Click 'SHOW MORE' for full video description + links - Watch in HD. Decent set of 4 plastic boxes: geni.us/iGvq Stronger option for larger filters: geni.us/tBdZg Biohome and Pumice: www.filterpro.co.uk The shower filter set up on outdoor aquarium: ua-cam.com/video/EL9HR_Y3-40/v-deo.html 'How To' video showing the building of a very effective and extremely cheap shower filter for a fish pond. The media types in this video are as follows: Flocor = a very cheap and quite ineffective plastic media in any situation. Supports aerobic bacteria. Large Hel-x = a quite effective plastic media for a shower filter but more suitable for a large moving bed filter. Supports aerobic bacteria. Hel-x 13 = decent media for a shower filter but like other plastic media it only really supports aerobic bacteria. Good alternative to K1 in a moving bed filter as it has 40% more surface area per volume. Gravel = it is definitely not the best natural media but is better than plastic. Supports mainly aerobic bacteria as it tends to be not very porous. Alfagrog = A decent cheap ceramic media which does quite well in a shower filter. Good surface area but poor porosity so it takes ages to build up anaerobic bacteria. However it will support both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria when well established which could take a year or so to affect nitrates. Pumice = a great natural filter media if the correct type is selected. The pumice I used in this video came from a supplier specialising in pumice for drinking water purification so it has an excellent reliable internal structure. Will support a decent balance of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria for nitrate reduction. Biohome Ultra = A sintered glass filter media which was created for use in shower filters and large aquarium sumps. Effective in fresh or salt water and its internal structure is perfect for supporting aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in great balance so is the best choice if the aim of the filter is full cycle filtration (nitrate reduction). I sell some of the media types above on my website here: www.filterpro.co.uk FILMING EQUIPMENT: Panasonic HC-VX870 geni.us/3UwE Rode stereo microphone: geni.us/4OL Rode deadcat mic cover: geni.us/1pmn If you have found this video useful feel free to share it anywhere you think other people may benefit from viewing it. Check out the nation of other aquatic videos on my channel. Thanks for watching. Pondguru.
@@Steves_fish Yes less is more as far as numbers of containers go but this video is simply to demonstrate that something can be made very cheaply using boxes bought from discount stores. My choice for a 'proper' sized shower would definitely be the traditional long containers and you're right - the smaller a system is the more need there is for overflow(s). It's definitely good advice to have a spare similar sized pump for any system whether that is indoors or outdoors as it is the heart of the system.
Mr.PondGuru just really wanted you to know that without your video I would have just ended up with a big muddy hole with adequate water. Now thanks to your filtration concept I finally have crappie, bream, and other sunfish actually breeding like drunk rabbits during the apocalypse! Thank you and God bless.
Just finished putting this on my pond, 2500 litre raised sleeper goldfish pond. Have the pump connected to a pressure filter then on to the DIY shower which is 4 boxes high and has about 20-25 kilo of alfagrog. So delighted with it so far.
+MA FishGuy I probably won't do many but I will definitely be spending less of my free time metal detecting so there will be a more varied amount of topics on the channel. One thing which will be coming will be a quick-fire Q&A on aquariums and one on ponds too as hopefully those videos will save people trawling through all the older videos for information.
After watching this video decided to give this trickle filter a go. What can I say absolutely brilliant, the difference after only 5 days running are amazing (just wish I could post before and after photos. I used 3 sponges in top box then mature alfagog from my old filter in other 4 boxes, with a flow rate of 5000lph water is crystal clear without a uv purifier. Great videos Pond Guru, become a bit of an addict during lockdown, not jealous of your pond at all.........😜😜
If you liked this one then you will love the one I will be making this week as it is portable and has a much smaller footprint (and uses the new shower media which takes up so much less volume than traditional media).
PLEASE can you tell us if all the boxes have the same inside, if not the box with the expensive stuff in it is that at the top or bottom of the stack? excuse the lack of education on this, but i am new to pond keeping.
Hey partner. Just wanted to drop in and say much obliged for this how-to. Your method, design and instruction saved our 1800 gallon koi pond here on the Gulf of Mexico. Anybody who cares about their fishstock can take what this fella has to say as the gospel truth. If you ever wind up in our neck of the woods down the trail, gimme a holler. I owe you a whole lotta longnecks and a touch of whiskey.
Brilliant detail until the last couple of minutes! Which box did you put the filters and media in? I'm assuming top one so you can easily access it to clean it, and then all boxes below just have media in them?
This looks like a great DIY filter, I've seen a few on UA-cam, but this may be one of the best (if not the best). I haven't made any of them though because I always have one question that never seems to be addressed in the videos... How do you clean it??? The DIY filters often seem to be superior to anything you can buy for the money mainly because you can make it as good as you like. However, they all seem like they'd be difficult to clean. For this one, do you only clean the pads and leave the other media alone, or do you have to clean all boxes? Also, how do I know how big of a pump I can use without overflow my DIY filter?
I've been working on aquarium/vivarium projects on a much smaller scale but I LOVED your video!! super informative and I love your accent!!! hello from a new fan from the US!!
+Desirae Collins Great, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. This one really seems to be doing well and has been well received by viewers so I will do more on pond filtration ideas, no worries.
I have the same question as Hannah-marie Donovan and other viewers ---Quote ' 'PLEASE can you tell us if all the boxes have the same [media] inside, if not the box with the expensive stuff in it is that at the top of the stack? ' Fantastic video by the way, sooooo simple and very well explained. Love that you gave mm AND inches. I know you don't do many fish ponds anymore but if I ever won the lottery I dream of you creating a beautiful pond in my dream garden zzzzzzzz :))
Great video. I wrote on a blog from which I'm a member about your system, which I copied. I didn't use boxes, but a plastic chest of drawers (5 drawers) and it is working perfectly. I don't use strong pumps, but two that don't use much electric and made two of these trickle filters, which are running for more then 8 months now. The pond was green, but it soon turned back to a very clear pond. In the beginning I had to change the soft filtermedia or wash it out a lot, but now maybe once a month. Besides that I put an airstone connected to an airpump at one end of the pond, which is helping of course. Also I increased the filter time. I turned the filtering of at night, but now the pumps are running 24/7. The water looks so clean that I use it to cool off, swim between my fishes and feed them by hand! By the way I live in Thailand, so one of the concerns here is algea. My pond is divided into one big pond and some smaller basins, which are carrying above water plants. That's the only place green algea is growing. In the big pond itself there is except for some kind of growth of a spungy thick layer of whatever that sits only where there is a lot of watermovement no visible growth of algea. The fish help maintaining this pond.
That sounds great and I'm glad you used the principle idea of the shower filter to achieve better water conditions - good stuff and thanks for watching.
