"BenignVanilla" m wrote in
message
I think I can safely say, I have the simplest VF on the group. I built
a
second pond, that is only 8-14 inches deep. The water is fed into the VF
at
one end by a pipe attached to the bottom drain in the pond, so my VF is
gravity fed. My pump sits at the far end of the VF and pumps the water
back
to the pond. No large matter stuff gets to my pump because the Veggies
grab
them as they go by. One pipe in...one out...water level auto-maintained by
gravity (tm).

Disclaimer: I am entirely mechanically impaired, and am surprised that I am
actually even going to attempt this. OK? Now -

My pond is only a little bigger than yours. About 3' round, by 3' deep max.
I have 2 levels of plant shelves dug around the interior, so the 3' depth is
really not accurate. I only dug the middle that deep so that my fish (who
don't live there yet) can sink down when the raccoons come. I read that here
.

Is your filter actually in the pond, with the intake from the pump extended
to the drain? Interesting - I hadn't thought of moving the pump. I kind of
like that, but I'll have to think about it - I'm not sure that will work
for me, only because my pond gets a of tree stuff in it, and I can't picture
how I would be able to insure that the supply line would be kept free of
leaves.

FWIW, I am trying to do an exterior filter which can double as a shallow
pool for my birds to drink from and bathe in.

If I can pump water in to the bottom, then I'll be a happy camper. When I
think about running the water from end to end, I have a picture of water
either running over the top of my holding tank or not reaching the top in a
manner sufficient to keep the plants healthy. Of course, that was before I
saw the pictures of the stand pipe.

A