How To Make A 3 Tank Pond Filter

Download Article

While in that location are commercial pond filter systems y'all tin buy, many people cull to build their ain to save money. You can put together a surprisingly capable swimming filtration system using commonly found household tools and a few components purchased from your local aquarium supply or pet shop.

1
Get a saucepan or trash can with a sealable chapeau. Having a sealable chapeau will help go on other droppings from falling into your filter material and preclude the filter from overflowing if it starts to drain slowly.^[1]
- 5 gallons (xix L) buckets with sealable lids are available at almost hardware and big retail stores and make for great filter housings.
- You can also use similarly sized trash cans or Tupperware containers as long as they have a sealable lid.
2
Purchase a water pump if you lot don't already take 1. If y'all have a water pump in your pond for apportionment, that pump should suffice. Otherwise, purchase a good quality pump that's rated for the size of your swimming. Most pumps are rated in terms of how many gallons your pond can agree. If y'all are unsure, you tin find swimming calculators online to help you determine your pond's size in gallons based on its measurements.^[2]
- You lot don't demand to buy a new pump if you have one for circulation already.
- You can use either a submersible pump or ane that'south meant to remain out of the h2o with a line that goes into the pond.
Advertisement
iii
Lay out where the pump and filter will exist located in relation to the pond. In club to decide how much hose yous need to purchase, place the plastic container that will hold your filter and the water pump where you intend them to be once you're finished. Then apply a measuring tape to determine how much hose you lot'll need to run one line from the pump to the filter, and another from the filter back into the swimming.^[3]
- Information technology's best to position your filter and pump in a shady location. If you tin can identify them under some sort of shelter, that is optimal.
- A submersible pump is meant to be placed in the water, whereas a not-submersible pump should be placed adjacent to the filter with the inlet hose placed in the water.
- Proceed the filter and pump every bit shut to the water equally possible to reduce the amount of hosing the water needs to run through nether the pump's power.
four
Buy prophylactic hose to connect the filter to the water pump. Measure the bore of the outlet nozzle on your water pump, and then take that measurement to your local hardware store. Purchase safe hose of that within diameter in enough length to run from where the pump volition exist placed to where you want to position the filter itself. Then purchase another length of hose for the return line.^[iv]
- Keep the measurement for the hose then know what size pigsty to cutting in the lid.
- Your pump may have come up with the necessary hosing already.
5
Cut a hole in the chapeau of the container that's merely large enough for the hose. Use a drill with a hole-saw bit of the same diameter as the hose to drill a hole through the chapeau for the hose. If you don't take a drill and the lid is a thin enough textile, puncture it with a knife. Identify the hat on the saucepan and press the knife down through the lid where you intend to run the hose. Once the pocketknife punctures the plastic, use information technology to saw a hole in the hat of the guess size and shape of the hose.^[v]
- If you don't have a drill, make certain to employ a sturdy utility pocketknife for cutting the plastic, rather than a thin kitchen pocketknife.
- A drill with a hole saw is the recommended style to make the hole.
6
Drill a hole in the side of the container for the water outlet. Make the hole the same judge size the top one, which should be a snug fit for your hose. The water will flow in from the elevation, pass through filter media, and then return to the swimming via an outlet hose. Cull a spot on the side of the container well-nigh 1 inch (two.v cm) from the bottom and utilise the pigsty-saw flake on your drill to create an outlet pigsty.^[vi]
- Drill the hole near the base of the container, as far downwards it as yous can get.
- Remove whatever droppings created by drilling from the inside of the container in one case you're done.
7
Insert the hoses and seal them with a fish-friendly sealant. Insert the end of i hose into the chapeau and employ a sealant meant for use with aquatic wildlife effectually the top and bottom of the hole to create a waterproof seal. Then do the same with a length of hose for the pigsty near the bottom of the container.^[seven]
- You lot can purchase fish-friendly sealant at larger pet stores or on specialized websites.
- Read the instructions on the sealant you cull to know how long information technology needs to cure before you can motion forward.
Advertisement