Great video. I see you put a bar in the bottom box on the outlet. I am having a 4 box shower and filling the first 3 with your media. Will I be ok just to have the tank connector on the bottom box as this will just be used as a settlement chamber Thanks paul
I have a 3-ft deep pond, and I could only see one inch below the surface with green algae, I made this filter and now I can see the bottom perfectly...only tip is don't forget to switch the pump off when it's freezing weather , as if it freezes in the box the pump will empty the pond by overflowing out of the side of the boxes
spent a lot of time looking at different styles and actually purchased items for another type until I saw this video. luckily I can stilll return that bucket and try this. Thank you
Hi. Youll know. I built one of these. Worked fine for months. For some reason now the filter is filling up slowly and overflowing the top? Any hints on likely causes please? No changes to flow rates etc, but something subtle is going on.
finally made this filter for my koi pond(that i watched and learned how to make from you back in 2013 at 14yrs old) and it made a huge difference in a day!!!! thanks for sharing this.
@@AsavageMustache it held up well. But I eventually shut my pond down. I recommend painting the outside of the containers so it doesnt get sun damaged over time. Or put under shade if you can.
hi , so pleased you kept this video up . I'm just about to copy your shower , ive just ordered 3kg of your Biohome ultra from you . i'll be making up the shower box's over the weekend . Geoff
I love ..love love your video. They have been so much help. I've struggled with my koi pond now for years.. 6 or more keeping it clean and functioning, sad to say purchasing koi each year. l finally slowed down long enough to research the web and found your video.. yahhh. its so refreshing to find a successful way of maintaining my pond [ponding] ..lol. l was so jealous of the koi ponds i'd see when out at various Japanese Steak houses.. clean, clear water and huge koi...so that motivated me to do some research.. l plan to duplicate the system in this video with exact same size containers.. My pond outdoor pond is 5'x7'x1.5'. Are all the containers filled with bio-home media . if so how many pounds should i purchase for this system.
+bsessley55 It sounds like you are in the US. The US supplier of Biohome is www.greatwaveeng.com and he will be able to work out cubic inches and pounds needed no worries. I am actually going to use only 2-3 containers for my 800 litre external aquarium and only one will have the biohome in. The other 1 or 2 will be filled with the pumice media as I will be keeping crayfish in the tank and I want the water to have an elevated pH and a good level of mineralisation for them. Glad you enjoy the video and if by chance you're in the UK just give me details of the container sizes and I will work out how much you'll need no worries. If you're in the US Don from Greatwave can work out that and supply the media no problem.
To you have to put filter in everybody that stacked we need 2 boxes so would it be filter on topbox then hole pipe bottom box Cheers great video from council kev uk
On every commercial filter I've seen, the water from the pond enters the media first, then passes through the foam mats. In this design those top mats would get clogged up in no time at all. So I'm assuming you don't put a filter mat in the top box, just media ? Or you could put a coarse mat at the bottom of the top box, but that would be the same as the top of the next box down. I'm going to make this and put my coarsest mat in the top of box 2, and finer mats in the top of each successive box. I'll also be putting a second outlet with a tap on (diverted away from the pond) for cleaning off the media.
No worries, I'm sure there are other shower filter videos on UA-cam but I always like to give my own experience of certain things - thanks for watching and appreciating the videos.
i made mine 9 years ago never clean them always clean also i have a 100 gal stock tank as pre filter that's the one i flush once a week and fully clean once a year. i made a 1'' hole on each totes on the side on the top because shower needs good contact with air to make nitrates go down
I absolutely love your videos, so helpful! I had an idea I'd like your opinion on. Last summer I hand dug a 10ft x 5ft x 4ft deep pond. Before this I've never even owner a fish tank. Now that the ice has melted I've noticed a good bit of leaves in my pond. My idea was to use my wet/dry vac with a mesh bag inside to vacuum out the leaves while letting the bottom port on the vac open so the water could flow right back out. I only have 5 large (roughly 10in) fish in my pond who always avoid where I'm working in the pond so no little ones to be sucked up.. Do you think this could work to do my spring cleaning of the pond? Or maybe links to your own videos on pond cleaning. Thank you!!
Hi PondGuru - love your channel!! Regarding this DIY-SHower-Trickle filter, do all the boxes need to have media in them, and if so, which ones go on the topbox (inlet), middle, and bottom box(output)? I will have a go using three boxes for my small pond... Cheers...
built a pond that is just under 500 gallons that has a decent pump filter on it now with uv light and spray fountain for aeration but it also has a second hose valve that i would like to run to one of these. how many tiers do you suggest for a pond that size?
Great video as usual. I was wondering if you could show a picture of what the pond water looks like before it goes in and what it looks like when it comes out. I would guess that as the system becomes more active those results will probably be better but it still might be interesting. What is the maintenance on a system like this. Do you just need to clean/rinse the media pads periodically or do you also have to do something with what ever media type you choose? Thanks again for an easy to follow and economical project.
+Thom Lindgren Problem is that flowing water always looks quite clean and the real test will be looking in at the foams after the filter has been running a while. It is going to be set up on my outdoor aquarium with a mixture of biohome and pumice filter media so once it has been running a while I will do a water test and take a look inside on a future video. The foams should be the only things which need cleaning with the coarse and medium foams needing rinsing and muck removing. The fine white pad will be binned when it is clogged. Although a filter of this type will clean the water and can reduce nitrates unless it has a UV fitted before it it's unlikely to act on a green pond which gets many nutrients. Glad you enjoyed the video.
I’m thinking of doing this but instead of having them stacked underneath each other having them stacked in a staircase fashion so that I can grow plants out of the top do you think this will work?
always very good video pondguru. and nice explanation. again my fish tank working super good after I use you biohome media. no ammonia. also no nitrate and n. almost over one year. Regards Edwin
+Edwin Arroyo Great - that is exactly the outcome which should be achieved when a suitable amount is used so its good to hear. Thanks for watching and appreciating the videos.
Hey Rich good video as usual, I use bio home media and peat balls in my discus tank and I attribute some of my success to those two products enjoy all your vids
+walter otiepka Good to hear that things are going well. Unfortunately the quarry I get peat from is closed with no date to reopen so I can't get peat for the foreseeable future which is a real bummer as the peat balls were great.
Loved the video! I am just getting going on my outside pond. This is probably a dumb question, but am I supposed to put media in the bottom box as well?
There is really no reason not to. It is a choice really. As for the amount of filtration you would have to run the figures on the size of your pond and the type and number of fish and then you could make an educated guess as to how much media you need.
green standstill pond water....how about to get the pond water moving and use some UV-C light to make the green algue clump together so the filter can catch algue and you will get cristal clear water and the light wil kill tiny paracites aswell....and the sun can reach bottom of pond and you can se the fish down there aswell
+Richard skår I had a mega filter system planned for this pond but it is around 1,000,000 litres and would require way too much UV power to affect the water, plus the size of settlement chambers / mechanical waste removal would require something akin to a small treatment plant.
+jim walsh I used to manufacture wooden products using a nail gun so have had plenty shot through fingers and thumb. Those ring shank nails take some pulling out, lol
Absolutely awesome where have you been I’ve been looking for a video like this for so long thank you so much one question what pump nobody talks about pumps
Very useful information and very well explained, love watching your videos and find them very useful with helping me and my new pond construction. Thanks for posting. Stephen
Hi Richard, enjoyed watching your video, very good cheap one filter. You have many excellent ideas, going to check out your aquarium video now , very amusing cat. Just bought bio balls and ultra filter media. I've Having a lot of trouble with very high ammonia reading, done water changes over last four days. Reading was off the scale, but now down to 2.0 but still too high, I'm hoping the new media will get the anirobic bacteria going. Cheers from Dennis
+dennis frankland Ammonia should never be e problem with an aquarium once the filter has matured. The balls and new media will certainly help. Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching.
