Habitat - Outdoor :: Skippy Filter Claims

[floydsdad]

It's time for Floyd to move to the great outdoors. There are many reasons why it's time, but I must admit a large factor is that we're tired of cleaning his tank every week. I've been researching info on outdoor ponds and came across the Skippysstuff.com site where they claim their filter NEVER NEEDS TO BE CLEANED! WOOOHOOO!!!!

Of course I'm old enough to realize that I couldn't possibly be getting out of that unpleasant task so easily. I read their claims and understand the science behind it, but they made no mention of the word "turtle". Perhaps it works fine for a regular garden pond, but I have doubts when it comes to my turtle and his ability to challenge a Shetland Pony in the category of Waste Production.

I read on another site that the Skippy claim was misleading. I was wondering if anyone here can verify the "never clean the filter" claim? My plan is to dose the pond with bacteria until I can find the right balance. I would also like to have it filled with plants to enhance the filtering abilities. I read somewhere where the plants will root into the filter media, which is fine if I never have to clean it, but would be a royal pain if it needs cleaning every couple of weeks.

I'm still in the early planning stages, so I'm not sure how big the pond will end up being. However, with my propensity for over-building everything, best guess is that my single male turtle will end up with somewhere around a 1500gl pond.

Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Bill

[jozzep]

never heard of it....But if you never clean it, where do the turds go?
Sounds like that spray from the movie with ben stiller and jack black "va-POO-rize" lol

[marisa]

The Skippy has been written about in some older threads.

Sorry, can't verify the never needs cleaning claim, you'll have to experiment and find out for yourself. I will say, however, that I've learned to take claims that include "always" or "never" in them with a grain of salt. But, given that you're cleaning the filter weekly now and given that you're planning on a good size pond (which in itself will take longer to become fouled), I would think that maybe having to do a cleaning every few months (if that) isn't such a bad trade-off.

[bluedragoon85]

I don't know personally, but I previously read about the skippy filter and read a couple of blogs about peoples ponds and their skippy filters, and this one person mentioned how it was a royal pain to have to clean her skippy filter because she had to clean so many filter sponges.

[floydsdad]

That's the point. I keep reading about people cleaning a filter that supposedly never needs cleaning. However, I wonder if the filter REALLY needs to be cleaned. The pads will become an unsightly (and likely odoriferous) mess regardless if they are colonized by good OR bad bacteria. If you have a good bacteria colony going, then cleaning the filter wipes them out and starts the cycle all over again.

For Jozzep, the concept is that the good bacteria that colonize the pads eat the poo and break it down into nitrogen that in turn feeds the plant life (including algae) in your pond. If you have enough plants (other than algea) to use up all the available nitrogen, then the algae is starved out. The result is healthy plants and clear water in your tank.

At least, that's the claim.

[blackforces get you]

i think they use those in lobster and crab tanks. ever seen them in the fish markets?

[turtletex]

Im planning on making my own "Skippy" type filter. I think it actually says you dont have to clean the media but doesnt say not to clean the filter does it?(does that make cents?) Im going to use pot scrubers, the old type that are made out of plastic that my mom use to use. If it works out i'll post pics. I have a few plants and some rocks my 3 res and 1 spiny bask on in my 270 gallon. After I mowed my yard for the 1 st time since installing my pond I noticed my pond went from clear to yuckky green, so I think i will spend litttle to no money to risk a few pond ideas. Anywho, I will post if it works out.