Adding Air to my DIY Barrel Filter

[fanatic291]

I looked on the forums and made a bucket filter for barrel pond. I think that the whiskey barrel is about 55 gallons and the bucket is 20 gallons.

I have a pondmaster 250 running from the bottom of the barrel to the bottom of the bucket. The water is pushed through a bunch of pot scrubbers. On the top of the water I have a bed of water hyacinth that should fill in as the summer progresses.

I want to add a joint on the top tube that will suck air to the bottom of my bucket. Can I just drill a hole in the top pipe and add a tube with a 45 degree angle to suck the air into the water stream, or do I have to do something more technical.

Thanks for the advice.

Aaron

 

[fanatic291]

Here are some pictures of my pond.

 

[pondowner]

What is the reason for getting air to the bottom of the bucket?

If it's just for adding oxygen to the water, one possibly solution is to shorten up the pipe that brings water into the filter, creating splashing as it hits the surface of the water.

 

[fanatic291]

The pipe actually fills from the very bottom of the bucket. Then the water pushes up through the media. I heard that sucking air into the pipe is good, because it oxygenates the water, thus giving air to the BB in the filter.

 

[fanatic291]

Here is a picture that I drew of the "T" attachment that I want to put inline with the top tube.

Will this work?

 

[pondowner]

I could be wrong, I'm no expert in this. But I would think that would either cause the pump to lose its prime and stop pulling, or it would still pump water but wouldn't change anything. Without some kind of motor to pull the air in, I can't see the air just inserting itself into flowing water.

 

[Muske]

Adding air at the bottom of the filter is going to disslodge any detritus from the media causing it to flow out of the filter. I would think the pond has enough oxygen from the drop of the return. Maybe add some submerged plants to the pond for a little O2 boost.

 

[fanatic291]

Thanks for the advice. I was worried that the dropping water would not be enough surface agitation. I will add some plants on the bottom to work with the O2. Thanks again.

Hopefully my next thread will be the 800 gallon pond build I have been planning.