Hi Richard, do you have a video or instructions on how to design and make a simple homemade filter using the 44 gallon plastic blue drums? I have a 400 litre fish tank and find the 1200 litre/hr canister filter is not keeping up and not able to hold enough media to keep nitrate level low.
+Ted Nguyen I haven't done a video on making a filter from a large drum but the concept is exactly the same. Many people in the UK make moving bed filters from large drums but they would be better with a shower filter as moving beds seem to produce lots of nitrates. For 400 litres it would be easier just to add another canister filter?
Hi Richard I'm going building an above ground pond 1000 gallon and am going building a shower filter like this one. Was going to use 15kg alfagrog in 2-3 32ltr bins with a Blagdon force 8000 pump. Do ya think this is enough filtration? Pond will only be lightly stocked with koi and goldfish
Hello mucker... loving all the vids... i have just built my first pond, only small as my garden is tiny... i used a icb container so just over 1000 litres... i have a pump and filter that does 5000 litres so should be ok but would you recommend adding a shower filter?? Ps do you still metal detect 🤩🤩
Okay just about to do this. I got a few carbon pads and 3 grade media foam. The boxes i got are see through. Is that a problem for beneficial bacteria or should i spray them black?
Great video, Currently in the midst of making one for our 12000gallon pond. Is every box filled with the same media? Also will this help clear Algae? Our pond should be named Emerald pond because of its color.
Wondering if this helps with the floating algae common in the northeast US these days. I have a very large (6 acre) pond that needs aerating and algae management. Would different media help? Adding UV lights perhaps?
Great video. I've just acquired a large pickling drum to make a filter for my yet to build pond. Would you advise me to follow the same concept. For example: media, fine foam, med foam and course foam? Repeat repeat repeat? Would be a nightmare to clean. So maybe just lots of media at the bottom and the layers of foam on top?
Yes have all the foams on the top if you have a single container followed by the media underneath. That way the media will stay clean and the foam will be easy to clean. I am intending to make a shower filter with a wheelie bin very soon and it will just be single chamber whit media filling 90% of it and layers of foams on top. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Did anyone answer a question for me couldn't you just take a 55 gallon drum fill it full of your media for for a shower filters why do they stack for containers to make one
Yes it easily supports them as you haven't got boxes full of water weight, just wet media with water falling through it. That means that the weight is minimised.
+ratrod diesels Apart from all the invertebrates there is a nation of Rudd, a few Roach, Golden Orfe, possibly Tench and Gudgeon but I think the Otter has nailed all of the carp based species unfortunately.
They were just bits I had lying around but I think the inlet was quite small (20mm) and the outlet was around 40mm (could have been 50mm?) Outlet would always be much bigger than inlet when water flows out via gravity.
Thanks Richard another great filter example. Can you explain the benefit to separate boxes between the media. And why the shower effect between the boxes helps. Thanks D
+EastLondonKiwi Glad you enjoyed the video, man. Having separate boxes allows the filter to be made bigger / smaller for the size of the pond but more importantly it increases the chance of the water being well spread across the area of media contact. There is nothing wrong with a single chamber tall filter (like a wheelie bin) but there's a small chance the water would not cover all the media depending on the layout of media as water always takes the easiest route. Hope that makes sense.
You could do that no problem as long as any media didn't block the exit pipe. All the pipe extended into the bottom box does is increase the draining area to enable water to go through any of the holes drilled in the pipe to minimise chance of blocking the exit.
PG...great design for little money, I could out one box on my aquarium, get your sponge kit and Biohome and it would be a great filter at low price...thanks for the cool idea
If you have fittings designed for use with liner then yes no problem. If you search 'bottom drain for lined pond' on google you will find suitable products.
The time intervals between cleaning will depend on the size of filter and the size of pond (and stock of fish) so just go for the biggest filter you can afford and clean it whenever it needs cleaning (check after a month and extend beyond that until you hit the sweet spot for your situation). Yes, only t he top section would be cleaned since the rest of the filter would contain the filter media which stays clean enough to work efficiently.
I don't remember hearing you say if you put 3 pads and bio-home in EACH CONTAINER, what type of pump did you use, how did you keep large debris from clogging the pump, does this system get rid of sluge
Some people would use foams in every container but they are really only needed in the top box. I actually went on to use the biohome in the top box and the 30mm - 50mm pumice in the two boxes under that for the 3 box filter I now use on an outdoor aquarium here: ua-cam.com/video/EL9HR_Y3-40/v-deo.html Ideally you would have a solids handling pump ( e.g. Oase aquamax geni.us/4OQ ) and the filter would help clear the pond assuming that dirt was removed from pond by the pump. If you have loads of muck in the pond it may simply clog the foams quickly so if it is too dirty in the pond it would be best to remove most of the dirt and sludge before setting up a filter as that will be less frustrating than cleaning a filter every 2 days on a dirty pond. The filter is there more to keep a pond clean, not clean a pond with heavy sludge - hope that makes sense.
Brilliant video, another question here. I have got hold of quite an amount of lava rock for use in gas grills to keep the heating. Where would you rank those for use as bio media compared to alfagrog, pumice, biohome etc? Cheers
It is very similar to alfagrog - much heavier though as it can be very dense. It is a sort of volcanic rock called 'scoria' and very much like the white pumice but the white pumice has a much more suitable structure for bacteria. The scoria is definitely not as good as white pumice or biohome but I'd rate it on par with alfagrog.
great video. im making this exact shower at the moment. i have a 1800 gallon pond. i have a 10000lph pump would this pump be to much for this shower? thanks
Yes I reckon a 10000 lph pump would be way over powered for a filter of this size. The boxes would need to be twice as big or you would have to tee off the in pipe to control flow to the filter and send the rest down a cascade. This fitting is perfect for that: geni.us/0f10
What are the the connectors called that you fit the pipes into, the one where you drilled the big hole for, been trying to find them everywhere but no idea what their called. Think the yanks call them bulkhead fittings?
Hi buddy! I was impressed by your demonstration but I still have a question. As I see your pond is large enough and its aeration is efficient, naturally by the winds. What if the pond was small, in the backyard for example? Do you think the simple showering on the outlet of the bottom unit will be enough for pond oxygenation?
he used 5 for 2000 gallon. meaning one for every 400 gallons! thats crazy bro. Im over here worried about my 300 gallon lol. DId you use the same exact layout from coarse to fine foam in each of the layers? thats the only part i wanted more information on (doesnt make sense to add more coarse foam), like exactly what other material was used in the other layers and how much. thats all the questions i have any one who has info can respond thanks.
building one of these right now. I'm using a three tier system with slightly smaller containers (5 gallon each). It's only for a 300 gallon indoor pond. What size pond pump do you think I should go with for such a small pond?
It really depends on how the filter is made and how high it is lifting from water to top of filter so check the flow rates at whatever height your filter is. The flow through a shower will also be more critical if it is the only filter for the pond and if fish like a good flow / a good turnover rate is needed.