1
Pour a layer of reddish lava rocks into the bottom of the container. The lava rocks volition serve as both a means of filtration and a way to hold your other filter media up abroad from water render nozzle at the bottom of the container. The layer of lava rocks should be only deep enough to embrace the hole for the render hose.^[eight]
- You lot can purchase red lava rocks at most aquarium supply stores or large pet stores.
- Fill the bottom of the container with lava rocks until the return hose is hidden beneath them.
2
Cut filter cloth to match the shape of the container. Filter material often comes in rolls and is made out of layers of coarse and fine material. Unroll it and trace the general shape of the container onto the filter fabric. Cut the shape out and then repeat that process three more times until yous have at least 4 layers of filter cloth to place in the container.^[nine]
- Y'all can purchase the water filter cloth at aquarium supply stores or on specialized websites.
- If yous can't notice filter textile, you can also use a mesh laundry bag filled with household sponges.
three
Place the filter material over the lava rocks. Lower a layer of filter cloth into the container and position information technology flat on pinnacle of the cherry lava rocks. And then identify each additional layer on top of the previous one then the h2o has to pass through multiple layers of information technology before reaching the lava rocks.^[10]
- If you accept trouble getting the filter cloth to stay on top of the rocks, you lot tin can add a layer of the metallic screening you used at the end of the inlet hose to make it stiffer.
- If you lot used a laundry bag and sponges instead, make certain the bag and sponges completely cover the lava rocks.
four
Seal the top of the container with the lid. The lid will prevent any droppings from falling into the filter while also preventing overflow if the filter drains slowly. In one case the lid is on the filter, move it to where yous intend to set information technology upwards.^[11]
- Make sure to seal the hat one time you put it on.
Advertisement

1
Adhere a plastic screen to the end of the input hose on the pump. The water pump you put into your swimming has an input hose that draws the water in. Use the same fish-friendly sealant you used to seal the hoses to the container to glue a metal screen to the end of the input hose to stop information technology from sucking upward large debris. Wrap the screen around the end of the hose and then use the sealant to mucilage it in place.^[12]
- You can use any pliable screen material, including the screening commonly used for windows.
- Buy the screen at your local hardware shop.
ii
Connect the pump to the filter inlet. Attach the hose running from the lid of the filter to the outlet on your water pump. Place a hose clench on the hose before you connect information technology, and then utilise a Phillips caput screwdriver to tighten the clamp over the hose and outlet nozzle to ensure it's secure. At this phase, the pump is not continued to power, and so it won't part yet.^[13]
- Identify both the pump and the filter at the swimming'south border once they're connected.
3
Place the h2o pump in or nearly the pond and position the filter next to it. If the pump is not designed to be submerged, position it in a covered spot most the water'south edge and but submerge the inlet hose. Place the filter nearby on the water'due south edge. When you plough on the pump, water volition flow through it and into the filter.^[fourteen]
- Submerge the screened end of the inlet hose in the water.
- Read the package your pump came in. Information technology will clearly specify if your pump is meant to be submerged in h2o.
4
Run the filter return hose back into the pond. The lower hose on the filter will allow the filtered h2o to return back into the pond. Simply orient the filter so the hole points toward the swimming and run the hose from the hole into the h2o.^[15]
- This hose returns the make clean h2o to the pond afterward it's been filtered.
- Position this hose as far away from the pump's inlet hose as you lot can.
5
Connect the pump to power and switch information technology on. Plug the pump into a power source like an outdoor wall outlet. With the pump running, water volition move into the height of the filter, pass through the filter material and lava rocks, and dorsum out the return hose.^[16]
- It may accept a few minutes for the water to fill the container enough to begin pouring out the return hose.
- If water completely fills the container and does not get out from the return hose, the outlet is blocked by the lava rocks. Disassemble the filter, articulate the outlet, and try again.
6
Clean the filter media every month. Open the lid of the filter and remove the filter material. Rinse it thoroughly and then remove the lava rocks. Use a hose to rinse them off completely and so put both filters back into the container.^[17]
- If the pond is very dingy, clean the filter every two weeks instead of every month.
- Replace the filter material if information technology becomes also dirty to allow h2o to laissez passer through.
Advertisement

Add New Question

Question

How tin I become rid of algae in my pond?

