Sand and Gravel Filter

[inazuma28]

I have a 2 SG Filters fed by two savio skimmer with a leaf basket and some filter matting. There are much less expensive skimmers on the market and the preflter before the SG doesnt have to be fancy. Like Marilyn said, you dont want leaves and other large chunks of waste getting in there and rotting.

[Tula]

Well, our Birdman S & G has been up and running since earlier this Spring, with great results. I'm still trying to figure out the camouflage issue -LOL!

Hubby built a neat wooden structure for it and I painted it forest green, but our waste line sticks out the back...so still puttering.

For me, with just 4 koi, it's perfect and has reduced my pond maintenance considerably. Mine is fed through my Savio skimmer, which seems to do a good job pre-filtering it.

[Cynnikal]

Here is a picture of my pond. As you can see the S/G filters are doing a great job. The S/G filters are feeding the waterfall and I have a return behind the elephant to keep debris from building up around it. My filter pit is under a deck on the other side of the sidewalk. If you look close, you can see a filter pad in the water fall. I put it there to catch any floaties remaining after I backwash the filters. I just haven't taken it out yet! I will try and get more detailed pictures of my S/G filter setup and pump system. The rock on the skimmer is covering the handle hole to keep frogs out. Frogs in the skimmer and little tosai getting sucked into the BD have been my only real problems so far and the reason to add SC's. I have already had to fish out two frogs in the skimmer and lost two koi in the BD that got stuck in the leaf trap. Let's not forget the number of leaves I have to deal with in the fall. We had some major winds and leaves built up like snow drifts. I was glad I went with the Savio Skimmer with the large leaf basket! However, the BD has a large leaf trap but it didn't stand a chance. I want to put a shower where the water can sits when I get a chance. I guess a pond never gets truly "finished"...

[inazuma28]

i put a fence up in front of mine. it looks nice

[JDWood]

Very nice!

[inazuma28]

I hid a shower and 4 55gal drum filters behind a wooden fence i purchased to match the fence behind it. Not 1 week later my neighbor ripped the fence down and replaced it with PVC a few coats of glossy white latex paint and problem solved

[Tula]

Love seeing all the methods used to hide the barrels Originally we planned on the structure being enclosed with a roof, but now have to figure out what to do about the angle of the waste line.

Maybe I can post some pictures and get suggestions

[Cynnikal]

I use a removable flexible PVC that hooks up to a drain manifold. My airline runs from the filter pit to the filters. The barrels are partially buried to keep the waterfall from being too high.

Filter plumbing11.jpg (120.13 KiB) Viewed 22999 times

filters11.jpg (136.49 KiB) Viewed 22999 times

My filters flow into a clay pot to hide the outlets. There is a line coming off the far filter that returns to the pond behind the elephant to keep it clear.

Outflow1.jpg (181.56 KiB) Viewed 22999 times

[Cynnikal]

Pictures of my filter pit. I am going to expand my pit and add two SC and a sump pump to prevent flooding.

[Cynnikal]

You can see the original pit before I built the deck over it. I will build some sort of cover for the settlement chamber to match the deck.