@@pondguru thank you for the reply and all of your helpful videos. The filter is going to be modeled exactly from yours, the pond stand two feet off the ground (its actually a galvanized stock tank with a pond liner in it), and i will build a pedestal for the filter so the drain can drip directly baack into the pond. Each container is approximately 1 foot tall for a total of a 5 foot rise (from bottom of pond to top plastic bin). I did plan on this shower filter being the only filter, but if needed I can add an aquaclear 110, or an fx6.
@@epicbeard3dman That sounds fine and should easily be enough for a 300 gallon pond - as the lift is 5' you'd probably need a 3500 - 4000 litre per hour pump for a decent flow through the trays.
thanks for a prompt reply. I've search so much... I'm a little confused.. most koi ponds i see do not have plant life in the water and i would like to have a few plants. will that be a plus or minus and add labor to the koi pond or help the eco system. Also do i still need a debris cleaning system for the koi pond .
+bsessley55 As long as you design the pond either with a bottom drain or to slope to one end the muck will be easy to remove. Most koi ponds won't have plants as the koi eat them so the planted zone would normally be sparate, after the filter to help with nitrates.
can I use only 3 boxes? top one with filter and biohome. middle with pumice rock,and bottom with bio balls media. I cannot add more boxes due to pond been raised above ground for 4 feet and roof restriction of the gazebo where pond in.thanks
Should the drain be empty without media? I'm trying a 2x 32 litre box variety for some ibc tanks and want to use as much bio filter as possible, so i'm figuring majority of my bio media need to be in the bottom chamber where the drain pipe is (as the top box if pretty filled with the filter foam mats. Or will this conflict with drain in any way?
I have a 3/4 acre mud pond. There's 500 koi in it approx. 3-8 inches. It's 6-15' deep. Will this improve my pond? There's an evaporation and replacement going on every month during Spring-Fall months. I'm trying to raise Koi to get a full 30 plus inches and lots of them.
+Edward White The same idea would work but you would need huge filters. If the pond is well planted and has a natural feed replanishing it then it should be a self sustaining ecosystem with no need for extra filtration.
Great video! I think it would be very interesting to see how this performs compared to say an Oase filtoclear, I would imagine when filled with Biohome that its filtering capability's are untouchable for it's price. I think this is defiantly going to be a summer project for me.
+ChRiSVII Even with alfagrog it will do an excellent job and with pumice it will do even better. Using biohome is kind of like saying to the filter 'if the water isn't perfect it's your fault' as it is better again. I actually swapped out some of the biohome for pumice and that will be running in an upcoming video. I wanted the water to be a bit higher pH and mineralised for my aquarium and although the biohome offers the perfect balance of aerobic / anaerobuc bacteria the biohome wouldn't do raise pH or mineralise water. The pumice could well be a great choice for a large koi pond. where a huge filter is required and cost is an issue.
Hi Richard Great video !! I am looking to build one of these for my pond . I am going to be using 27lt storage boxes very similar to what you have here .I am going to use pumice as the media for it the only problem I am having is trying to work out how much pumice to get .I want to use 4 times 27lt boxes and I can get 25kg of pumice could you help out with how much I would need to get Thanks Andy
Apologies for late reply, I've been on holiday the last week or so and internet access wasn't the best. Each 25kg bag of 30mm-50mm pumice takes up approx. 40 cubic litres so if you have roughly 100 cubic litres to fill that would be 2.5 bags - allowing for foams and space in top of boxes I'd say go for 2 x 25kg bags then if you need more you can add it at a later date - it is also available in 10kg bags too. I have drinking water quality pumice available here www.filterpro.co.uk but it is available in a variety of grades and prices online. I always go for the best quality of anything I am going to buy or sell.
Glad you enjoyed the video. The size of filter and amount of media required will depend on the stock in the pond but I am assuming a heavy fish stock (koi?) so if you are going the DIY route something about the size of a standard wheelie bin would be great for a trickle filter. You'd need a UV before it of about 100w and the filter (if made from a wheelie bin or stacked boxes of similar size) would hold around 100kg of pumice which seems to be the best media for performance and price balance. What filter do you have on the pond at present?
Thank you. What is your opinion on the use of a diffuser over course gravel, over medium gravel, over sand as the medium then a seperator fabric over some small gravel to go around the drain pipe?
+Mark Kurtis Just about anything can be used as a media and that all sounds plausible but I would avoid using sand unless you have a very slow flow rate or the sand is very coarse.
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Click 'SHOW MORE' for full video description + links - Watch in HD.
Decent set of 4 plastic boxes: geni.us/iGvq
Stronger option for larger filters: geni.us/tBdZg
Biohome and Pumice: www.filterpro.co.uk
The shower filter set up on outdoor aquarium: ua-cam.com/video/EL9HR_Y3-40/v-deo.html
'How To' video showing the building of a very effective and extremely cheap shower filter for a fish pond.
The media types in this video are as follows:
Flocor = a very cheap and quite ineffective plastic media in any situation. Supports aerobic bacteria.
Large Hel-x = a quite effective plastic media for a shower filter but more suitable for a large moving bed filter. Supports aerobic bacteria.
Hel-x 13 = decent media for a shower filter but like other plastic media it only really supports aerobic bacteria. Good alternative to K1 in a moving bed filter as it has 40% more surface area per volume.
Gravel = it is definitely not the best natural media but is better than plastic. Supports mainly aerobic bacteria as it tends to be not very porous.
Alfagrog = A decent cheap ceramic media which does quite well in a shower filter. Good surface area but poor porosity so it takes ages to build up anaerobic bacteria. However it will support both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria when well established which could take a year or so to affect nitrates.
Pumice = a great natural filter media if the correct type is selected. The pumice I used in this video came from a supplier specialising in pumice for drinking water purification so it has an excellent reliable internal structure. Will support a decent balance of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria for nitrate reduction.
Biohome Ultra = A sintered glass filter media which was created for use in shower filters and large aquarium sumps. Effective in fresh or salt water and its internal structure is perfect for supporting aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in great balance so is the best choice if the aim of the filter is full cycle filtration (nitrate reduction).
I sell some of the media types above on my website here: www.filterpro.co.uk
FILMING EQUIPMENT:
Panasonic HC-VX870 geni.us/3UwE
Rode stereo microphone: geni.us/4OL
Rode deadcat mic cover: geni.us/1pmn
If you have found this video useful feel free to share it anywhere you think other people may benefit from viewing it.
Check out the nation of other aquatic videos on my channel.
Thanks for watching.
Pondguru.
@@Steves_fish Yes less is more as far as numbers of containers go but this video is simply to demonstrate that something can be made very cheaply using boxes bought from discount stores. My choice for a 'proper' sized shower would definitely be the traditional long containers and you're right - the smaller a system is the more need there is for overflow(s).
It's definitely good advice to have a spare similar sized pump for any system whether that is indoors or outdoors as it is the heart of the system.
Thanks for explaining biological aspect and showing diff media types. Question: do all boxes in system contain same media as the one box you showed?
