I do regularly change out the sponge filter - usually once or twice a summer. I am just wondering if there is a small efficient system out there that I could hook up the fountain apparatus in the bottom of the pond that won't clog up all the time.

I use an aquarium's bottom filter with a little gravel over it. I've got my pump sucking water through the side of the undergravel filter and then out to a Tetra POnd filter. The undergravel filter can hold a lot of mulm but you need to stir it up say once a week or so to make sure there are no anerobic (sp?) pockets forming in the gravel. This worked for me all last summer in my 110 gallon stock tank.

Charlie

The problem is that people use fountain pumps for ponds. That's not what they are for. They are clean water pumps designed for fountains and the little sponge is there to keep the small amount of debris that might get into the water. A pond isn't a fountain. A fountain is a decorative water feature that doesn't have fish or plants in it and generally uses chlorinated water to keep the fountain clean.

Sponge filters are a pain, they are meant for clean water as NG pointed out.
You could buy two plastic collanders from the dollar store, along with a couple of packages of nylon scrubbies [the "bun' type] and some nylon ty-raps.

The idea is to make a container for your pump to sit in, using the collanders, tied together with the ty-raps.
The nylon scrubbies are packed around the pump, inside the collanders, as the filter material.
Put your pump in the collanders, make a hole/notch, for the hose/pipe and electrical cord.
Pack it around with the scrubbies and tie the two collanders together with the ty-raps.
You now have a filter that will not plug up like those usless sponges.
If and when it does plug, just hose the whole thing off and put it back in place.
"Horton"

Milkbottles, here are a couple of photographs for you of the collander filter cage.

The first one shows the materials required.
I only show four scrubbies, you will need more of course.

{{gwi:195079}}

Second photograph shows collanders ready to be held together with the ty-raps.
You will also need a hole cut for the hose or pipe, to suit your type of pump.
"Horton"

{{gwi:195080}}

oh wow i just saw this ...

does it keep your pond clean. ...mine is about 500 gal

i was wondering if i should use those rough green fiber style...pot scrubbers too..or just these plastic scrubbers like you have in the picture...

also is the filter( foam material) that goes on the end of the pump filter where the water comes into the pump, not put on?
do you just leave the opening open without the foam extender. then you take your hose that the water comes out of the pump through the colander and to the fountain head..

i am very new to all ponding and am dealing with green water.

everyone here is so nice and helpful..

thank you

Happee.....just throw the sponge filter away, they clog up to easily!
I would not use the green fiber type of pot scrubbies in this type of filter cage, the nylon ones do the job just fine.

As far as keeping a 500 gallon pond clean, you may want to consider going to an external filter box.
There are all sorts of plans for them around and they are easy to make.
Even with the external filter I would still use the collander type in the pond as a pre-filter for the pump.
"Horton"

Happee..... I forgot to mention, instead of using the collanders you can use two plastic baskets. They come in black, dark green, about 12" X 8" X 6" deep and are perforated all around. They are used for keeping craft stuff, etc, in.
You will find them in the dollar stores.
"Horton"

Happee...., here is a photograph of two types of plastic baskets that can be used instead of the white collanders.

You would require two of each individual type for the filter basket/cage.
"Horton"

{{gwi:195082}}

I've been using these. They are enamel coated steel and they work great. I even have one in my farm pond for the aerator pump {{gwi:195084}}
You get them at Staples for $10.00

Wow, what great ideas here. I bought the submersible filter and put my pump in that. It cost about $30.00 at Menards, and helps with keeping the pump from clogging. It has the pads and bio balls in it. My water is crystal clear right now. I see I could have saved money by being creative as you all have. Great ideas. You definately want a larger pump for waterfall. Happy Ponding!

i new it.. i new it...you guys are so so helpful...

thanks so much

Well - thanks for all the advice people and here is what I did. Instead of the collanders, I went to the dollar store and bought a shoebox style tupperware container with snap on lid. I drilled a hole in each end (one to run the electrical cord from the pump through and the other side to run the hose in. I then drilled another hole in the top for the fountain to poke out of. I then drilled about a dozen small holes in each side for waterflow. I got the fountain pump in there and then stuffed that puppy full of those dollar store colorful plastic scrubbies. I discarded the sponge cover entirely. Once submerged, I had to put some flat rocks on top of it to weigh it down but it works great. It went for almost 4 weeks before I had to clean it out but even then, I could maybe have gone another week but I was going on vacation and wanted to make sure there were no problems. Boy when I did clean it I couldn't believe the algea and crap in the scrubbies. By using a container with a snap off lid though it makes it easy to just pick the whole thing up out of the pond and hose it out. It was a great idea and thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

Thanks for the great idea Horton!! I needed something just like this to pre-filter my pump leading to my bio falls filter. I would have never come up with this solution. You are a genius!!!
Thanks Dianne

I ditto NG and Horton! Those sponge prefilters are a pain! One other thing I discovered that may never come up for you is that clear tubing can be stopped up overnight by algae growth. Even if you have a 100' of the stuff left over from a project the way I did, go buy some black tubing. If the tubing is too tight a fit, fill a thermos with boiling water and put the end of the tubing in the water for a minute or so. It gets soft and will stretch over a fitting and when it cools it will snug down. Don't burn your fingers. Sandy

horton,

Where did you find the black baskets you showed in an earlier post to this thread?

