Crazy Tropical Pond Project

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
The pond you have is beautiful and sounds like you know what you are doing. Since you already built one you know the problem areas and what you woud change if you do it again. A suggestion would be to use a media other than lava rock. When used without a really good prefilter it will collect poop and hold it requiring you to remove and wash the rock. If you go with a fluidized filter it will have exponentially more well oxygenated surface area and is fairly easy to back flush for cleaning. Here are some ideas

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47375

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68339&highlight=birdmans

Poly strapping is another cheap effective media. It can be stuffed into pretty much any chamber with flow through it. On the bottom of the chamber run a grid of perforated piping. When its time to clean attach a shop vac on blow, or spa blower, and the rush of air knocks all of the poop off and out the waste drain.

Here is one I am building with strapping in it, but you could probably use lava rock if you wanted to.

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69030&highlight=birdmans
 
Wow, You think it looks like I know what I'm doing? Thank's. One problem that I have now is the vortex, filter setup is gravity feed. When I have the 1,200 gal./hr. running full the water level goes down too far. On this new pond I'm putting in a 5,000 gal/hr ext. pump. How do I set it up so the gravity supplies enough water. I was thinking about two 3 inch bottom drains both emptying into the vortex. Then with a 4 inch pipe going to some kind of filter like you suggested where the water passes through a little faster, without being a pressurized filter. Is the set up in the previous photo always going to be way too slow?
 
One problem that I have now is the vortex, filter setup is gravity feed. When I have the 1,200 gal./hr. running full the water level goes down too far. On this new pond I'm putting in a 5,000 gal/hr ext. pump. How do I set it up so the gravity supplies enough water. I was thinking about two 3 inch bottom drains both emptying into the vortex. Then with a 4 inch pipe going to some kind of filter like you suggested where the water passes through a little faster, without being a pressurized filter. Is the set up in the previous photo always going to be way too slow?
Click to expand...

Unless there is a clog it sounds like the problem you are having in your vortex is draw down from too small of a gravity feed pipe. What size does it have?

A rough guideline for settling tank or vortex to get enough dwell time is the tanks volume x10. So if your vortex is 300gal you want a 3,000gph pump. Too much faster and solids won't have enough time to efficiently sink to the bottom.

For your new pond pump you would have to figure in the plumbing friction and head height loss to know how much actual water it will flow. If you are running it several feet above pond up to a waterfall it will flow less than the full 5k.

Recommendations I have read suggest around 2,000gph for a 3" drain and 3,000gph for a 4" drain. Less than that and it won't be very effective and there is a chance debris sticking in the line. Also at those flows they are supposed to have a sweep of about 8' around the drain. Since you are building a large pond you will probably need at least 2 drains so 2 3" drains should match up to your pump well. Be sure to run a seprate line from each drain the whole way to the vortex. You could either use one around 400 gallons, or two 200-250 gal ones is supposed to be a balance the flow better.

If you run the vortex to a second chamber you will need 4" pipe. I found this chart online, I am assuming it is for a short straight piece of the pipe size listed.


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In the photo of my filter/vortex, my make shift vortex is in the upper left hand corner of the photo. The water circles and runs through a plastic mess down to the pipes with holes in them and then filters up through the rocks, over through the brushes and then up to the submersible pump (1,200ga/hr). I keep having to close the valve a little or else it runs out of water. One mistake I did was run to 4 inch bottom drains into one, then with a valve. The valve in Costa Rica costa $100. Thats what I get for skimping.
My biggest concern for the larger laguna is that my pump doesn't run dirty and then dry. What do you think about, two 3 inch bottom drains, each with their own tube directly to the a 300 gallon vortex?
Then do I need a settling tank or do I go directly to the 5,000 gallon pump, then to my bog/filter?
I will also have a skimmer ,3000 gallon pump to water fall. Then mabye a 1,200 gallon pump to a UV light.
 
For your existing pond some more pictures of the filter with the media in it would help us a bit. How many gallons do you think your vortex area is? It may just be too small for settlement and work better full of mechanical media that is frequently cleaned.

Large valves are very expensive. If you don't mind getting a wet hand and only need on/off you can use test plugs, they are only a couple bucks each.

For the new pond have you decided on where you will put it and what the dimensions will be? without those numbers the filtration may work fine, but chances are there will be some "wish I would have done differently" things. I know I have some already.

Vortex and settling tank perform the same job, so only one is needed. They are an easy way to remove the solid particles without cleaning mechanical media. From there I would gravity flow to a bio chamber, and then the pump and off to your bog filter.
 
The new pond will be about 10 x 11 Meters. I believe that's about 990 square feet. 25% of that will be a lava rock/plant filter that the water will be pumped up through and over to the swimming/fish area. I calculated the whole thing as being about 30,000 gallons. The fish load will never be all that great because I want it clean enough to swim in. I plan on cleaning the shallow areas of the filter with some type of pond vac and the deeper areas ranging from 1 meter to 2 meters deep will be cleaned with the two bottom drains.
How do you recommend cleaning out the vortex/basin. I was thinking about useing an upside down plastic water storage tank and then making some kind of basket that I can pull the sludge out every week or so.
 
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