How To Build A Large Pond Filter System

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While there are commercial pond filter systems you can purchase, many people choose to build their own to save money. You can put together a surprisingly capable pond filtration system using usually found household tools and a few components purchased from your local aquarium supply or pet store.

1
Go a saucepan or trash can with a sealable lid. Having a sealable hat volition help continue other debris from falling into your filter fabric and prevent the filter from overflowing if information technology starts to drain slowly.^[1]
- 5 gallons (19 L) buckets with sealable lids are available at almost hardware and large retail stores and make for peachy filter housings.
- You can likewise use similarly sized trash cans or Tupperware containers equally long as they have a sealable lid.
two
Purchase a water pump if y'all don't already have one. If you lot have a water pump in your pond for apportionment, that pump should suffice. Otherwise, buy a skillful quality pump that'south rated for the size of your swimming. Most pumps are rated in terms of how many gallons your pond can hold. If you are unsure, you can find pond calculators online to help you decide your pond'south size in gallons based on its measurements.^[2]
- You don't need to buy a new pump if you take one for apportionment already.
- You can use either a submersible pump or one that's meant to remain out of the water with a line that goes into the pond.
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3
Lay out where the pump and filter will be located in relation to the pond. In lodge to determine how much hose you demand to purchase, place the plastic container that will hold your filter and the water pump where you intend them to be once you're finished. And so use a measuring tape to make up one's mind how much hose you'll need to run 1 line from the pump to the filter, and another from the filter back into the pond.^[iii]
- Information technology'due south best to position your filter and pump in a shady location. If y'all can identify them under some sort of shelter, that is optimal.
- A submersible pump is meant to be placed in the water, whereas a non-submersible pump should be placed next to the filter with the inlet hose placed in the h2o.
- Proceed the filter and pump as shut to the water equally possible to reduce the amount of hosing the water needs to run through under the pump'due south power.
4
Buy rubber hose to connect the filter to the water pump. Mensurate the bore of the outlet nozzle on your water pump, then take that measurement to your local hardware store. Buy rubber hose of that inside bore in plenty length to run from where the pump will be placed to where y'all want to position the filter itself. Then buy another length of hose for the return line.^[four]
- Go on the measurement for the hose so know what size hole to cut in the lid.
- Your pump may have come with the necessary hosing already.
5
Cut a hole in the chapeau of the container that'south just big plenty for the hose. Utilise a drill with a hole-saw flake of the same diameter as the hose to drill a hole through the lid for the hose. If yous don't have a drill and the lid is a thin plenty material, puncture it with a knife. Identify the lid on the bucket and press the knife downward through the lid where y'all intend to run the hose. Once the knife punctures the plastic, utilize it to saw a pigsty in the chapeau of the estimate size and shape of the hose.^[v]
- If you don't accept a drill, brand sure to use a sturdy utility knife for cut the plastic, rather than a thin kitchen knife.
- A drill with a hole saw is the recommended way to make the hole.
vi
Drill a hole in the side of the container for the h2o outlet. Make the hole the aforementioned approximate size the top 1, which should exist a snug fit for your hose. The water will flow in from the top, pass through filter media, and then return to the pond via an outlet hose. Choose a spot on the side of the container near 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the lesser and use the pigsty-saw chip on your drill to create an outlet pigsty.^[6]
- Drill the hole near the base of operations of the container, as far down it as you tin can go.
- Remove any debris created past drilling from the within of the container one time you're done.
seven
Insert the hoses and seal them with a fish-friendly sealant. Insert the end of 1 hose into the lid and apply a sealant meant for use with aquatic wild animals around the top and bottom of the pigsty to create a waterproof seal. Then practice the same with a length of hose for the hole near the bottom of the container.^[seven]
- You tin can purchase fish-friendly sealant at larger pet stores or on specialized websites.
- Read the instructions on the sealant you choose to know how long it needs to cure before yous can move frontwards.
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1
