Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

I am disabled, and can't clean filters easily, so I am planning on
making a veggie filter from a large water trough (Tractor Supply).
Planning on rocking this in, with a roof, so that it looks like a
wishing well...
This trough has an opening at the bottom for draining water.
I am planning on having water pumped from my pond into the top, so
that it trickles down to the bottom and back into the pond.
I figure lava rock on the bottom, then a layer of gravel, then a layer
of barley straw, with water cress and water plants on top.

Will this work?

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...
I am disabled, and can't clean filters easily, so I am planning on
making a veggie filter from a large water trough (Tractor Supply).
Planning on rocking this in, with a roof, so that it looks like a
wishing well...
This trough has an opening at the bottom for draining water.
I am planning on having water pumped from my pond into the top, so
that it trickles down to the bottom and back into the pond.
I figure lava rock on the bottom, then a layer of gravel, then a layer
of barley straw, with water cress and water plants on top.

Will this work?

GG,

Any amount of dense rooted plants will work well in a VF. I love Hyacinth,
and Ingrid has had fantastic succes with celery. Water cress in a moving
body of water will grow like wildfire, but does not have as dense a root
system as the WH or the celery.

I think your idea is great, except for one thing. Eventually that rock will
get clogged up. How will you clean it?

BV.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

Any amount of dense rooted plants will work well in a VF. I love Hyacinth,
and Ingrid has had fantastic succes with celery. Water cress in a moving
body of water will grow like wildfire, but does not have as dense a root
system as the WH or the celery.

I will use hyacinth too... celery doesn't seem to grow for me. We have
some sort of nasty weeds in our livestock pond, so might get a few of
those and put in one corner of the trough.

I think your idea is great, except for one thing. Eventually that rock will
get clogged up. How will you clean it?

Everything is going to be enclosed in mesh bags, light enough for me
to lift out. (Hubby actually LOL)

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...

Any amount of dense rooted plants will work well in a VF. I love
Hyacinth,
and Ingrid has had fantastic succes with celery. Water cress in a moving
body of water will grow like wildfire, but does not have as dense a root
system as the WH or the celery.

I will use hyacinth too... celery doesn't seem to grow for me. We have
some sort of nasty weeds in our livestock pond, so might get a few of
those and put in one corner of the trough.

WH has always flourished for me. My celery is planted around the edge of the
pond. It thrives but does not seem to get roots as dense as the WH.
Hopefully Ingrid will chime in and mention how hers is planted. She has
celery that puts her WH to shame. I think Jim has the same results. I chaulk
it up to planting location. Mine is jammed into rocks around the pond,
whereas hers is in the VF.

I'd be wary of the weeds, until I knew what they were. They could end up
choking your VF. Remember, you want lots of plants in the VF, but you prefer
densely rooted plants.

I think your idea is great, except for one thing. Eventually that rock
will
get clogged up. How will you clean it?

Everything is going to be enclosed in mesh bags, light enough for me
to lift out. (Hubby actually LOL)

You may want to consider using lighter weight bio media, such as the stuff
that is commercially available. It'll cost you more, but save your back. I
am currently planning a trickle tower to be added to my VF, and when I do
it, I plan to use cross sections of PVC pipe. It'll be cheap. Easy to make,
and lightweight.

BV.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

An easy way to deal with watercress is to stick each stem of it thru a grid.
You can use any kind of grid - I used a grid that we bought at the hardware
store that is put into florescent lights. There may be some grids out there at
craft stores used for rug hooking or needle work.
I buy my watercress in bunches at the grocery store. One year I bought a whole
case, ten bunches for ten dollars, by talking to the produce manager.
Originally I floated the grids on top of my stock tank which backs the
waterfall. (make sure any thing floating has an 'anchor' to the edge so it
doesn't block the outflow.
Watercress grows lots of roots but they are fairly 'weak' meaning that they are
easy to pull out.
Right now I grow watercress attached to the rock in my waterfall. When I want
to weed it -
it is very easy to rip away.
Same with water celery.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

I'd be wary of the weeds, until I knew what they were. They could end up
choking your VF. Remember, you want lots of plants in the VF, but you prefer
densely rooted plants.

LOL These weeds are very deeply rooted. The tops fall over into the
water, and new plants sprout from the seed heads...found this out
after hubby had weed-eated partially around the pond and the weeds
were left in the water... gads!

