Hi Jessica...
Depends on the time of year... Winter here in Zone 8 I clean it every month or so... As spring and summer approach it becomes once a week and at times twice or three times... But on average I would say one time a week... I'll take a picture of my modification which I got from an AWGS thread from DavD?, where you put Black Knight brushes in the area that is usually used for UV lights, works great... Two 4200 Sequence pumps would be my idea of heaven for back-up redundacy, but I have 5 years with only one at 24/7/365 and it is still motoring along... I have a couple submersibles as back up, in case of emergency, but have never needed them... As far as Skippy Filters, check out my early pictures in regards to DIY Uplflow Garbage Can Filters... I only clean them twice a year... Just don't glue everthing, because you'll want to break fittings apart at the down pipe to run pond water thru the filter media, and there really isn't enough pressure to separate the frictuion fit... Any questions just Email me...
Dave