Cascade a layer of ruddy lava rocks into the lesser of the container. The lava rocks volition serve as both a means of filtration and a manner to hold your other filter media upwards away from water return nozzle at the bottom of the container. The layer of lava rocks should be but deep enough to cover the hole for the return hose.^[8]
- You can purchase red lava rocks at nigh aquarium supply stores or large pet stores.
- Fill the lesser of the container with lava rocks until the return hose is hidden beneath them.
ii
Cut filter fabric to friction match the shape of the container. Filter material often comes in rolls and is made out of layers of fibroid and fine fabric. Unroll it and trace the full general shape of the container onto the filter textile. Cut the shape out and so repeat that process three more than times until you accept at least four layers of filter material to identify in the container.^[9]
- You can purchase the water filter cloth at aquarium supply stores or on specialized websites.
- If y'all tin can't find filter material, you can likewise use a mesh laundry purse filled with household sponges.
3
Place the filter material over the lava rocks. Lower a layer of filter textile into the container and position it apartment on acme of the red lava rocks. Then identify each additional layer on tiptop of the previous one so the h2o has to pass through multiple layers of it before reaching the lava rocks.^[10]
- If you have problem getting the filter material to stay on top of the rocks, you tin can add a layer of the metal screening you used at the end of the inlet hose to make it stiffer.
- If you lot used a laundry handbag and sponges instead, brand sure the bag and sponges completely encompass the lava rocks.
iv
Seal the superlative of the container with the hat. The chapeau will prevent any droppings from falling into the filter while also preventing overflow if the filter drains slowly. Once the lid is on the filter, motion it to where you intend to fix it up.^[11]
- Make sure to seal the lid once you put information technology on.
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1
Attach a plastic screen to the cease of the input hose on the pump. The h2o pump you lot put into your pond has an input hose that draws the water in. Use the same fish-friendly sealant you used to seal the hoses to the container to glue a metal screen to the terminate of the input hose to stop it from sucking up big debris. Wrap the screen around the end of the hose and and then employ the sealant to gum it in identify.^[12]
- Y'all can use any pliable screen material, including the screening normally used for windows.
- Buy the screen at your local hardware store.
two
Connect the pump to the filter inlet. Attach the hose running from the lid of the filter to the outlet on your water pump. Place a hose clamp on the hose before you connect it, then employ a Phillips head screwdriver to tighten the clamp over the hose and outlet nozzle to ensure it's secure. At this stage, the pump is not connected to ability, then it won't function yet.^[13]
- Identify both the pump and the filter at the pond's edge in one case they're connected.
3
Place the water pump in or well-nigh the pond and position the filter next to it. If the pump is non designed to be submerged, position it in a covered spot near the h2o'southward edge and just submerge the inlet hose. Place the filter nearby on the h2o's border. When y'all plough on the pump, water will flow through information technology and into the filter.^[14]
- Submerge the screened end of the inlet hose in the water.
- Read the packet your pump came in. It will clearly specify if your pump is meant to exist submerged in water.
iv
Run the filter return hose back into the pond. The lower hose on the filter will allow the filtered water to return back into the pond. Just orient the filter so the hole points toward the pond and run the hose from the hole into the h2o.^[xv]
- This hose returns the make clean water to the swimming afterward it'due south been filtered.
- Position this hose as far away from the pump'due south inlet hose as you can.
five
Connect the pump to power and switch it on. Plug the pump into a power source like an outdoor wall outlet. With the pump running, water volition motion into the acme of the filter, laissez passer through the filter fabric and lava rocks, and back out the return hose.^[sixteen]
- It may take a few minutes for the h2o to make full the container plenty to begin pouring out the return hose.
- If water completely fills the container and does not exit from the return hose, the outlet is blocked by the lava rocks. Detach the filter, articulate the outlet, and try again.
6
Make clean the filter media every month. Open the lid of the filter and remove the filter material. Rinse information technology thoroughly and and then remove the lava rocks. Use a hose to rinse them off completely and so put both filters dorsum into the container.^[17]
- If the pond is very muddied, clean the filter every two weeks instead of every month.
- Replace the filter cloth if it becomes too muddied to let water to pass through.
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Question

How tin I become rid of algae in my pond?

