I have one skippy covered with large flagstones. It will not affect the function of the skippy one bit. I will add a couple of things about skippys though. first....install a clean-out drain in them. They are VERY hard to keep clean without that drain. Also....do NOT buy into that line of crap on skippy's web site about never cleaning them. they actually claim that rotting fish poop turns into sand! That whole idea is simply insane. It is never good to leave the decaying material inside any filter for any length of time. it is unhealthy for the fish and is a breeding ground for harmful bacteria and parasites. I recommend cleaning them once a month or so. Personally....I clean my filters every few days in the summer, but then I don't use skippys for my primary filtration and my filters are a breeze to clean. When you clean them, don't wash the media with chlorinated water or it can harm the beneficial bacteria. You really don't want to disturb the media much, but do get the sludge that is building up rinsed out.

Sorry, I can't resist - I never clean my skippy. This is it's 3rd year. It's made from a lined 1/2 whiskey barrel with lava rocks and scrubies, with plants on top (no clean out drain). My pond is 300 ga and I have a 640gph pump running from pond (no skimmer, just a pre-filter)to skippy, which overflows back to the pond. It does a great job.

However - I have only eight 4-5" goldfish/comets, and lots of plants. And I turn off my pump and tip skippy on his side for the winter, storing the rocks and scrubies in the garage (frozen) for the winter. I do give the scrubies a quick rinse with the hose before storing, so that may count as one quick cleaning/year. In the spring I just put the same rocks and scrubies back in and start it up.

Works for me!

Ponding is a great hobby, and everybody gets to do it their own way :)

Sheepco,
Just wanted to say thanks for the help you gave me on my skippy last summer. It worked perfectly! Going to get it running again this weekend. Thanks again for all of the help.

{{gwi:186932}}
My Skippy Filter in a whiskey barrel.

I love it!! Sandy

summergardner, Nice to see it - beautiful! You're welcome, I'm glad it worked for you.

Are those purple sweet potato vines? Bare root or in a pot? How deep? I've GOT to try that! Thank YOU!

Thanks Sandy and Sheepco.

Yes, they are sweet potato vines. Bare root, just setting in the top of the Skippy. The roots tended to take over and tried to plug the exit. We had the skippy overflowing a few times because of this. I have to find a way to keep them back away from it. I have a small basket that I put over the drain area, but they would gravitate towards the opening because of the water flow. I may try some starter house plants in it this year. The potato vines grew like crazy! My floating hyacinths also flowered beautifully in it! (Their roots were part of the problem also.) The Skippy kept the pond the cleanest it has been in some time. "Hubby" is now sold on the Skippy! I think he was skeptical when I told him about them.

Any ideas on how to keep the roots from plugging the exit? I really like having the plants in there.

Just started up my pond a week ago- same setup (1/2 barrel)as sheepco, but about 750 Gal pond. I did exactly the same thing over the winter. All 19 fish survived! Pond water is turning a little cloudy now. I will add w.hyacinth to filter soon, as well as other plants to pond. Didn't start the pond til late summer last year, so still in my first "cycle". Any suggestions on clearing the water?

With time the cloudiness should clear. If it is discoloration rather than suspended matter use a bag of Activated Charcoal placed in the water flow. AC solves a lot of problems. Sandy

Yeah, unfortunately the algae grows sooner than the other plants, so it takes a bit to clear the water each spring, but once the plants start growing it gets better.

summergardener, I have plants trying to clog the outflow too, and last summer I had a submerged barley bale in the way to block most of them. Since that didn't prevent string algae (I don't have alot anyway), this year I was thinking the basket idea. I guess I'm out there poking around alot anyway, so I just rip a few roots out of the way :)but I had it run over once too.

I just built a skippy BUT I could not find an oval shaped tank for the life of me. So I had to get the boxy one.. I know it said not to on the instructions, but I had to do something. I will keep looking and switch it out for sure. After seeing that picture I am mad at myself for not buying the half barrel and making one that size! Maybe next spring.. Anyway, Does anyone know if I still need to add beneficial bacteria even though my pond has been around and sustaining all kinds of life for a year now? and i have heard two things now, clean the skippy, don't clean the skippy. can we vote on this? does it matter how big the pond is? i have a very mucky pond (but it's pretty like that) and am only worried about the ammonia levels. other than that, i don't care, i dont need it crystal clear, it only makes it easier for the raccoons to find my buddies!

So bacteria in an established pond?
Clean or don't?

I would probably want to get the crap out of the bottom and not disturb the filter media but i forgot to make a drain valve! shopvac? small pump? help?

thanks!

I've never added bacteria, but I do go thru about a 2 week period each spring of slightly murky water. The water temp is still cold here so store bought bacteria won't grow any better than what's already in there IMO. But lots of folks here do add it each spring.

BTW, the Dollar Store here sells heavy plastic tubs (like a 1/2 whiskey barrel liner) for $6, they even come in dark green. Or try a farm supply type store that sells livestock tanks. Freeland brand is cheaper than Rubbermaid and seems to be of equal quality (I've used them for years for the sheep), and some have other off brands (they may not be as tough, I haven't tried one).

can someone please post me a list of the things you used in your home made skippy...

such as the scrubbies...what kind did you use..
etc ..etc ...

pictures would be a great plus for me as i am a visuale learner..
thanks

I know this won't be a popular thing here, but I am not a big fan of the skippy. Or any upflow filter for that matter. They work ok for small ponds with very small stocking levels (translation: just a few goldfish), but once you get into larger ponds with bigger fish, like koi, and more waste, the skippy simply doesn't make the grade.

I am a BIG fan of the downflow filter with a spray bar. Easy to build and very cheap. The pump sends water up to the top and showers it over the media. It flows down and goes back to the pond via gravity. You need to be a bit more creative to hide them, but they are 100X more effective then a skippy. You do need mechanical filtration prior to the filter, but you need that with the skippy as well if you have heavy bio load.

Hey Summergardener, regarding your concern about the roots getting in the way of your drain, have you considered installing a "T" fitting? This is basically a sidways T where the bottom (side) will attach to your drain and one side of the T points up, above water level, the other is submerged into the water and will likely have an extension to get is several inches down below the root level. See this site for a picture: http://www.answers.com/topic/sanitary-tee-1 or just search under "sanitary tee" fittings.