Redoing Pond and Filter Questions

[ootyboy]

My pond has sprouted a nasty leak, and I've decided to not try and patch the Epoxy material any longer, and go with either Poly or a liner. In the mean time, I am rethinking my filtration system. Here is what I currently have:

1 X 2" Bottom Drain
1 X 3" Retro Bottom Drain
1 X no Niche Skimmer

They feed into an Ultima 10,000 (All pump driven -- Yes I know this is not the best design) for Mechanical

Ultima feeds 2 biological filters: One with Bacterial house and the other a Oase Biosys 18 filter feeding back into the pond.

Here are my thoughts on what I would like to do when I redo the pond in the next couple of week, and would appreciate any feedback:

1 X 4" Rhino II Aerated Bottom Drain (Gravity Fed)
1 Wave 36 Vortex Settlement Tank - From the bottom drain
1 Wave 36 Vortex Tank (With Japanese Mat) - Second mechanical filter
Next in line would be the Ultima 10,000
Which then feeds into the Biosys 18 and the the large bio filter area/waterfall that I build that contains Bacteria House media (and will soon have Japanese Mats)

Here are my questions:

Would this be adequate for a 9000 gallon pond?
Do I really need 2 Wave 36 Vortex filters before the Ultima or should I go directly from the settlement tank into the Ultima?
Should I add more biological filtration after the Ultima than what I currently have?

My fish load is currently rather light, but I am planning on adding a few more fish within the next few months. I think total fish population is less than 40" currently.

My plan is to use the Vortex tanks and the Ultima as purely Mechanical. However, I would like to possibly increase my Biological filtration along the way. Any suggestions/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[kent wallace]

I would expect that a 9000 gal pond would need two bottom drains depending on layout. What were you going to put into the first Wave 36 for mechanical filtration. A microscreen or static prefilter? The second Wave 36 with Japanese mat will do mechanical along with a lot of bio. You can't prevent that much surface area from doing bio so I'm not sure of the question. I personally would fill the Wave 36 with "bactitwist" instead of the matting because it does a much better job and is much easier to clean. If your Ultima 10,000 is a bead filter it will do plenty of mechanical and should be run off of the skimmer or mid circuits and you could aerate the second Wave 36 letting it do lots more bio but no mechanical.

[koiczar]

What Kent says has some merit. First, a 9000gal pond would need 2 4" bottom drains to separate vortexes. Especially if they're only 36"diam. Otherwise you won't be able to turn the water over fast enough to keep up with the system's needs. Also, yes, a separate circuit for skimmers is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Yes, you could pump from both vortexes directly to the Ultima. I would then recommend a moving bed Kaldnes filter next in line and then to a static type of filter. The reason for this is that the moving bed is highly bio but does not trap any solids. Also, the slough off from the bacteria will need to be trapped in the last chamber before being fed back to the pond. Trust me, if you're going to invest the time and money into this size pond, do it right the first time or you'll end up chasing your tail with maintenance/health issues and have to spend the money down the road to finish what you started.

Mike