Scott Johnson is the Owner and Atomic number 82 Design Consultant for Concrete Creations, Inc., an award-winning mural and design company based in the San Diego, California metro surface area. He has over 30 years of experience in the pool and mural construction industry and specializes in big estate outdoor environment construction projects. His work has been featured in San Diego Dwelling house & Garden Mag and on Puddle Kings Television Prove. He earned a BS degree in Construction Management with an emphasis in Compages and CAD pattern from Northern Arizona University.

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Expert Answer

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You tin can always attribute algae in a swimming to the sun. If you want to become rid of the algae simply yous don't want to kill any fish or anything, get an algaecide that's safe for fish and it'll work just fine. In the leap and summertime, you almost always become an algae bloom, which is totally normal. Don't freak out about those blooms, just utilize a dose of the algicide and you'll be fine.
Question

What (if annihilation) prevents the pump intake from bottleneck? Practise I demand to put in whatever kind of screen?

I put my submersible pump inside an upside-downward plastic mesh waste handbasket (from the Dollar Store), then wrapped the outside of the handbasket with nylon window screen. Over the grade of the summer I typically take to remove the screen twice and rinse it off with a garden hose. This keeps the pump intake from bottleneck and reduces the number of times the filter media has to exist inverse every bit well.
Question

What filtration material do I employ for this system?

You tin add Bio-Balls, Bio-Rings, carbon packs, rock and sponge pads, which you employ in your aquarium filters. You must layer them on top of each other.
Question

Can fish survive on aquatic plants alone?

Yes, they can. But consider more plants than fish, as they volition eat some of the plants.
Question

How exercise I build an overflow in a pond?

Utilise 5-inch schedule xl PVC white pipe, dig a trench on the side of the pond to the meridian yous desire the water, employ 5 sections of 10 feet long pipage and bleed it off into a lower area.
Question

What size pump will I need to pump about 300 gallons?

It depends on how fast you desire to pump that 300 gallons and how high. Read different pump specifications to see their rated GPH (gallons per hour) and pumping heights.
Question

Tin this filter system get on the outside of the pond?

Aye, that is the intention, this filer system is not recommended to be placed inside the swimming itself. But the pump that pumps water into the filter must be kept in the pond at all times unless being cleaned (must be turned off for this), to avoid the pump burning out.
Question

Where tin I go connectors for intake?

Just use a slice of screen door screen over the hose cease, secure it to the hose with zippo ties or picture framing wire afterwards roofing the screening with pantyhose from a dollar store.
Question

How do I make clean the filter?

Yous just need to rinse the filtration media with pond h2o.
Question

What are bio balls and bio rings? Can l make those also?

They can't exist made. They are usually bought and used to break downwardly fish waste.

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Things Y'all'll Need

Water pump (if you don't already take one)
Plastic container with a sealable lid
Condom hose
Drill with pigsty-saw bit
Fish-friendly sealant
Red lava rocks
Filter material

About This Article

Article Summary X

To build a swimming filter organization, purchase a resealable, lidded garbage bin, a rubber hose, and a water pump. Then, position the bin and pump relatively close to where they will be in the swimming, and cut a hole in the chapeau of that bin that's just large plenty for the rubber hose to fit into. Adjacent, drill a hole in the side of the container for a water outlet, and seal the hoses into the openings with an animal-condom sealant. Finally, make full the bottom of the container with a layer ruby-red lava rocks and a layer of filter fabric cut to fit the bin over summit of the rocks. For tips on installing the filter in the pond, read on!

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