This pond is in front of porch and where everyone
walks that comes to front door. I can't imagine a
plastic letter crate in there looking very good. I have
to do something that is more hidden.

Any ideas with that in mind??
Thanks,
Lyn


"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...


My largest filtered pond is a 150 gallon. I have
a Supreme mag drive pump that's worked well
for several years running 24/7/365. Tank
includes a lot of plants and five goldfish (all
in the 3" to 5" range).

I found a site that described how to make a
filter. I can't find the site again but maybe I
can describe the filter.

Start with one of those plastic letter crates you
can find pretty much anywhere (Wal-Mart,
Office Depot, etc. etc.). Buy some plain
blue furnace filter, none of the ones that are
antibactercial. (You want to encourage good
bacteria.) Cut to fit inside the crate. If you
want you can use some lava rock to add
more surface for the bacteria.

The pump goes inside the crate with a hole
cut in one end for the power cord, and
another hole in the top cover for the
fountain (if you use one and that's usually
recommended).

It took a few months for things to settle
while I cleaned the pre-filter (came with the
pump) about once a week. Eventually I
removed that and wrapped the pump in some
aquarium filter material (comes in a sheet, is
blue on one side, white on the other). Now
I clean the set-up maybe twice a season, and
my season runs from about Feb. to Nov.

I set my crate up on regular house bricks
to bring it up to the level I want for the
fountain. I also raised the "floor" of the crate
by sandwiching one layer of lava rock between
2 pieces of furnace filter. In the diagram
ff = furnace filter c = crate lr - lava rock
| & \/ suggest the fountain extension
=== outlines the pump

\ /
cff ff ff ff | |ff ff ff ff ffc
cff | | ffc
cff ===| |=== ffc
cff ======== ffc
cff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff c
cff lr lr lr lr lr lr lr ff c
cff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff c
ccccccccccccccccccccc

I'm hoping someone can do a better job
of explaining that!

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8