DIY filter systems?

[gregbickal]

have you seen my low profile in-ground filters? a 4x4 settling chamber (lined with rubber) with a 55 gallon barrel in the center. Pump draws water from the center of the barrel. Inside the barrel you can put any filter material that you want. Whole thing is covered by a deck with a lift-up pannel for access. Very in-expensive to build.

[garywalker]

Greg,

Do you have any more photos or drawings of your DIY filter system? What about a parts list?

Gary

[JosephandGabby]

Here's a pic of my filter setup. Similar to Bickals's, only mine is hidden behind our shed and not burried. All DIY...

[garywalker]

Thanks Joseph or Gabby,

Are those 55 gallon barrels? What is the capacity of your pond? What filtration setup is in each barrel?

Gary

[JosephandGabby]

No problem, Gary. Yes, these are 55-gallon barrels daisy-chained together. I have a total of 9 of these barrels for filtration on our 2,500-gallon Koi pond. The first barrel in the chain serves as a vortex chamber, the next three are used primarily for mechanical filtration, then the last five provide the bio-filtration. The water then runs through a UV clarifier before returning to the pond. I actually have detailed plans and pics of my DIY filter setup on my site. Be sure to check it out if you're interested...

[Beniguy]

Suggestion: Seperate the skimmer from the main bottom drain. I played hell attempting to get the proper balance with my system. When I finally split the lines with a seperate pump life got easy.
For my 3,200 gallon pond I chose a large vortex, which feeds to the 1/3 HP pump, then an Ultima II 6000 gallon bead. For a small foot print the vortex is burried to the pond water level, and the bead filter burried alomost up to the neck. The result is a very low profile bench setting. Flow is at 55 GPM with 3 TPRs.
The skimmer goes to a snmall bead filter with a "Tiny-Might" pump which feeds the water fall. I'll post pictures is you's like.

Ed