You may want to consider using lighter weight bio media, such as the stuff
that is commercially available. It'll cost you more, but save your back. I
am currently planning a trickle tower to be added to my VF, and when I do
it, I plan to use cross sections of PVC pipe. It'll be cheap. Easy to make,
and lightweight.

bio media instead of lava rocks?

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

An easy way to deal with watercress is to stick each stem of it thru a grid.

I have plastic tat is perforated like pegboard that
I can use.

I buy my watercress in bunches at the grocery store.

I have access to a long ditch full of cress. Used it one year, a few
years ago in the falls.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

bio media can be bought online or at some nurseries that carry pond products.
they look like - um... let's see - hollow balls with.... spaces, well, that
doesn't make sense... remember the unfinished space station from Star Wars?
Like that. Kind of. ;-)

what works about them is that they have lots of surface area for bacterial to
grow on, are easy to clean as their spaces and hollows are larger than those in
lava rock which can clog up.

Other stuff that can work are plastic curlers, shredded packing tape, vinyl
screening - all rough surfaces, with lots of space inbetween, easy to clean and
light to lift.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...

I'd be wary of the weeds, until I knew what they were. They could end up
choking your VF. Remember, you want lots of plants in the VF, but you
prefer
densely rooted plants.

LOL These weeds are very deeply rooted. The tops fall over into the
water, and new plants sprout from the seed heads...found this out
after hubby had weed-eated partially around the pond and the weeds
were left in the water... gads!

You may want to consider using lighter weight bio media, such as the
stuff
that is commercially available. It'll cost you more, but save your back.
I
am currently planning a trickle tower to be added to my VF, and when I do
it, I plan to use cross sections of PVC pipe. It'll be cheap. Easy to
make,
and lightweight.

bio media instead of lava rocks?

Lava rock is a popular biomedia because it has so many nooks and crannies,
IE, lots of surface area for the biobugs. Artificial biomedia provides
similar surface area without the weight of the lava rock. In the past
ponders have used artificial biomedia like, bioballs, plastic forks, pieces
of pvc pipe, curlers, etc.

BV.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

bio media can be bought online or at some nurseries that carry pond
products.
they look like - um... let's see - hollow balls with.... spaces, well,
that
doesn't make sense... remember the unfinished space station from Star
Wars?
Like that. Kind of. ;-)

what works about them is that they have lots of surface area for
bacterial to
grow on, are easy to clean as their spaces and hollows are larger than
those in
lava rock which can clog up.

Other stuff that can work are plastic curlers, shredded packing tape,
vinyl
screening - all rough surfaces, with lots of space inbetween, easy to
clean and
light to lift.

This post brought to you by Kathy "Always One Post Ahead of BV" 30a.

;)

BV.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

BV wrote This post brought to you by Kathy "Always One Post Ahead of BV"
30a.

Actually that is
Kathy - Avoiding Medical Insurance Paperwork - 30a :-P





kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

Water Celery is a mainstay for my veggie/biofilter. I have the regular and
the variegated, though for me the regular( all green )seems to grow much
more vigorous. It will grow everywhere even on the ground, wherever it
touches. I have had so much excess I pull it up and give to a friend to
feed his ducks. They love it. Its roots get very thick and form a dense
matt when in the veggie filter. Mike

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

Water Celery is a mainstay for my veggie/biofilter. I have the regular and
the variegated, though for me the regular( all green )seems to grow much
more vigorous. It will grow everywhere even on the ground, wherever it
touches. I have had so much excess I pull it up and give to a friend to
feed his ducks. They love it. Its roots get very thick and form a dense
matt when in the veggie filter. Mike

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

ok, I will get WC also :)

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

What I have done is to have my pump in a bucket that has lava rock filling
the bucket and surrounding the pump. The water is pumped into a liner that
you can get at Home Depot which is meant to line a half oak barrel. It has
a lip on the rim for water to flow out of (which goes back into the pond
where it is pumped from). I grow my plants in this and it has worked very
well as a filtering system. The only work that has to be done is the plants
must be thinned on occasion since they really do flourish in this type of
set up and I have actually had the roots become such a solid mass that the
water cannot flow in and out properly without thinning. I have forgotten to
rinse out my bucket which as the lava rock for as long as two years without
any problem. As inexpensive as lava rock is you could just replace it every
year if you could not manage to do the work of cleaning it but you would
still need to get it in and out of the pond eventually.