You can get black plastic baskets at Dollar Stores, I used them and it works great.

A blow dryer works to soften the plastic tubing. Safer than boiling water, too.

Yep! at the dollar stores.
Black ty-raps at a hardware store, HD, Lowes etc, electrical dept,.
"Horton"

thanks Horton brilliant idea, will give it a try.

This is still a great thread! I found it again while trying to figure out how to make my prefilter work better. I miss the earlier days of more activity on this site. I don't know where you are now, horton, but thanks so much for sharing your experiences here and helping others!

I loved reading this too! As a result of reading these tips and techniques years ago, we always make a 'filter box' from a plastic file folder type container with a handle lid, we've also used shorter ones depending on the pump size. I like for the box to be twice the size or better than the pump. I use hubby's hole saw attachment for the drill to create many holes all over the container, leaving the bottom and a couple of inches of the bottom sides undrilled. I buy the nylon netting in the fabric department at Walmart for maybe 79 cents a yard and wad that up in the bottom, place the pump inside and route your power cable and pump output through the holes in the top. Stuff another wad of the nylon netting over the top and close the box. Sink it into the pond and finish your plumbing. I place a pot of iris or a decorative rock on top to disguise the filter. I do the whole thing for $10 or $15. I do leave the foam filter in place to prevent the netting being sucked into the intake.

If you have fish, I highly advise rinsing all of the materials (plastic box and netting) just to be safe.

Sounds good, PKponder! Don't you just love creating something yourself that works great?!

Ditto to the above. Took a plastic shoebox, drilled holes and surrounded pump with plastc scrubbies. Remove pump & box, place in spot that needs watering and blast out the gunk periodically. Feeds and waters that spot and lasts longer than expensive sponge insert.

Would it be feasible to wrap any of the plastic boxes with the breathable landscape

fabric. A roll would last for a long time and it should filter most particles. Do you think

it would work ???

you want to always be careful to not impede water flow on the intake side of your pump. I think that even the 'breathable' landscape fabric would be to restrictive.

You could try it and report back though :-)

Lots of great ideas for so many pond styles. With the exception of prize koi ponds, less is more.

I think the landscape fabric would prove frustrating since it would gunk up quickly.

My holey shoebox rig with plastic scrubbies usu. reaches a kind of stasis flow after a week and stays at 60% flow for two months at a time. I only have fish and lilies and the visiting birds/raccoons to worry about so it's good by me.

A friend of mine pumps his pond (500 gph) up to two 1/2 barrels in cascade fashion. He keeps plants in those. By the time the waters pass through and waterfall back to his pond the water is crystal. Low maint, he puts his pump intake in a 3 gal paint bucket filled with scrubbies, only washing it monthly. His koi are healthy.

Some people have to try repeatedly before hitting that sweet spot. Good luck!

just found this site. I have a tiny water feature out in an aspen grove that spouts water out of a hole in a nice rock. the pump I'v used for the last 12 years (!) finally got exhausted so I'v tried several that are available at the local garden/hardware stores. they clog in a day or two. the DIS filter system looks brilliant to me and I'm definitely going to create one. what brand of pump do you all recommend (if that question is allowed). the rock is heavy, my back is not so great, it's a workout to clean this little fountain. total gallons are maybe 6 or 8. I'd be very grateful for any feedback!

I'm a big fan of cheap. Your pump sounds smallish. You can find smaller, heavy duty, one gallon buckets with lids at hardware and paint stores. Get one and drill it full of holes. Put rock in the bottom so it sinks and put pump in. Cut a hole in the lid big enough for discharge tube and power cord. Loosely pack with plastic dish scrubbies. When the pump volume drops pull out whole bucket, place in your garden or under your favorite tree and blast the scrubbies clean with a hose. Place back in pond.

Hope that helps.

I doubt that the scrubbies are really necessary. I have a cage around my pump that came with the pump. I have been running it for eight years now. I find that I need to clean it out once a year or so and otherwise grab leaves and crud off the outside every month or two. It has slits all over it. They are wider than the fine pots shown above and similar to the utility baskets.

I certainly can't imagine using the fabric. It would be similar to the original problem. OTOH, the scrubbies could be useful. My major filter system is my 30 ft stream that is essentially the super mondo version of the plants in barrels mentioned by cowchip a couple posts up. It probably clears up lots of crud so scrubbies are not needed.