I'm thinking about setting up outdoor rubbermaid container for my fish some of my fish this summer to limit the number of tanks i'm taking home(not enough room mostly), I wanted to get a decent size, 50 gallon roughneck is probly best i'll find for limited money,(other than buying a feeding trough), and i'll probly have to support the sides but that won't be difficult
anyways i need to know if either of these pumps would be alright for pumping into a homemade filter setup(talk about in a minute)
http://www.petsandponds.com/securestore/c2...59p24741.2.html
or
http://www.petsandponds.com/securestore/c2...16265089.2.html

they are watergardern/statuary pumps,

For homemade filter i was wondering what size container would be good to use, and suggestions for building it...
I was thinking water pumped intothe side top, into filter foam(just some large hagen ones to fill the space) then into some filter media like bio-max. then possibly through more foam, then out through holes in the bottom.

any thoughts? ideas of how big filter should be. 5 gallon maybe? .. i have 2.5gallon water jugs that might be an ideal size, but they are clear, could easily tap em up though.
any suggestions would be great as i need to order this stuff asap
thanks alot everyone

Pete,

I think that the 2.5 gallon jugs would be great. Here is an idea, you could run your hose from the filter to the jugs mouth, you'll want to somehow make a stand for the jug so that normal bottom of the jug is the top and the top is now the bottom. This way your water will be pumped up throught the mouth of the jug (now the bottom) and you'll cut off the bottom so that the water will overflow, it is now the top. This is a small version of a trickle tower and from what I understand they are awesome filters. If you get a small peice of filter media, or maybe get some batting (it's used in quilts). The problem with the batting is it falls apart, and can be a mess but it does work great. It's way expensive though, that's why I'd just get what they normally would use for filters, the spongy stuff. Anyhow put that on the bottom, closes to where the water is coming up through. Now you'll need to get some volcanic rock, it's used in landscaping. You obviously wont need much since your filter is only 2.5 gallon jug. If you put the rock in a panty hose stocking or something like that it'll be a lot easier to keep together and and take out to clean. You'll want to fill that stocking though so that the rock goes all the way to the top. The trickle tower is probably your best way to go IMO.

Now, as for the pump. The pumps you chose look fine. Have you been looking around though? I see you are from Canada, so do you have a Petsmart? I bought a pump from Petsmart last year, the box said it has a lifetime guarantee. I asked the sales lady about it and she said if anything ever goes wrong with it no matter how long I have it Petsmart will replace it free of charge (keep recept). Not a bad idea, especially since these smaller pumps, from my expereince, don't seem to last long. If you are interested in this pump, here it is;

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1080873698660

I bought the 500 gph pump and put it in a 110 gallon water troff, works great for that. If I were you I'd get something close to that size. Too much water flow wouldn't be great, but not enough is worse. You are only looking at 50 gallons and these 500 gph pumps don't pump so fast that they'd cause too much problem, the plus is the airation your going to get and your water should be cleaner! Especially if you go with the trickle tower. I've seen pictures of trickle towers in large ponds and the people who have them love them.


Scott

I just thought of something else, if you do decide to go the trickle tower method but think the jugs don't look good you could get a flower pot instead. You'd probably have to put a screen on the bottom of the pot and set it up so that it would keep the filter from just sitting on the bottom of the pot, you'll want space between your opening where the water comes through to the filter makes since? Then of course comes the valcanic rock etc.... but, you could get a water hycinth and put it on the top, maybe two or three of these plants depending on the size of the pot and plants? This way your filter is concealed for what it is.

Of course you'll probably want to locate your trickle tower in the middle of your pond.

The only problem I see with this is again making a stand to keep it level, in the middle of the pond, and above the water's surface. There are probably many ways to do this though?


Scott

Thanks alot Scott. thats some really awesome advice, yeh we do have petsmart around this area but i don't have immediate access and we can't get stuff shipped from them in Canada , I have lots of pet stores in the city though so i'm going tomorrow to my fav store, Problem is his pond prices are kindof high, especially since it is a smaller chain, there are a few pet valu's in town i might be able to call. If not i will definetely pick up my filter media so that i can build my filter now, and i'll order a pump online from the canadian store i listed previously, and it will only be used 4 months a year, hopefully it'll last.(Hagen products may even be guaranteed as well). making the stand is no problem, actually there is probly an outdoor table that height, plus i work at a cedar mill/fence building company in the summer so I can make a stand in a jiffy.. thakns for the great idea's again..

should i cut the whole top off the container? if so should it be slopped so water all runs forward.. or should i just make some holes in front..

thanks again

you'll want to cut the whole bottom off the jug so that the water runs out the top evenly on all sides. You'll have to put the jug in the middle of the pond above the surface. I suppose though that you could make one side lower than the rest and put it to the side. This would be more like a bio falls set up.


Scott

Hey, i went to the pet store today, got a AC 500 filter foam, it fits perfect for my application, and i got some elbows and that to connect to the jug(to mak the hole small enough and so that the pump isn't pushing directly up into 2gal o water.. it'll be pushing over then go up.. )
but they had no lava rock or any bio material.. can u think of anything else might be good for use?
oh and they only had a really overpriced hagen pump

so yeh just need to know what i can use for bio material
thanks

It's strange they wouldn't have bio material? You get the lava rock someplace like Lowes or Home Depot, anyplace that sales garden supplies. It's cheap. If you have a green house that sales landscape rock etc.... You can buy a small amount from them for a lot cheaper, just ask for lava rock. You won't want to get colored though.

I'm trying to think of what else you can use?



Scott

i'll be able to find some lava rock at another store i'm sure,
and i've been thinking about pumps to get and this one from big al's looks pretty decent, its 660gph, spose to be good with high head pressure, plus they have great warranties on their products..
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/product...2715&pcid1=2181