Filter Size??

Thanks. I've been reading and a lot of articles say not to clean them
anymore than you have to.Does that make sense?
"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...


Hi, was wondering if someone could tell me if I did the right thing here.
I
built a Biofilter for my pond.It is 12X7X2. The one I built is 9gal.
basically a square Rubbermaid box. The pump (1200gph) pumps into the
"top"
of box through an 18W UV light, then goes into filter through a 1 1/4"
thick
Med. filter pad. It works its way down through the filter media. The
media
Hi Paul - IMHO, you have the right idea , but the filter is a bit small
and
will need cleaning more often than I would like - My pond is close to the
same size as yours with ~ 40 fish , but I use a 45 gal barrel with a 1200
gal pump (upflow design) and I need to "backflush" it 2 - 3 times a season
when it loads up (no UV, but the UV only helps with algae bloom anyway and
I
never have it when my filter is running) Also 1200 gal/hr is a lot for a 9
gal filter to work properly. You will know how it works when you test the
water, or to be safer go to a larger container and add media to it as you
need it (or get tired of cleaning it so often)
Gale :~)

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I've been reading and a lot of articles say not to clean them
anymore than you have to.Does that make sense?

Yeah, you need the bacteria build-up in the filter to balance your pond
water biologically - once that is achieved you will have clear water as the
algae bloom has nothing to live on and starves. Ergo when you clean the
media in your filter, you temporarily slow down the biological action in
your filter. I use scotch brite type pads (5 cu ft in a 45 gal barrel) and I
use chlorinated tap water to back flush during the season and to clean the
media for winter storage and have never had a problem even though you keep
reading you can't use tap water for this. I think it is because the pads are
fairly dense and you can't get them completely clean and they get back up to
speed quickly
Gale :~)

You use these pads and and cut them to however size you want and this is
your bio-media? Good idea.
"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I've been reading and a lot of articles say not to clean them
anymore than you have to.Does that make sense?

Yeah, you need the bacteria build-up in the filter to balance your pond
water biologically - once that is achieved you will have clear water as
the
algae bloom has nothing to live on and starves. Ergo when you clean the
media in your filter, you temporarily slow down the biological action in
your filter. I use scotch brite type pads (5 cu ft in a 45 gal barrel) and
I
use chlorinated tap water to back flush during the season and to clean the
media for winter storage and have never had a problem even though you keep
reading you can't use tap water for this. I think it is because the pads
are
fairly dense and you can't get them completely clean and they get back up
to
speed quickly
Gale :~)

You use these pads and and cut them to however size you want and this is
your bio-media? Good idea.

Hi Paul - www.grassrootsnursery.com in Michigan sells the pads in 1 cu ft
bags for about $18 - this would be cheaper than buying them in a store
Gale :~)