Bio-Filtration, baby, I haz it!

[trystinn]

Thanks in great part to Keastree's knowledge base, we now have a functioning bio-filter for the duck pond! Remarkably simple, once you get everything assembled together, it's been running all night. The ducks are a bit shy of it, but swimming in the pond anyway.

I'm wondering how long it will take for the helpful bacteria to set up and begin working. At this point, the pump & filter combo in the pond is still mucking up and getting clogged. :(

Comments

[keastree.livejournal.com]

If the water is moving slowly enough, it will be fully functional in two weeks. The problem, as I think I explained, is that you have to get that balance between solids removal and bio-filtration flow. You also just need to move to an intake with minimal gross solids filtration, probably inside that flower pot with the lava rocks. If, after those steps, the pond is still doing the grossness thing you up the ante. I need to talk to another friend of mine to get the info for ante-upping, but it is monster cool and highly sustainable. :)

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Since the pump is still in the original filter "box" drawing in water before it gets to the bio-filter, I think its going to keep doing this unless we drain the pool, shovel out the debris at the bottom and start the bio-filter from a clean pool.

How's that sound?

[keastree.livejournal.com]

If it's the black plastic box with the screened top and the various filter media in it, I think I'd honestly go to the flower pot with the lava rocks. Those suckers clog and float like nobody's business and it is a fscking pain in the ass to keep them clean enough. The purpose is to do a very coarse filtration to get the really big stuff out, and then clean the flower pot out weekly.

Show me some pics, so I can see. However, I think that the next step is really the flower pot. Just a old black plastic thing cast off from a nursery.

Remember that when you finally hit a few hundred gallons of water in there, that this probably gets a LOT better.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. I'll get pics up tomorrow, set up the flower pot and lava rock, as well.

We went ahead and emptied the pool, refilled it to start fresh. Seems to be working a lot better now.