, asssuming 4-6' of depth.

Wouldn't this much oversizing make media selection much less critical? So, with good solids removal in settlement (I didn't hear vortex) the rest of filtration only has to avoid being stagnant or anaerobic, right? not creating a problem where there was none.

Someone who will carry concrete block is a good guy to know.

Mickey the windowman

[Birdman]

I have had good luck with poly strapping. it is 1/2 inch wide and comes in 9,000 foot rolls for under $40. Just wad it up and cram it in.