Scott Johnson is the Owner and Lead Design Consultant for Concrete Creations, Inc., an honor-winning landscape and design company based in the San Diego, California metro expanse. He has over 30 years of experience in the pool and mural construction industry and specializes in large estate outdoor surroundings construction projects. His work has been featured in San Diego Home & Garden Mag and on Pool Kings Goggle box Show. He earned a BS degree in Construction Management with an accent in Compages and CAD design from Northern Arizona University.

Landscape & Pattern Consultant

Expert Answer

Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

You can always attribute algae in a pond to the sun. If you want to get rid of the algae merely y'all don't want to kill any fish or anything, get an algaecide that'south rubber for fish and it'll work just fine. In the leap and summertime, yous almost always get an algae bloom, which is totally normal. Don't freak out about those blooms, just use a dose of the algaecide and you'll exist fine.
Question

What (if anything) prevents the pump intake from bottleneck? Do I demand to put in any kind of screen?

I put my submersible pump inside an upside-downwards plastic mesh waste basket (from the Dollar Shop), then wrapped the outside of the basket with nylon window screen. Over the form of the summer I typically have to remove the screen twice and rinse it off with a garden hose. This keeps the pump intake from clogging and reduces the number of times the filter media has to be changed as well.
Question

What filtration textile do I use for this system?

Yous can add together Bio-Balls, Bio-Rings, carbon packs, rock and sponge pads, which you utilize in your aquarium filters. Yous must layer them on superlative of each other.
Question

Tin fish survive on aquatic plants alone?

Yes, they can. But consider more plants than fish, as they will eat some of the plants.
Question

How do I build an overflow in a pond?

Use v-inch schedule xl PVC white pipe, dig a trench on the side of the pond to the height you desire the water, apply 5 sections of ten anxiety long pipe and drain information technology off into a lower area.
Question

What size pump volition I need to pump nearly 300 gallons?

It depends on how fast you lot desire to pump that 300 gallons and how high. Read dissimilar pump specifications to come across their rated GPH (gallons per hour) and pumping heights.
Question

Tin this filter system go on the outside of the swimming?

Yes, that is the intention, this filer system is non recommended to be placed inside the pond itself. Simply the pump that pumps water into the filter must be kept in the pond at all times unless being cleaned (must be turned off for this), to avoid the pump called-for out.
Question

Where can I become connectors for intake?

Just use a slice of screen door screen over the hose end, secure it to the hose with zip ties or picture framing wire after roofing the screening with pantyhose from a dollar store.
Question

How exercise I make clean the filter?

You just need to rinse the filtration media with pond water.
Question

What are bio balls and bio rings? Tin can l make those also?

They can't be made. They are usually bought and used to break downwards fish waste material.

Testify more answers

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to go a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Video

Things You lot'll Demand

Water pump (if you lot don't already accept one)
Plastic container with a sealable lid
Prophylactic hose
Drill with pigsty-saw bit
Fish-friendly sealant
Ruby-red lava rocks
Filter material

About This Article

Article Summary X

To build a pond filter arrangement, buy a resealable, lidded garbage bin, a rubber hose, and a water pump. Then, position the bin and pump relatively close to where they will be in the pond, and cut a hole in the hat of that bin that's just large enough for the prophylactic hose to fit into. Next, drill a hole in the side of the container for a water outlet, and seal the hoses into the openings with an animal-safety sealant. Finally, fill the bottom of the container with a layer red lava rocks and a layer of filter textile cutting to fit the bin over top of the rocks. For tips on installing the filter in the swimming, read on!

Did this summary assistance y'all?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 609,443 times.