though i does look streamlined and stuff, there are actually slits at the corners. this is because it was the first time for me working with lumber and i didn't know that the 4by4's were not actually eight feet long, (even though pricetag says eight feet!...), so i think it screwed up my measurements and stuff. but i still like it.
re: pump and filter: i made my filter out of a five gallon bucket (make sure it is the sturdy kind with the reinforced rib near the top...i used a five gallon detergent bucket from costco, which i cleaned out well--involving just letting it sit with water for a while)
at the bottom of the filter are a few small rocks about an inch high each.. they support a grate. the grate is a side of the milkcrate basking platform.
the grate supports 2 course foam square filter pads, each are about 2 inches thick. the filter pads are squised in a way they make a bowl shape. then i tossed in a bag of bio balls i think it was a hundred pack. on top of the balls are two finer filter pads held down by a couple bricks (the weight of the bricks is distributed evenly by four plastic sticks).
now, what i use to do was just shove the input water tube right down to the bottom of the bucket. but when the power goes out or the pump stops working, or more commonly, the tube comes off the pump outlet...it becomes a siphon and siphons out all the crap sitting at the bottom of the bucket.
my solution was to stick a pvc pipe (taller than the output hole) down the center (i cut holes in the pads), then let the water fall in and come out by gravity. in the case of a pump failure, the only water that would siphon out is the water in the tube already and perhaps a few inches of water from the top of the filter.
regarding the pump, i bought a pump from lowes... garden treasures brand.--on the web, people say these pumps breakdown a lot. i havent had any problems yet...
although my water is clear, i regret getting the size pump i got --because i am pumping water from the bottom to the top of the filter, this is like three feet--which really reduces the true amount of water flow (there are charts on the back of the filter's packaging).
also, because of turtles+fish+floating plant roots, the little grate on the pump would get clogged, causing me to remove it everyday and knock off the gunk. i ended up paying for the prefilter designed for my pump..
http://cgi.ebay.com.my/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0187643282
inside is an O shaped foam cylinder (it has a hallow vertical core). eventually i get lazy and it builds up with so much stuff, the foam cylinder would collapes on itself by the force of the pump. i ended up fitting a pvc pipe (i cut several holes into the pvc pipe to allow water flow) inside the O shaped foam cylinder to support it so i only have to clean it every couple weeks.---its much faster to clean a prefilter than the filter pads itself...a good investment.
this is the current state of my pond:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxV4nkUsxNs&feature=channel_page[/url]
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:04 pm 