Given that this works for me very well and sounds similar to what you are
proposing, your plan may work but I have never heard of a bottom drain
system. I would think that you might have a problem with getting really
clean water from this type of system and that you would have a build up of
gunk that had to be dealt with. I would think you would want the water
pumped in to be a very low flow rate... I don't know... just guessing on
this.


"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...
I am disabled, and can't clean filters easily, so I am planning on
making a veggie filter from a large water trough (Tractor Supply).
Planning on rocking this in, with a roof, so that it looks like a
wishing well...
This trough has an opening at the bottom for draining water.
I am planning on having water pumped from my pond into the top, so
that it trickles down to the bottom and back into the pond.
I figure lava rock on the bottom, then a layer of gravel, then a layer
of barley straw, with water cress and water plants on top.

Will this work?

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

Filtering water requires:
course filters to get out the larger particles. the drain is to remove this
stuff most efficiently because this stuff is most likely to clog the rest. furnace
filters and plain netting or screening is good for this. but best is when the water
slows down it drops the crud. some people use a separate tank with baffles to slow
the water and drop the crud, then the cleaned up water overflows to the next filter.
Big and little sister filters use easy to clean hanging brushes to pull the crud out,
slow the water which overflows to the other filters. there is an outlet on the
bottom of each chamber to flush the system.
medium filter. this needs to be cut in manageable size so it can
periodically be removed and cleaned easily. one of the best is open cell foam.
fine filter. this gets out silt. it is best it is disposable, so I think
polyester batting is excellent.
biofilter. this may be all of the previous filters (which then need more
routine care so they dont get clogged, OR, a veggie filter which removes ammonia --
nitrate from the water. The whole plant needs to be submerged OR the roots need to
be in the water flow for this to happen. a veggie filter must be in nearly full sun
at least part of the day.

In your configuration all the crud is going to be on top and you will have to lift
those heavy filters out and clean them. further, the weight of the water shoves the
fine particles down into (and thru) the filter material making it a lot harder to
clean. plants wont grow well if shaded.

your trough can serve if you start with the pond water flowing into the bottom of the
trough, moving up thru the course filters then thru the finer filters then thru the
veggies with a large overflow pipe that takes the cleaned water back to the pond. on
the bottom drain there is a T connection with a diverter so water from the pump is
turned off, the drain from the T is opened and the water in the trough is allowed to
flush the crud out a hose and away from the filter and pond.

My long veggie filter (14' with a bend in the middle) slows the water down so the
crud drops to the bottom. As the water flows down the filter it moves thru all the
roots that remove wastes and the finer stuff especially once the roots hit the bottom
of the filter. Ingrid

GrannyGrump wrote:
I am disabled, and can't clean filters easily, so I am planning on
making a veggie filter from a large water trough (Tractor Supply).
Planning on rocking this in, with a roof, so that it looks like a
wishing well...
This trough has an opening at the bottom for draining water.
I am planning on having water pumped from my pond into the top, so
that it trickles down to the bottom and back into the pond.
I figure lava rock on the bottom, then a layer of gravel, then a layer
of barley straw, with water cress and water plants on top.

Will this work?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

I dont plant it. I screw a plastic pot to the wood of the filter with the bottom in
the water and just put the celery in there. it sends roots out thru the pot and into
the filter. the cyperus is tied to the fence behind with the roots in the water.
Ingrid

"Benign Vanilla" wrote:
Hopefully Ingrid will chime in and mention how hers is planted.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

In your configuration all the crud is going to be on top and you will have to lift
those heavy filters out and clean them. further, the weight of the water shoves the
fine particles down into (and thru) the filter material making it a lot harder to
clean. plants wont grow well if shaded.

But top cleaning will be easier for me, by using a wet/dry shop vac to
clean with...

Guess I'll just have to play with it until I get it so it works for me
:)

Plants won't be shaded much.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

wrote in message
...
I dont plant it. I screw a plastic pot to the wood of the filter with the
bottom in
the water and just put the celery in there. it sends roots out thru the
pot and into
the filter. the cyperus is tied to the fence behind with the roots in the
water.
Ingrid
snip

You add a beer to that method, and I think you are infringing on my patent.
:)

BV.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...

In your configuration all the crud is going to be on top and you will
have to lift
those heavy filters out and clean them. further, the weight of the water
shoves the
fine particles down into (and thru) the filter material making it a lot
harder to
clean. plants wont grow well if shaded.

But top cleaning will be easier for me, by using a wet/dry shop vac to
clean with...

Guess I'll just have to play with it until I get it so it works for me
:)

Plants won't be shaded much.