Mr.PondGuru just really wanted you to know that without your video I would have just ended up with a big muddy hole with adequate water. Now thanks to your filtration concept I finally have crappie, bream, and other sunfish actually breeding like drunk rabbits during the apocalypse! Thank you and God bless.
Just finished putting this on my pond, 2500 litre raised sleeper goldfish pond. Have the pump connected to a pressure filter then on to the DIY shower which is 4 boxes high and has about 20-25 kilo of alfagrog. So delighted with it so far.
Didnt realize you were back at doing fish videos so glad you are. Something awesome to watch on youtube again. Thank you Pond Guru
+MA FishGuy I probably won't do many but I will definitely be spending less of my free time metal detecting so there will be a more varied amount of topics on the channel.
One thing which will be coming will be a quick-fire Q&A on aquariums and one on ponds too as hopefully those videos will save people trawling through all the older videos for information.
After watching this video decided to give this trickle filter a go.
What can I say absolutely brilliant, the difference after only 5 days running are amazing (just wish I could post before and after photos.
I used 3 sponges in top box then mature alfagog from my old filter in other 4 boxes, with a flow rate of 5000lph water is crystal clear without a uv purifier.
Great videos Pond Guru, become a bit of an addict during lockdown, not jealous of your pond at all.........😜😜
hands down the best pond filter build on UA-cam!!!! beautiful pond too!!!
If you liked this one then you will love the one I will be making this week as it is portable and has a much smaller footprint (and uses the new shower media which takes up so much less volume than traditional media).
PLEASE can you tell us if all the boxes have the same inside, if not the box with the expensive stuff in it is that at the top or bottom of the stack? excuse the lack of education on this, but i am new to pond keeping.
Hey partner. Just wanted to drop in and say much obliged for this how-to. Your method, design and instruction saved our 1800 gallon koi pond here on the Gulf of Mexico. Anybody who cares about their fishstock can take what this fella has to say as the gospel truth. If you ever wind up in our neck of the woods down the trail, gimme a holler. I owe you a whole lotta longnecks and a touch of whiskey.
I Assume that all the other boxes have the same filter material? Correct?
Brilliant detail until the last couple of minutes! Which box did you put the filters and media in? I'm assuming top one so you can easily access it to clean it, and then all boxes below just have media in them?
This looks like a great DIY filter, I've seen a few on UA-cam, but this may be one of the best (if not the best). I haven't made any of them though because I always have one question that never seems to be addressed in the videos...
How do you clean it???
The DIY filters often seem to be superior to anything you can buy for the money mainly because you can make it as good as you like. However, they all seem like they'd be difficult to clean. For this one, do you only clean the pads and leave the other media alone, or do you have to clean all boxes?
Also, how do I know how big of a pump I can use without overflow my DIY filter?
I've been working on aquarium/vivarium projects on a much smaller scale but I LOVED your video!! super informative and I love your accent!!! hello from a new fan from the US!!
+Desirae Collins Great, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. This one really seems to be doing well and has been well received by viewers so I will do more on pond filtration ideas, no worries.
I have the same question as Hannah-marie Donovan and other viewers ---Quote '
'PLEASE can you tell us if all the boxes have the same [media] inside, if not the box with the expensive stuff in it is that at the top of the stack? '
Fantastic video by the way, sooooo simple and very well explained. Love that you gave mm AND inches.
I know you don't do many fish ponds anymore but if I ever won the lottery I dream of you creating a beautiful pond in my dream garden zzzzzzzz :))
Great video. I wrote on a blog from which I'm a member about your system, which I copied. I didn't use boxes, but a plastic chest of drawers (5 drawers) and it is working perfectly. I don't use strong pumps, but two that don't use much electric and made two of these trickle filters, which are running for more then 8 months now. The pond was green, but it soon turned back to a very clear pond. In the beginning I had to change the soft filtermedia or wash it out a lot, but now maybe once a month.
Besides that I put an airstone connected to an airpump at one end of the pond, which is helping of course. Also I increased the filter time. I turned the filtering of at night, but now the pumps are running 24/7.
The water looks so clean that I use it to cool off, swim between my fishes and feed them by hand! By the way I live in Thailand, so one of the concerns here is algea. My pond is divided into one big pond and some smaller basins, which are carrying above water plants. That's the only place green algea is growing. In the big pond itself there is except for some kind of growth of a spungy thick layer of whatever that sits only where there is a lot of watermovement no visible growth of algea. The fish help maintaining this pond.
That sounds great and I'm glad you used the principle idea of the shower filter to achieve better water conditions - good stuff and thanks for watching.
can you pls tell which water pump you are using
The pump was either an old Oase Nautilis 3000 or an Oasis 3500. Both old pumps from my pond building days and I'm not sure they are made any more.
Great video.
I see you put a bar in the bottom box on the outlet. I am having a 4 box shower and filling the first 3 with your media. Will I be ok just to have the tank connector on the bottom box as this will just be used as a settlement chamber
Thanks paul
Hi, your video helped me a lot!!! Thanks so much.
Question: What water pump you use?
I have a 3-ft deep pond, and I could only see one inch below the surface with green algae, I made this filter and now I can see the bottom perfectly...only tip is don't forget to switch the pump off when it's freezing weather , as if it freezes in the box the pump will empty the pond by overflowing out of the side of the boxes
spent a lot of time looking at different styles and actually purchased items for another type until I saw this video. luckily I can stilll return that bucket and try this. Thank you
Hi. Youll know. I built one of these. Worked fine for months. For some reason now the filter is filling up slowly and overflowing the top? Any hints on likely causes please? No changes to flow rates etc, but something subtle is going on.
finally made this filter for my koi pond(that i watched and learned how to make from you back in 2013 at 14yrs old) and it made a huge difference in a day!!!! thanks for sharing this.
No worries and that is awesome to hear. I'm glad when people have great filtration on their pond as the fish will benefit from that.
How did it hold up as I'm lokong at making 1 for my 1st koi pond at 11000 litres
@@AsavageMustache it held up well. But I eventually shut my pond down. I recommend painting the outside of the containers so it doesnt get sun damaged over time. Or put under shade if you can.
@@TheDeedsta appreciated
When I have a bad day I play the part several times from 15:28 to 15:34, tears in my eyes with laughter ... My day goes all the way hahahaha 😎😄
hi , so pleased you kept this video up . I'm just about to copy your shower , ive just ordered 3kg of your Biohome ultra from you . i'll be making up the shower box's over the weekend . Geoff
How's the water going into the bucket from the top thanks for your videos
Awesome stuff!!! What makes the water crystal clear? Is it the bigger the pump? or the bigger the bucket? Thanks for the info...
I am very interested in your shower filter. However, you didn't say what filter material your put in the other four tanks. Thanks, Bill
I love ..love love your video. They have been so much help. I've struggled with my koi pond now for years.. 6 or more keeping it clean and functioning, sad to say purchasing koi each year. l finally slowed down long enough to research the web and found your video.. yahhh. its so refreshing to find a successful way of maintaining my pond [ponding] ..lol. l was so jealous of the koi ponds i'd see when out at various Japanese Steak houses.. clean, clear water and huge koi...so that motivated me to do some research.. l plan to duplicate the system in this video with exact same size containers.. My pond outdoor pond is 5'x7'x1.5'. Are all the containers filled with bio-home media . if so how many pounds should i purchase for this system.
