First Pond Questions..

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fshfanatic

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Apr 7, 2006
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I would like to preface this post with a little background on myself. I have been in the hobby for over 30 yrs and worked in the industry off and on for almost as long. This is my first attempt at a pond and I am building a above ground pond with cinder blocks that will be holding about 300 gallons.. I will be going larger perhaps in a yr or two after I get my feet wet.

I am wondering about filtration, how large of a pump am I going to need? Is it similar to aquariums or higher/lower flow rate?
 

XanAvaloni

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Nov 13, 2009
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Well I said this the other day to somebody who was using a stock tank for a similar project: you are not making a pond, you are making an outdoor cement fishtank. Think of it that way first and do whatever you would to a tank that was glass and indoors and the same volume. Making allowances for the inputs you cannot control, primarily water top-offs and photoperiod. :)

Who was it last year who had an outdoor cement block project? I want to say PonderingKY but can't remember for sure. He homemade a filter, primarily to keep water circlating, and loaded the top with water hyacinth or somesuch plant. The intent was to start with a group of baby gouramis or similar fish, and harvest them as sellable-size fish in the fall. You might look through archives and see if you can find it, he had a lot of Lessons Learned that you might find helpful.
 

fshfanatic

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I saw this one, and quite frankly that is exactly what I am doing.. Except mine is not going to get direct sunlight for more than about 3-4 hours a day..
 

rainbowcharmer

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A skippy filter is an easy solution for pond filtration. From what I understand you want to turn the volume of the pond over at least once an hour, though I ended up going with a pump that is rated for about twice the volume of my pond. It will also be supporting a small fountain, as well as the filter though, and the head height will reduce the flow a little bit. So it will probably be closer to 1.5 times per hour for the filtration turnover. Photos of the build would be great! :)
 

fshfanatic

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I ended up ordering a Tetra FK6 filter kit which is rated at just over 1.5 times my volume. Should be here in a week.
 

garyfla

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Apr 23, 2010
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Hi
Depends on the primary purpose of the pool. have run an above ground 5x10 since 82 Use a rainwater purge system as a filter.
If you're going to have a lot of fish rather than plants consider it a large"aquarium'lol I also have a below ground 10x15 with a pressurized sand filter which is used primarily for fish so the management is very different .
I'm not familiar with any manufactured filters as I always used DIY. Good luck with your new setup!!! gary
 

Koilady

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Jan 15, 2005
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I've got a great diagram of a bio-filter, even some pictures of someone who did a step by step instruction on how to build one.
You never have to clean the bio-media, just backwash every month or six weeks and clean the window screening at the top of the filter when it gets dirty.

Yours Koily, Lorraine
 
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