I think you have a cool idea, but Ingrid is right. Whatever work you think
you will have, will actually be at least double. Let gravity do the work for
you if possible. Trust me, you'll be happy you did. My VF is only 12-18
inches deep, so by design it's easy to clean out. Now that the landscaping
is growing in though, it's not as easy as it should be. LOL.

BV.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my wet dry to
them and suction out crud. but actually it is easier to wait until fall when I pull
all the plants out. Ingrid

"Benign Vanilla" wrote:


"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
.. .

In your configuration all the crud is going to be on top and you will
have to lift
those heavy filters out and clean them. further, the weight of the water
shoves the
fine particles down into (and thru) the filter material making it a lot
harder to
clean. plants wont grow well if shaded.

But top cleaning will be easier for me, by using a wet/dry shop vac to
clean with...

Guess I'll just have to play with it until I get it so it works for me
:)

Plants won't be shaded much.

I think you have a cool idea, but Ingrid is right. Whatever work you think
you will have, will actually be at least double. Let gravity do the work for
you if possible. Trust me, you'll be happy you did. My VF is only 12-18
inches deep, so by design it's easy to clean out. Now that the landscaping
is growing in though, it's not as easy as it should be. LOL.

BV.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

Can you arrange a bottom drain? It makes crud removal so much easier.

Can you set up some sort of easy/light mechanical filter for the physical
stuff and let roots do the rest? Maybe screen in bags.

Our WH and celery both have great root systems. The celery is in a kiddie
pool and has its roots to the bottom. The pool is thus full of roots for
the water to work its way through.

Slow flow through the plants allows most of the muck to drop. The roots
collect muck and provide surface for bacteria. We think is is probably MORE
surface than lava rock. Think about a 5' x 1' mass of roots.

Cleaning plants is a lot easier than cleaning lava rock.

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...
I am disabled, and can't clean filters easily, so I am planning on
making a veggie filter from a large water trough (Tractor Supply).
Planning on rocking this in, with a roof, so that it looks like a
wishing well...
This trough has an opening at the bottom for draining water.
I am planning on having water pumped from my pond into the top, so
that it trickles down to the bottom and back into the pond.
I figure lava rock on the bottom, then a layer of gravel, then a layer
of barley straw, with water cress and water plants on top.

Will this work?

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

Can you arrange a bottom drain? It makes crud removal so much easier.

No. Cleaning from the top with a wet/dry shop is how I will have to do
it.

Can you set up some sort of easy/light mechanical filter for the physical
stuff and let roots do the rest? Maybe screen in bags.

I plan on using mesh bags to hold everything. Figure that is the
easiest for me to clean.


Our WH and celery both have great root systems. The celery is in a kiddie
pool and has its roots to the bottom. The pool is thus full of roots for
the water to work its way through.

Planning on these and cress too.

Slow flow through the plants allows most of the muck to drop. The roots
collect muck and provide surface for bacteria. We think is is probably MORE
surface than lava rock. Think about a 5' x 1' mass of roots.

That's what I think will be in the one I intend to make.

Cleaning plants is a lot easier than cleaning lava rock.

Have decided against lava rock. Previous experience shows me that it
isn't a good idea. :)

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

I'm late replying, sorry.

For the filter, if you can gently slope the bottom to the center or one
side/end, you can have the muck collect and be easier to vacuum.

Let us know how it works.

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...

Can you arrange a bottom drain? It makes crud removal so much easier.

No. Cleaning from the top with a wet/dry shop is how I will have to do
it.

Can you set up some sort of easy/light mechanical filter for the physical
stuff and let roots do the rest? Maybe screen in bags.

I plan on using mesh bags to hold everything. Figure that is the
easiest for me to clean.


Our WH and celery both have great root systems. The celery is in a
kiddie
pool and has its roots to the bottom. The pool is thus full of roots for
the water to work its way through.

Planning on these and cress too.

Slow flow through the plants allows most of the muck to drop. The roots
collect muck and provide surface for bacteria. We think is is probably
MORE
surface than lava rock. Think about a 5' x 1' mass of roots.

That's what I think will be in the one I intend to make.

Cleaning plants is a lot easier than cleaning lava rock.

Have decided against lava rock. Previous experience shows me that it
isn't a good idea. :)

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

I'm late replying, sorry.

That's okay :)

For the filter, if you can gently slope the bottom to the center or one
side/end, you can have the muck collect and be easier to vacuum.

