mess in pond

"G & K Meyer" wrote in message
...
I do have a uv light that the water goes though. Oh the pond is maybe about
1000gal.. Also use pond balance and sometimes microlift. I have a water
fall that two of the pumps feed, so don't that act as a filter? Thought the
more rock surface the water hit the better?

That is true. The more surface area that beneficial bacteria have to colonize,
the better the filtration will work. But, like I said before, UV light kills
bacteria as well as algae, so I am not a big believer in it. I prefer to
balance the natural cleaning system of the pond rather than resort to major
surgery with a UV filter. On the other hand, UV also kills pathogens, so it is
something to consider. Microlift is good, but I find that the powder (aquazyme)
works at least as good if not better, and is cheaper (no I don't have stock in
that company).

Also what I am going to do is use a milk crate put filter material then
varied sized rock around the pumps. Is this the bio type filter that I hear
about using?

It depends on the type of filter media. If you are referring to fiber material,
that is really more of a mechanical filter than a biological filter. By the
time bacteria colonize the fiber filter media, it gets clogged, and requires
cleaning, which invariably disrupts the filter. Read my recent post to
"destroyallx" about biological filtration. Even with a biological filter, it is
a good idea to have mechanical filtration as well. You should always have
something to pre-filter the water with before it enters the pump. You don't
want lines and pumps clogging with gunk. It is always a pain. Just make sure
that however you do it that it is easy to maintain. Since my system finally
balanced out this spring, I've only had to clean the pre-filter once.

We do have five pumps but only use 3 most of the time. The other two are
to just add more sound and volume once and awhile.
Thanks for the help.

If you have filtration, make sure the pump that supplies water to it stays on
all the time. If it doesn't, the bacteria in the filter will die, making it
pretty much useless. Oh, by the way, great picture. I like my pond better
(only because I can get really close to the fish to feed them - to the point
that my catfish will thoroughly soak me if I spook him while I'm feeding him -
he's about 2 feet long, or so), but your water course and all the rocks, and the
high drop is really a fabulous touch, especially the red rock. Unfortunately, I
don't have room for that kind of thing. You really spent a lot of money on that
one. You don't sleep in the dog house these days, do you? lol