Sand and Gravel Filter

[Tula]

I've been considering building one, for use before my Japanese Lantern Shower Filter, which I need to re buy, as a tree crashed down on it last year

I realize it isn't a fancy filter, but am interested in knowing if it's an effective mechanical filtration. My pond is really a garden type pond, that I've improved over the years with education...it's 1700 gallons, with 4 koi.

Thank you!
Kim

[Marilyn]

I do not have one but know a number of people that do. They can be a very effective mechanical filter and for your sized pond, it may be a very good fit.
I will suggest that you put some kind of either settlement chamber before it (which is the easiest and most cost effective way to remove out coarse waste) or if you can spring for it, a sieve.

The idea is simple, the cleaner the water going into your S&G, the better it will perform. Consider it an effective diy bead filter alternative. Filters along this line do a great job of filtering out waste to a small size but need regular maintenance and do best if the coarse waste like leaves, acorns, pine needles and such don't end up in them. Like a bead, it's a trapping mechanism to limit the waste that exits them. This means, like a bead, filter maintenance is imperative because, now that you've trapped all of that crud, the ecosystem that is your pond does best when the crud is gone.

HTH

[Tula]

Thank you Marilyn.

To be honest, I've never built a darn thing in my life - LOL ! I've used two types of filters in the past, started with an all in one pressurized filter, that went to a Zaki shower filter. Last summer I bought a Savio Living Pond filter, which didn't work out as I'd expected. On the plus side, it acts like a settling chamber, although that's not what it's supposed to do.

I want better filtration, but can't afford to do it all at once, so have been trying to make improvements each year. The water going to this proposed filter , goes through a Savio skimmer first. I had to slow the flow because I am using their UV light, so the skimmer too, kind of acts like a settling chamber...I net it every day with an aquarium net - ha ha!

I love my pond, but it's very high maintenance, as I don't have a good set up.

[MNguyen]

I think prefilter or mechanical is very important. It prevent major solid wastes from grind off into smaller particles that just put more stress into the bio filter. SG filter's main purpose is to trap microns pieces that we really can't see with out naked eyes also Polish the water. The con is the weekly backwash flush that require on top of other works already. It could be a disaster if neglect if for instant you will be going somewhere for awhile. My pond does have a settlement chamber and a couples 55-gal barrels with media, matts for bio. It been work very well for total water of 1800gallons. My water is crystal clear with quiet heavy fish load. My routine is weekly change out the S -chamber and clean out the matts once a year.
Don't get me wrong SG fan out there.

[Marilyn]

Tula, lots of others have done their first diy attempts with a S&G filter so you won't be alone. MNguyen added some good content about leaving them and depending on the bio load you put to it, you may want to consider either a slightly larger (same height but wider diameter) vessel or perhaps running two of them in parallel. It would basically cut the waste load in half if you run two.
I'm glad the Savio is working like a sc for you but make sure it's large enough to really handle the job or a S&G will be a maintenance problem.

[Jason G]

So, I went to the a well know koi guy's house in the NW last year and we were talking about the plans for my new pond and went into filtration quite a bit. One portion of my filtration was going to be 3 of the DIY Birdman S/G filter that would feed my waterfall. I even bought everything to make them.....

But in our conversations there were a few things I took away from it, 1) Almost all people with the super high end, show winning koi do not use S/G filter and 2) The Japanese don't use them. I figured for myself these 2 takeaways were enough for me to scrap the S/G idea and go with something else for that portion.

Thats not so say they don't work or are junk, many people use them and love them but when it came down to it I wanted to stick with what "The big boys" are using. The Japanese are the kings of koi and local guy wins all the big shows on the west coast. I will learn from their results

[Tula]

What type of mechanical filtration do they used in Japan? I don't have high end koi, but I'm quite fond of mine

[MNguyen]

Not sure, but Settlement Chamber used to be very popular then take over by sieve and now RDF. My pond current with a SC and I can tell the major difference in water quality vs direct pump from bottom drain from my original pond.

[rufretic]

With only 4 koi, I think the sand/gravel filter would be a very good option for you. I have many more koi than you in a 2000g pond and it has worked very well for me. I've had to add an additional one to help with the heavy fish load but you should be fine with just one and it should only need to be flushed weekly. I flush mine once a week and they keep my pond gin clear. I can clearly see my bottom drain at 6' deep. They are super easy to build and low cost. I think it would be hard to beat at the price. You'll want to prefilter it, with a skimmer net or something else depending on where your feeding it from, to stop larger debris from getting in it. Mine get fed from my skimmer and I just have a net in it to catch leaves and sticks mostly. Of course keep in mind that you will want something for your biofiltration as well. If you only have one circuit, you can do the bio right after the sg filter and that works pretty good. The only thing I don't like about it is that your limited how much you flow through your bio. I use a bakki after mine but because of the low flow, it would probably be more accurately called a trickle tower. I only flow about 600gph through it because the sg also feeds my water fall and your limited to about 1200gph through the sg because they work best at a low flow rate. I've experimented with going higher and they just don't work as well. Mine never got the water so clear until I lowered it to around 1000-1500gph. It works out like this for me because I have another circuit off the bottom drain that goes through a settlement chamber and then another biofilter and tprs. The sg filter is what keeps my pond so clear though because they are the only fines filters I'm using, the rest only grab large stuff or are bio filters.

[Cynnikal]

Jason,

I enjoy building stuff myself so this is the path I took. If DIY is something you want to do, don't be afraid to try and do it yourself. If not, there is no shame in buying something your pocketbook can afford to use for your pond. Do what works best for you.

For me, I am running two Birdman 55g S/G filters on my ~2,500g pond with excellent results. Even though my water is crystal clear and my parameters are very good, I plan to add a couple SCs in the next couple weeks for ease of maintenance. The pond has two separate circuits; a BD and Savio Skimmer with each circuit having a ES2500 pump feeding a 55g S/G filter flowing into a waterfall and a return. After I get the SCs in-place I am going to add a bakki type shower and possibly a protein skimmer/"phoam phractionator" if space allows me. I will be building Birdman's "Flower Pot" SC since the materials are readily available for minimal cost.

BTW my Tosai koi are growing like weeds and want to be fed all the time! I will have to post some pictures when a get a chance.

Good luck and enjoy your pond!

Sonny