+bsessley55 It sounds like you are in the US. The US supplier of Biohome is www.greatwaveeng.com and he will be able to work out cubic inches and pounds needed no worries.
I am actually going to use only 2-3 containers for my 800 litre external aquarium and only one will have the biohome in. The other 1 or 2 will be filled with the pumice media as I will be keeping crayfish in the tank and I want the water to have an elevated pH and a good level of mineralisation for them.
Glad you enjoy the video and if by chance you're in the UK just give me details of the container sizes and I will work out how much you'll need no worries. If you're in the US Don from Greatwave can work out that and supply the media no problem.
One word ( Brilliant) thank you for sharing your knowledge.
To you have to put filter in everybody that stacked we need 2 boxes so would it be filter on topbox then hole pipe bottom box Cheers great video from council kev uk
On every commercial filter I've seen, the water from the pond enters the media first, then passes through the foam mats. In this design those top mats would get clogged up in no time at all. So I'm assuming you don't put a filter mat in the top box, just media ?
Or you could put a coarse mat at the bottom of the top box, but that would be the same as the top of the next box down.
I'm going to make this and put my coarsest mat in the top of box 2, and finer mats in the top of each successive box. I'll also be putting a second outlet with a tap on (diverted away from the pond) for cleaning off the media.
im currently making a pond of 12500 liters how many tanks would i need for that ? loving your videos best iv found on the subject ty
every video I see from You, teach me more and more interesting things, just THANK U!!!
No worries, I'm sure there are other shower filter videos on UA-cam but I always like to give my own experience of certain things - thanks for watching and appreciating the videos.
i made mine 9 years ago never clean them always clean also i have a 100 gal stock tank as pre filter that's the one i flush once a week and fully clean once a year. i made a 1'' hole on each totes on the side on the top because shower needs good contact with air to make nitrates go down
I absolutely love your videos, so helpful! I had an idea I'd like your opinion on. Last summer I hand dug a 10ft x 5ft x 4ft deep pond. Before this I've never even owner a fish tank. Now that the ice has melted I've noticed a good bit of leaves in my pond. My idea was to use my wet/dry vac with a mesh bag inside to vacuum out the leaves while letting the bottom port on the vac open so the water could flow right back out. I only have 5 large (roughly 10in) fish in my pond who always avoid where I'm working in the pond so no little ones to be sucked up.. Do you think this could work to do my spring cleaning of the pond? Or maybe links to your own videos on pond cleaning. Thank you!!
Awesome video. Thank you. I've seen a few others, but yours was detailed, visual, and straight to the point. Thank you.
No worries and I'm glad you found the video useful.
watching this in 2021 and such a great step by step build and has inspired me to build my own on my newly built indoor 1000 gallon koi pond 👍
Nice one, but how do you clean all the filthy things that comes in the filter?
Made this with 2 boxes and pumice stone the other day works great! thanks for the vid mate.
My question is do you only put media in the top container?
Hi PondGuru - love your channel!! Regarding this DIY-SHower-Trickle filter, do all the boxes need to have media in them, and if so, which ones go on the topbox (inlet), middle, and bottom box(output)? I will have a go using three boxes for my small pond... Cheers...
built a pond that is just under 500 gallons that has a decent pump filter on it now with uv light and spray fountain for aeration but it also has a second hose valve that i would like to run to one of these. how many tiers do you suggest for a pond that size?
Great video as usual. I was wondering if you could show a picture of what the pond water looks like before it goes in and what it looks like when it comes out. I would guess that as the system becomes more active those results will probably be better but it still might be interesting. What is the maintenance on a system like this. Do you just need to clean/rinse the media pads periodically or do you also have to do something with what ever media type you choose? Thanks again for an easy to follow and economical project.
+Thom Lindgren Problem is that flowing water always looks quite clean and the real test will be looking in at the foams after the filter has been running a while. It is going to be set up on my outdoor aquarium with a mixture of biohome and pumice filter media so once it has been running a while I will do a water test and take a look inside on a future video.
The foams should be the only things which need cleaning with the coarse and medium foams needing rinsing and muck removing. The fine white pad will be binned when it is clogged.
Although a filter of this type will clean the water and can reduce nitrates unless it has a UV fitted before it it's unlikely to act on a green pond which gets many nutrients.
Glad you enjoyed the video.
I’m thinking of doing this but instead of having them stacked underneath each other having them stacked in a staircase fashion so that I can grow plants out of the top do you think this will work?
always very good video pondguru. and nice explanation. again my fish tank working super good after I use you biohome media. no ammonia. also no nitrate and n. almost over one year. Regards Edwin
+Edwin Arroyo Great - that is exactly the outcome which should be achieved when a suitable amount is used so its good to hear. Thanks for watching and appreciating the videos.
Hey Rich good video as usual, I use bio home media and peat balls in my discus tank and I attribute some of my success to those two products enjoy all your vids
+walter otiepka Good to hear that things are going well. Unfortunately the quarry I get peat from is closed with no date to reopen so I can't get peat for the foreseeable future which is a real bummer as the peat balls were great.
Did I miss the part on connecting the pump ? ( From Vancouver )
Loved the video! I am just getting going on my outside pond. This is probably a dumb question, but am I supposed to put media in the bottom box as well?
There is really no reason not to. It is a choice really. As for the amount of filtration you would have to run the figures on the size of your pond and the type and number of fish and then you could make an educated guess as to how much media you need.
green standstill pond water....how about to get the pond water moving and use some UV-C light to make the green algue clump together so the filter can catch algue and you will get cristal clear water and the light wil kill tiny paracites aswell....and the sun can reach bottom of pond and you can se the fish down there aswell
+Richard skår I had a mega filter system planned for this pond but it is around 1,000,000 litres and would require way too much UV power to affect the water, plus the size of settlement chambers / mechanical waste removal would require something akin to a small treatment plant.
Oh and sorry about your finger hope all is well. Working in the cabinet field for ten years I know a little about those type of injuries. Good day.
+jim walsh I used to manufacture wooden products using a nail gun so have had plenty shot through fingers and thumb. Those ring shank nails take some pulling out, lol
This is similar to the Bakki Shower filter.What is the difference between a Bakki Shower and a Trinkle filter?
Absolutely awesome where have you been I’ve been looking for a video like this for so long thank you so much one question what pump nobody talks about pumps
Very useful information and very well explained, love watching your videos and find them very useful with helping me and my new pond construction. Thanks for posting. Stephen
I like your fabricating technique...use of the "calibrated eyeball"...
You showed what you put in your top box but not the others. Was it the same ceramic material?
Yes you would just fill them with biological media.
Hi Richard, enjoyed watching your video, very good cheap one filter. You have many excellent ideas, going to check out your aquarium video now , very amusing cat. Just bought bio balls and ultra filter media. I've Having a lot of trouble with very high ammonia reading, done water changes over last four days. Reading was off the scale, but now down to 2.0 but still too high, I'm hoping the new media will get the anirobic bacteria going. Cheers from Dennis
+dennis frankland Ammonia should never be e problem with an aquarium once the filter has matured. The balls and new media will certainly help. Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching.
i wonder if i can do this setup to reuse grey water.
