On Filters

We've not had the best luck with filters to date. When we first started work on the pond back in 05, we bought a $150 plastic pressurized bio/mechanical filter with a built in UV light to control the algae. About a year ago, the output nozzle snapped off, and though that was repairable with a bit of liquid weld, most of the clamps fell off this spring, the seal failed, and the UV fixture was fried by a power spike.

Just this week, we removed the old filter, and replaced it with a simpler, unpressurized one. Hopefully it removes the rust from the water just as well, as the old filter (along with a little Accuclear) was doing a bang-up job. We could have gotten the same sort of replacement, of course, but I figure that this way, we won't be putting all our eggs in one basket.

General filtering plan:

• Mechanical/mechanical filter to get out the rust&fish waste
• Plants to suck up the nitrates&cool the pond (thus preventing algae)
• Barley/Cotton pads to clarify the water and control ph
• Fish and snails to control algae
• Possibility of a UV clarifier to do the same