The skimmer

[Bullfrog]

There is one dealership near us that sells the Savio skimmer. I called yesterday and got a price, $379.00

Sure, it has the biofilter chamber and all but I'm going to build the large filter like Greg here did so filtration does not concern me in the skimmer. It's job is to remove the floating leaves before they sink, period. I went to a hardware store yesterday to get some screws and they have a pool skimmer for $49.00 that will work just fine. It has a large enough opening and a basket to catch debris. It has two 2 inch fittings on the bottom. I can plug one and plumb the other to the settlement chamber/pump/biofilter.

The lid is sturdy enough for a person to stand on and I'll simply paint it with Fleckstone to match the enviornment. A skimmer just needs to skim in my case and I think this will work just fine.

I finally laid out a water hose yesterday to get an idea of the size and it looks like the pond will be 25 feet and 14 feet wide. The formulas I have seen arrive at the gallons by measuring the surface area, how does the depth of the pond come into the equation? I want to get the right size pump, adequate but not overkill.

[Sonny]

I finally laid out a water hose yesterday to get an idea of the size and it looks like the pond will be 25 feet and 14 feet wide. The formulas I have seen arrive at the gallons by measuring the surface area, how does the depth of the pond come into the equation? I want to get the right size pump, adequate but not overkill.

The volume is calcualted by surface area (sq. feet) x avg. depth (feet).  This gives you cubic feet.  You can convert this value to gallons by multiplying by 6.23.  Calculating surface area can be a bit tricky if your pond is irregular in shape.  I googled and found this helpful web site: http://www.koicarp.net/beginners_corner/pond_volumes.html

[landey1230]

Are you building a new pond or adding a skimmer to your current one?  I thought about using a pool skimmer on my current pone.  I'm not sure how that would go.  Would you please keep us updated on your project?  I'm interested on how to do this.  Thanks.

[Bullfrog]

I'm building a new pond as soon as I finish just a little more painting in the house. I think the pool skimmer will be just fine, it will do the job and I can plumb it to my pump with a "Y" fitting that also branches off to the bottom drain. I think about it every evening, I just sit in my lawn chair, drink beer and look at where it will be, planning it all out in my mind. When I finish our back yard it will be every man's dream, a "NO MO" yard. I will separate it into walkways and patio areas with aspot gardens here and there and a few smaller water features. I built this redneck fountain when I should have been mowing the lawn instead..

I hid the hoses better and got a vine to grow up the supply line to the watering can.

[frogman3]

Here is a pond calculator that gives some great info. Pipe sizes, filtration requirements and so on, with music to boot. http://www.gardenendeavors.com/rack/pool10.html
I agree with your theory on the use of a pool filter to save money, but I cringe when I hear people are not going to install a skimmer because of the extra expense when they are building large pond with trees that will be dropping leaves. I have a commercially built skimmer and all it does that a pool skimmer doesn't is filter the floating algae which is abundant this time of year.
Fm3

[landey1230]

I think about it every evening, I just sit in my lawn chair, drink beer and look at where it will be, planning it all out in my mind. When I finish our back yard it will be every man's dream, a "NO MO" yard. I will separate it into walkways and patio areas with aspot gardens here and there and a few smaller water features.

    I would be the one sitting next to you drinking a beer and sharing my ideas.

[-Greg-]

I think about it every evening, I just sit in my lawn chair, drink beer and look at where it will be, planning it all out in my mind. When I finish our back yard it will be every man's dream, a "NO MO" yard. I will separate it into walkways and patio areas with aspot gardens here and there and a few smaller water features.

    I would be the one sitting next to you drinking a beer and sharing my ideas.

X2 !!  Nice fountain as well!

[Bullfrog]

Thanks Greg, I built two of those fountains so we could have one in the backyard. The dogs have a neverending watering hole, I just add as needed. I'm hoping I can control the algae with a good uv setup and filter. Has anyone put a plecostamus in their pond to eat the algae? They get huge when they have the room to grow, this might help. I can't see spending $379.00 on a skimmer.

[-Greg-]

I would like to know this as well about the plecostamus, I have one in my aquarium that I am about to convert over to saltwater. I was planning on giving all of my large freshwater aquarium fish to the LFS, however if the plecostamus would thrive in the pond, that would be awesome!

The never ending watering hole is a added bonus, when I had the old pond with the stream, our dog used that all of the time, now he just uses the pool.

I wish I would have used a pool skimmer instead of the pos atlantic skimmer that I purchased. That is the one thing that I am considering re-doing.

[Bullfrog]

Greg, the pool skimmer that I saw costs $47.89 and it will catch the leaves. The large biofilter that you showed me how to build should catch the algae in the sand section just fine. I frequent a kayak fishing site and people often ask for a fish ID. Someone posted a really large Plecostamus that he simply scooped out of a local pond, photographed and put it back. It was as big as his shoe, they thrive in any enviornment and get as large as the enclosure will allow them.

We made one house fire and the only thing the woman cried about was her Plecostamus, it was many years old and was very large. They are very efficient algae eaters and are not aggressive toward other fish. I really don't see a problem adding it to your pond and get really beautiful as the get large, their spots increase in size and they will get almost a foot long. At that size, they would eat some algae.

[Otter]

Sure, it has the biofilter chamber and all but I'm going to build the large filter like Greg here did so filtration does not concern me in the skimmer. It's job is to remove the floating leaves before they sink, period.

If the dinky filter pad in the Savio skimmer is a significant portion of your biofiltration, you're in trouble. 

What this thing is good for, though, is finer mechanical filtration.  It gets algae, pine needles, and other things that go right through the basket.  It will even filter out some sediment.  I really love being able to just clean the basket and this small filter once a week and leave the biofilter alone.  So give some thought to providing extra mechanical filtration in your DIY/pool skimmer.  Maybe a skimmer sock?

[Bullfrog]

Otter, thanks for the input. I will put a sock on the skimmer basket to catch larger particles. The three layer biofilter that Greg posted here should do a very efficient job of catching all other matter that makes it past the settlement chamber.

[mascot]

Sure, it has the biofilter chamber and all but I'm going to build the large filter like Greg here did so filtration does not concern me in the skimmer. It's job is to remove the floating leaves before they sink, period.

If the dinky filter pad in the Savio skimmer is a significant portion of your biofiltration, you're in trouble. 

What this thing is good for, though, is finer mechanical filtration.  It gets algae, pine needles, and other things that go right through the basket.  It will even filter out some sediment.  I really love being able to just clean the basket and this small filter once a week and leave the biofilter alone.  So give some thought to providing extra mechanical filtration in your DIY/pool skimmer.  Maybe a skimmer sock?

I got so tired of cleaning the filter pad every two or three days that I replaced it with five Black Knight Brushes (24" I think) and it does catch a lot and I do still have to clean it, but not as often.  That pad just got so clogged that after a day and a half the water on the opposite side was about 8 inches lower.  Now, I still have very clear water, but I don't have to clean the brushes every other day.  Sometimes I can wait about 4 or 5 days.

This picture was after two years with the brushes....and before I have done any "spring cleaning" of the pond, taken last month, and of how I have the brushes inserted in the filter cage.