Hi Richard, do you have a video or instructions on how to design and make a simple homemade filter using the 44 gallon plastic blue drums? I have a 400 litre fish tank and find the 1200 litre/hr canister filter is not keeping up and not able to hold enough media to keep nitrate level low.
+Ted Nguyen I haven't done a video on making a filter from a large drum but the concept is exactly the same. Many people in the UK make moving bed filters from large drums but they would be better with a shower filter as moving beds seem to produce lots of nitrates.
For 400 litres it would be easier just to add another canister filter?
You are the man. What a great idea for a cheap filter. well done for a great video again.
Do you know roughly how many lbs you used of the Biohome ultra did you only put it in the bottom container
What size pump can you use for this on a 300 gallon stock pond?
Hi Richard I'm going building an above ground pond 1000 gallon and am going building a shower filter like this one. Was going to use 15kg alfagrog in 2-3 32ltr bins with a Blagdon force 8000 pump. Do ya think this is enough filtration? Pond will only be lightly stocked with koi and goldfish
Hello mucker... loving all the vids... i have just built my first pond, only small as my garden is tiny... i used a icb container so just over 1000 litres... i have a pump and filter that does 5000 litres so should be ok but would you recommend adding a shower filter?? Ps do you still metal detect 🤩🤩
Okay just about to do this. I got a few carbon pads and 3 grade media foam.
The boxes i got are see through. Is that a problem for beneficial bacteria or should i spray them black?
No they will be fine if they are clear. Some people swear that bacteria will only grow in the dark but that is nonsense.
thanks for the fast reply
Up and running, added some filter bacteria to kick it off, thanks for making this tutorial :)
Awesome -best of luck with that.
Just finished shooting another video about shower filters today.
Great video, Currently in the midst of making one for our 12000gallon pond. Is every box filled with the same media? Also will this help clear Algae? Our pond should be named Emerald pond because of its color.
Great video thanks! So do you have the same media in all the chambers? Can anyone advise? Tnx
Hi, how do you secure them so an animal doesn't knock them over?
Wondering if this helps with the floating algae common in the northeast US these days. I have a very large (6 acre) pond that needs aerating and algae management. Would different media help? Adding UV lights perhaps?
Great video. I've just acquired a large pickling drum to make a filter for my yet to build pond. Would you advise me to follow the same concept. For example: media, fine foam, med foam and course foam? Repeat repeat repeat? Would be a nightmare to clean. So maybe just lots of media at the bottom and the layers of foam on top?
Yes have all the foams on the top if you have a single container followed by the media underneath. That way the media will stay clean and the foam will be easy to clean.
I am intending to make a shower filter with a wheelie bin very soon and it will just be single chamber whit media filling 90% of it and layers of foams on top.
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Did anyone answer a question for me couldn't you just take a 55 gallon drum fill it full of your media for for a shower filters why do they stack for containers to make one
One question , Can the bottom container handle the weight from all of the containers on top with the media plus water?
Yes it easily supports them as you haven't got boxes full of water weight, just wet media with water falling through it. That means that the weight is minimised.
Pondguru - Good Day. Love your videos. How can I add a UV filter to the DIY shower filter?
hello, do you keep the bakki shower running in the winter?
very clever what other amphibious species do you have in your pond
+ratrod diesels Apart from all the invertebrates there is a nation of Rudd, a few Roach, Golden Orfe, possibly Tench and Gudgeon but I think the Otter has nailed all of the carp based species unfortunately.
Hi great video I’m making one in a couple of days what I need to know is what is the name of the connection that goes for the inlet and outlet cheers
As far as I know it is just a tank connector (available in different sizes) but in the US they are called 'bulk head' fittings.
Pondguru hi what size is the inlet and outlet cheers
They were just bits I had lying around but I think the inlet was quite small (20mm) and the outlet was around 40mm (could have been 50mm?) Outlet would always be much bigger than inlet when water flows out via gravity.
Thanks Richard another great filter example. Can you explain the benefit to separate boxes between the media. And why the shower effect between the boxes helps. Thanks D
+EastLondonKiwi Glad you enjoyed the video, man.
Having separate boxes allows the filter to be made bigger / smaller for the size of the pond but more importantly it increases the chance of the water being well spread across the area of media contact.
There is nothing wrong with a single chamber tall filter (like a wheelie bin) but there's a small chance the water would not cover all the media depending on the layout of media as water always takes the easiest route.
Hope that makes sense.
Is there a benefit by having the large pipe in the bottom box?
Could it not just be a hole where the water returns to the pond?
You could do that no problem as long as any media didn't block the exit pipe. All the pipe extended into the bottom box does is increase the draining area to enable water to go through any of the holes drilled in the pipe to minimise chance of blocking the exit.
Pondguru Outdoors
Ok ,
Thank you.)
PG...great design for little money, I could out one box on my aquarium, get your sponge kit and Biohome and it would be a great filter at low price...thanks for the cool idea
Yes it makes maximum use of minimal space and could easily be used on an aquarium. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Can you fit a drain to a timber raised pond
If you have fittings designed for use with liner then yes no problem. If you search 'bottom drain for lined pond' on google you will find suitable products.
😅How often does it need to be cleared out of gunk? Is only the top catchment cleaned?
The time intervals between cleaning will depend on the size of filter and the size of pond (and stock of fish) so just go for the biggest filter you can afford and clean it whenever it needs cleaning (check after a month and extend beyond that until you hit the sweet spot for your situation).
Yes, only t he top section would be cleaned since the rest of the filter would contain the filter media which stays clean enough to work efficiently.
how much bio ultimate media need for 200 gallon aquarium
It's all a guesstimate. No one knows the exact answer.
I don't remember hearing you say if you put 3 pads and bio-home in EACH CONTAINER, what type of pump did you use, how did you keep large debris from clogging the pump, does this system get rid of sluge
Some people would use foams in every container but they are really only needed in the top box. I actually went on to use the biohome in the top box and the 30mm - 50mm pumice in the two boxes under that for the 3 box filter I now use on an outdoor aquarium here: ua-cam.com/video/EL9HR_Y3-40/v-deo.html
Ideally you would have a solids handling pump ( e.g. Oase aquamax geni.us/4OQ ) and the filter would help clear the pond assuming that dirt was removed from pond by the pump.
If you have loads of muck in the pond it may simply clog the foams quickly so if it is too dirty in the pond it would be best to remove most of the dirt and sludge before setting up a filter as that will be less frustrating than cleaning a filter every 2 days on a dirty pond.
The filter is there more to keep a pond clean, not clean a pond with heavy sludge - hope that makes sense.
Hi did you use the same media in all the containers.
what did yu stack into remaining boxes? thanks
Brilliant video, another question here. I have got hold of quite an amount of lava rock for use in gas grills to keep the heating. Where would you rank those for use as bio media compared to alfagrog, pumice, biohome etc?
Cheers
It is very similar to alfagrog - much heavier though as it can be very dense.
It is a sort of volcanic rock called 'scoria' and very much like the white pumice but the white pumice has a much more suitable structure for bacteria. The scoria is definitely not as good as white pumice or biohome but I'd rate it on par with alfagrog.
