Pond Filter or Pool Filter?

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M

Mule

Gambusia
MFK Member
Aug 24, 2005
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I've been looking at some filters to add to my existing filtration setup. Mostly just interested in extra mechanical filtration. My question is what would be better and easier to maintain on a tank: A sand pool filter, or a pond filter with backwash? Does anyone have experience using either of these types of filters?
 
I would say pond filter because not only do they allow bacteria to grow, the beads also do mechanical filtration.
 
how big is your tank?
 
I have a 200lb pool sand filter on my 220g (overkill I know but I got rid of the swimming pool and had the filter just lying around). It works perfectly. I backwash it once a week doing a 50% w/c to keep it clean. It takes less than a minute, maybe about a 40 second backwash followed by a 10-15 second rinse. I piped the waste water straight to the sump pump catch basin so there's no hoses to run.

The pressure gauge on the filter always reads 15 psi, the filter never clogs and raises the pressure like it did when it was on the pool, so I just clean it anyway during my weekly water change. Backwashing is the quickest way to drain the tank, about 30 times faster than using a python.

That seems to be the only maintenance it needs to keep the detritus from builing up inside. The water is almost always crystal clear, although i'm sure a DE filter might work even better. If the room is dimly lit at night and you look through the side of the tank to the far end you can see a little hint of cloudiness, but not much. It is always crystal clear when viewing from the front.

The only complaint I have is the electricity. I'm using the original pool pump and it draws about 6 or 7 amps, but I'm sure if I looked i could find a more efficient pump. This one pushes about 1200 gallons per hour when its filtering, and I only have 1" pipe on the return. I'm thinking I should have gone bigger because I know it moves a lot more than 1200gph when I backwash and I used 1.5" pipe on the drain line.
 
Aeroxide;3608401; said:
I have a 200lb pool sand filter on my 220g (overkill I know but I got rid of the swimming pool and had the filter just lying around). It works perfectly. I backwash it once a week doing a 50% w/c to keep it clean. It takes less than a minute, maybe about a 40 second backwash followed by a 10-15 second rinse. I piped the waste water straight to the sump pump catch basin so there's no hoses to run.

The pressure gauge on the filter always reads 15 psi, the filter never clogs and raises the pressure like it did when it was on the pool, so I just clean it anyway during my weekly water change. Backwashing is the quickest way to drain the tank, about 30 times faster than using a python.

That seems to be the only maintenance it needs to keep the detritus from builing up inside. The water is almost always crystal clear, although i'm sure a DE filter might work even better. If the room is dimly lit at night and you look through the side of the tank to the far end you can see a little hint of cloudiness, but not much. It is always crystal clear when viewing from the front.

The only complaint I have is the electricity. I'm using the original pool pump and it draws about 6 or 7 amps, but I'm sure if I looked i could find a more efficient pump. This one pushes about 1200 gallons per hour when its filtering, and I only have 1" pipe on the return. I'm thinking I should have gone bigger because I know it moves a lot more than 1200gph when I backwash and I used 1.5" pipe on the drain line.
Click to expand...


After reading this, and looking at other products, I'm thinking a pond filter with a UV sterilzer will compliment my current filter setup. I'm all about over filtering with as little maintainence as possible.
 
The UV lights built into pond filters will only be strong enoough to combat green water and algae blooms... they move water past the UV much to quickly to do anything against parasites, most fungus and will do little for clarifying water...

For an outdoor pond that gets direct sunlight and suffers from free floating algae (green water), they are wonderful, but for aquarium applications UV lights built into filters are a waste...

If you wish to have the benefits of a UV light in an aquarium, I suggest you get a larger unit and connect it to a dedicated filter/pump of the desired size for maximum results... I have several UV lights and have found 10 gph per W to work well for maximum performance...
 
Mule;3608298; said:
I've been looking at some filters to add to my existing filtration setup. Mostly just interested in extra mechanical filtration. My question is what would be better and easier to maintain on a tank: A sand pool filter, or a pond filter with backwash? Does anyone have experience using either of these types of filters?
Click to expand...

We've been running two spa filters run with a ReeFlo Hammerhead pump for extreme mechanical filtration on our 300 gallon tank. Our tank is bare bottom, so we have two 1" pvc pipe coming down to about 1/4" from the floor, besides a main uptake. Our "poop suckers" work amazingly well, and in the 3 1/2+ years the tank has been running, there has never been any debris to vacuum out. We absolutely love our system.

We are in the process of upgrading to a larger tank and plan on using four spa filters run with two Hammerheads. Instead of the traditional wet/dry filtration, we will be using Ultima filters which will purge directly into drains. One of the Ultimas will have a UV sterilizer connected to its return line. There'll be a lot of redundant filtration, but that's a good thing:)
 
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