I can do this.

I wonder how it would work if in addition to the above suggestion, if
I used something like a GIANT colander for the water to run into right
at the start, and then it would filter through and down...think the
muck would collect in that first?

Have decided to use a pre-formed pond (shallower than my original
planned trough) I have nothing in, for the filter, so will be working
on that this upcoming 3 day weekend...

Let us know how it works.

Will do!

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

You sure can use some sort of mechanical filter...coarse or fine or in
combination.

Lots of us use stuff like strapping tape to do that. Be sure that the
colander-equivalent is such that if it is filled/clogged, the runover will
still return to the pond. Otherwise, you empty the pond!

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...

I'm late replying, sorry.

That's okay :)

For the filter, if you can gently slope the bottom to the center or one
side/end, you can have the muck collect and be easier to vacuum.

I can do this.

I wonder how it would work if in addition to the above suggestion, if
I used something like a GIANT colander for the water to run into right
at the start, and then it would filter through and down...think the
muck would collect in that first?

Have decided to use a pre-formed pond (shallower than my original
planned trough) I have nothing in, for the filter, so will be working
on that this upcoming 3 day weekend...

Let us know how it works.

Will do!

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my
wet dry to them and suction out crud.

That makes me think of my aquarium undergravel filters. Your plan is
to feed from the bottom, which makes sense. This would require a
bottom grid held clear of the bottom, covered with small rocks, and
then the other media on top, with plants. Under the bottom grid would
be the feed pipe teed with a gate valve to a drain pipe. All the heavy
crud would fall to the bottom and could be removed by suction or the
drain. There would be an overflow at the top to return cleaned water
to the pond.
Does this sound workable?
--
Our filter is made of PVC pipe. Its covered with a cloth of some kind, and the
rocks are about a 1/2 a foot deep. There is a valve that we can use to drain
water from the pond, after stirring up the water. We also take our shop vac
and clean both levels of the waterfall, which are also filled with rock.








Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

no ...ugfs always run anaerobic after a little while. I have no media on the bottom
of my veggie filters. the stuff falls to the bottom anyway so it isnt needed Ingrid

(Crashj) wrote:

wrote in message ...
I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my
wet dry to them and suction out crud.

That makes me think of my aquarium undergravel filters. Your plan is
to feed from the bottom, which makes sense. This would require a
bottom grid held clear of the bottom, covered with small rocks, and
then the other media on top, with plants. Under the bottom grid would
be the feed pipe teed with a gate valve to a drain pipe. All the heavy
crud would fall to the bottom and could be removed by suction or the
drain. There would be an overflow at the top to return cleaned water
to the pond.
Does this sound workable?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Trickle down veggie filter ?
 

We do feed the veggie filters from the bottom of the pond. The barrels in
the berm are upflow and the vf ponds on the berm are top feed, top exit.
That is to say the water comes
from the bottom of the pond,
up through the barrels with strapping tape
in one side of the vf pond
through the pond
out the other side of the vf pond
down the waterfall
through the stream to the pond.

pics on our website

Ingrid is right about the bottom.

Our intake is the pump itself in a 5 gal bucket with 1/2' holes drilled all
over the sides. The limits what junk can get in. The bucket itself stands
on two bricks, holding it about 3.5" off the bottom of our 'deep well' (old
septic tank, bottom 7' under the surface). Once a year (in the warm-water
summer), Jim uses a pond net to pull junk that has accumulated in the well.
Once a year, (in spring before the plants are going) Jim opens the 2" bottom
drains of our berm vf ponds to drain the muck. He flushes with pond water.
None of the ponds have stuff on the bottom so we can drain easily and so
that we have a minimul of anaerobic space in the pond.

Phyllis

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

wrote in message
...
no ...ugfs always run anaerobic after a little while. I have no media on
the bottom
of my veggie filters. the stuff falls to the bottom anyway so it isnt
needed Ingrid

(Crashj) wrote:

wrote in message
...
I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my
wet dry to them and suction out crud.

That makes me think of my aquarium undergravel filters. Your plan is
to feed from the bottom, which makes sense. This would require a
bottom grid held clear of the bottom, covered with small rocks, and
then the other media on top, with plants. Under the bottom grid would
be the feed pipe teed with a gate valve to a drain pipe. All the heavy
crud would fall to the bottom and could be removed by suction or the
drain. There would be an overflow at the top to return cleaned water
to the pond.
Does this sound workable?



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