Great video, did you get around to connecting one to a pressure washer ?
I haven't got decent pressure filter yet unfortunately.
great video. im making this exact shower at the moment. i have a 1800 gallon pond. i have a 10000lph pump would this pump be to much for this shower? thanks
Yes I reckon a 10000 lph pump would be way over powered for a filter of this size. The boxes would need to be twice as big or you would have to tee off the in pipe to control flow to the filter and send the rest down a cascade.
This fitting is perfect for that: geni.us/0f10
What are the the connectors called that you fit the pipes into, the one where you drilled the big hole for, been trying to find them everywhere but no idea what their called.
Think the yanks call them bulkhead fittings?
I just know them as tank fittings and you'd get them from Plumb Centre or similar outlet. They should be available in push fit and also solvent fit.
Hi buddy! I was impressed by your demonstration but I still have a question. As I see your pond is large enough and its aeration is efficient, naturally by the winds. What if the pond was small, in the backyard for example? Do you think the simple showering on the outlet of the bottom unit will be enough for pond oxygenation?
he used 5 for 2000 gallon. meaning one for every 400 gallons! thats crazy bro. Im over here worried about my 300 gallon lol. DId you use the same exact layout from coarse to fine foam in each of the layers? thats the only part i wanted more information on (doesnt make sense to add more coarse foam), like exactly what other material was used in the other layers and how much. thats all the questions i have any one who has info can respond thanks.
building one of these right now. I'm using a three tier system with slightly smaller containers (5 gallon each). It's only for a 300 gallon indoor pond. What size pond pump do you think I should go with for such a small pond?
It really depends on how the filter is made and how high it is lifting from water to top of filter so check the flow rates at whatever height your filter is. The flow through a shower will also be more critical if it is the only filter for the pond and if fish like a good flow / a good turnover rate is needed.
@@pondguru thank you for the reply and all of your helpful videos. The filter is going to be modeled exactly from yours, the pond stand two feet off the ground (its actually a galvanized stock tank with a pond liner in it), and i will build a pedestal for the filter so the drain can drip directly baack into the pond. Each container is approximately 1 foot tall for a total of a 5 foot rise (from bottom of pond to top plastic bin). I did plan on this shower filter being the only filter, but if needed I can add an aquaclear 110, or an fx6.
@@epicbeard3dman That sounds fine and should easily be enough for a 300 gallon pond - as the lift is 5' you'd probably need a 3500 - 4000 litre per hour pump for a decent flow through the trays.
Will definitely be giving this a go. I'm sick of cheap and nasty ready made filters!
+Rachel Smith Best of luck with the build and thanks for watching.
Hello my friend, is it necessary that you use lids? Thanks in advance!!
thanks for a prompt reply. I've search so much... I'm a little confused.. most koi ponds i see do not have plant life in the water and i would like to have a few plants. will that be a plus or minus and add labor to the koi pond or help the eco system. Also do i still need a debris cleaning system for the koi pond .
+bsessley55 As long as you design the pond either with a bottom drain or to slope to one end the muck will be easy to remove. Most koi ponds won't have plants as the koi eat them so the planted zone would normally be sparate, after the filter to help with nitrates.
can I use only 3 boxes? top one with filter and biohome. middle with pumice rock,and bottom with bio balls media. I cannot add more boxes due to pond been raised above ground for 4 feet and roof restriction of the gazebo where pond in.thanks
Yes you can use as many or as few boxes as you want for a filter. As long as you have foams etc. in the top tray followed by media it's all good.
Should the drain be empty without media? I'm trying a 2x 32 litre box variety for some ibc tanks and want to use as much bio filter as possible, so i'm figuring majority of my bio media need to be in the bottom chamber where the drain pipe is (as the top box if pretty filled with the filter foam mats. Or will this conflict with drain in any way?
Omg wow!!!, perfect for my 2,000 liter koi pond. Thank you.
I have a 3/4 acre mud pond. There's 500 koi in it approx. 3-8 inches. It's 6-15' deep. Will this improve my pond? There's an evaporation and replacement going on every month during Spring-Fall months. I'm trying to raise Koi to get a full 30 plus inches and lots of them.
+Edward White The same idea would work but you would need huge filters. If the pond is well planted and has a natural feed replanishing it then it should be a self sustaining ecosystem with no need for extra filtration.
Great video! I think it would be very interesting to see how this performs compared to say an Oase filtoclear, I would imagine when filled with Biohome that its filtering capability's are untouchable for it's price. I think this is defiantly going to be a summer project for me.
+ChRiSVII Even with alfagrog it will do an excellent job and with pumice it will do even better. Using biohome is kind of like saying to the filter 'if the water isn't perfect it's your fault' as it is better again.
I actually swapped out some of the biohome for pumice and that will be running in an upcoming video. I wanted the water to be a bit higher pH and mineralised for my aquarium and although the biohome offers the perfect balance of aerobic / anaerobuc bacteria the biohome wouldn't do raise pH or mineralise water. The pumice could well be a great choice for a large koi pond. where a huge filter is required and cost is an issue.
Nice one Richard I can't wait to see this secret project with that massive aquarium!
Hi Richard Great video !! I am looking to build one of these for my pond . I am going to be using 27lt storage boxes very similar to what you have here .I am going to use pumice as the media for it the only problem I am having is trying to work out how much pumice to get .I want to use 4 times 27lt boxes and I can get 25kg of pumice could you help out with how much I would need to get Thanks Andy
Apologies for late reply, I've been on holiday the last week or so and internet access wasn't the best.
Each 25kg bag of 30mm-50mm pumice takes up approx. 40 cubic litres so if you have roughly 100 cubic litres to fill that would be 2.5 bags - allowing for foams and space in top of boxes I'd say go for 2 x 25kg bags then if you need more you can add it at a later date - it is also available in 10kg bags too.
I have drinking water quality pumice available here www.filterpro.co.uk but it is available in a variety of grades and prices online.
I always go for the best quality of anything I am going to buy or sell.
great video! I have a 6000 gal pond and wondering how many trays and what size pump to use for trickle filter?
Glad you enjoyed the video.
The size of filter and amount of media required will depend on the stock in the pond but I am assuming a heavy fish stock (koi?) so if you are going the DIY route something about the size of a standard wheelie bin would be great for a trickle filter. You'd need a UV before it of about 100w and the filter (if made from a wheelie bin or stacked boxes of similar size) would hold around 100kg of pumice which seems to be the best media for performance and price balance.
What filter do you have on the pond at present?
Good day, do you put media and sponges in every bin?
(my other channel) The foams only need to be in the top of the top box - everything below that can be filled with media of your choice.
Hi pondguru I'm new to pond keeping. I have been watching your videos . And wonder what pump you would use on the trickle filter. Many thanks.
Thank you. What is your opinion on the use of a diffuser over course gravel, over medium gravel, over sand as the medium then a seperator fabric over some small gravel to go around the drain pipe?
+Mark Kurtis Just about anything can be used as a media and that all sounds plausible but I would avoid using sand unless you have a very slow flow rate or the sand is very coarse.