1. Does anyone have a site with detailed info, for making your own
veggie filter?
2. Would this work for a 8' x 19' by 30" deep pond? It's 1800 to 2000
gals, more or less.
How do you feel about using a UV fiter in comparison? Any info is
appreciated.
Thank You.
Bette

"Bette E" wrote in message
...
1. Does anyone have a site with detailed info, for making your own
veggie filter?
2. Would this work for a 8' x 19' by 30" deep pond? It's 1800 to 2000
gals, more or less.
How do you feel about using a UV fiter in comparison? Any info is
appreciated.


My pond is at rough guestimate 3000 gallons. I use nothing but a VF. A good
rule of thumb is to make the surface area of your VF 10% of the surface area
of your pond. Mine is probably closer to 30%, but I had the room, and wanted
to oversize to be safe. Next, use GOOD filter plants. You want plants with
dense root systems like water hyacinth, or water lettuce. I also use water
iris in my VF for two reasons. They look great with their tall slender
foliage extending above the leafy WH. Secondly, they grow well in baskets of
rocks and pebbles. So the baskets provide a lot of surface area for good bio
bugs, while still allowing the roots to get access to the water born goo.

The most important thing to realize with a VF is that there is no such thing
as immediate response. In colder climates where we lost the VF plants, we
have a period of algae bloom and green goo that is guranteed because in the
spring our filters are not yet revved up. You can stay this off a bit, with
cold tolerate plants like water celery and watercress.

UV? No comparison. UV is for techno mechanical filter weenies that want to
see their fishies. Their loonies. All of them.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

Split personalities are cool (I'm a family therapist)..

We have loads of veggie filter AND a UV. It gets cut off when the plants
are up and running. It is nice to see the fish!

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"Bette E" wrote in message
...
1. Does anyone have a site with detailed info, for making your own
veggie filter?
2. Would this work for a 8' x 19' by 30" deep pond? It's 1800 to 2000
gals, more or less.
How do you feel about using a UV fiter in comparison? Any info is
appreciated.


My pond is at rough guestimate 3000 gallons. I use nothing but a VF. A
good
rule of thumb is to make the surface area of your VF 10% of the surface
area
of your pond. Mine is probably closer to 30%, but I had the room, and
wanted
to oversize to be safe. Next, use GOOD filter plants. You want plants with
dense root systems like water hyacinth, or water lettuce. I also use water
iris in my VF for two reasons. They look great with their tall slender
foliage extending above the leafy WH. Secondly, they grow well in baskets
of
rocks and pebbles. So the baskets provide a lot of surface area for good
bio
bugs, while still allowing the roots to get access to the water born goo.

The most important thing to realize with a VF is that there is no such
thing
as immediate response. In colder climates where we lost the VF plants, we
have a period of algae bloom and green goo that is guranteed because in
the
spring our filters are not yet revved up. You can stay this off a bit,
with
cold tolerate plants like water celery and watercress.

UV? No comparison. UV is for techno mechanical filter weenies that want to
see their fishies. Their loonies. All of them.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

"Jim and Phyllis Hurley" wrote in message
. ..
Split personalities are cool (I'm a family therapist)..

We have loads of veggie filter AND a UV. It gets cut off when the plants
are up and running. It is nice to see the fish!
snip

Your plants and snails were a big help to me last year, so I won't call you
a looney to your face.


--
BV.
Keep yer gadgets...I'll stick with plants.
www.iheartmypond.com

1. Does anyone have a site with detailed info, for making your own
veggie filter?
.......... here are pictures of pond and veggie filter construction
http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2000/p2000.htm
here are details
http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2000/details.htm
here is what it looks like filled with plants
http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2003/8-2003B.htm

2. Would this work for a 8' x 19' by 30" deep pond? It's 1800 to 2000
gals, more or less.
yeah, mine is a bit smaller at 1600 gallons. my veggie filter holds about 90 gallons
and is 1' x 1' x 14 feet long. holds about 90 gallons of water. Since I use plants
that grow big and have massive root development my veggie filter is much bigger than
I really need. But I like the feeling of jungle that develops. because I use those
plants with massive roots I can put baskets of flowers in the veggie filter to punch
it up with color right away in spring. The flower baskets dont help clean the water
since the flowers are in dirt and the bottom of the pot is just about 1 inch down
into the stream of water. at least I dont have to worry about watering those pots
all summer. LOL. In fact, anything in a flower pot probably doesnt contribute much
to cleaning the pond unless it is one of those open mesh jobbies where the water can
flow thru. I really, really like ivy cause it over winters so well and I can put the
pot of ivy out in spring. But the Cyperus and the water celery do well inside in a
basement with good fluorescent lights. they need either or moving water or aeration
and a little food. If they are in mesh pots of some kind they can go right out into
the veggie filter .. I tie mine with those plastic hoodgies right to the screening in
back. I have been playing with various plants in the veggie filter for a couple
years http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/changes/changes.htm

How do you feel about using a UV fiter in comparison? Any info is
appreciated.
.... I use both. the UV probably isnt necessary once the plants get going, but it is
cheap to run.

since I live in zone 5 (winter) I cover and heat my pond to 55oF. the hardy water
lilies never die and are already covering 1/2 the surface of the water. the other
thing I do is use a bucket filter all winter and put my pond heater (a 500 watt
aquarium heater) in the bucket filter. that way I can feed my fish most of the
winter. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I used to have a VF but it took too much space so i switched to UV...
Now my pond is bigger without the VF...

I also switched to a much higher surface bio-media to reduce my filter
size from 130 gal down to 60 gal for my 3000 gal pond.

There is NO way I am going back! ;-)

Thanks BV, it feels nicer to be looney in cyberspace.

By the way, my snails just laid their first egg case. More to come soon, I
suspect. Need any?

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"Jim and Phyllis Hurley" wrote in message
. ..
Split personalities are cool (I'm a family therapist)..

We have loads of veggie filter AND a UV. It gets cut off when the
plants
are up and running. It is nice to see the fish!
snip

Your plants and snails were a big help to me last year, so I won't call
you
a looney to your face.


--
BV.
Keep yer gadgets...I'll stick with plants.
www.iheartmypond.com

"Jim and Phyllis Hurley" wrote in message
. ..
Thanks BV, it feels nicer to be looney in cyberspace.

By the way, my snails just laid their first egg case. More to come soon,
I
suspect. Need any?
snip

Last week I would have said yes, but I noticed last night, plenty in the VF.
Thanks anyway. Now how about plants?

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

the problem is what is removing the nitrates in your pond??? I agree about too much
space. my entire backyard is 25' x 25' ... which is why my veggie filter LOOKS like
a regular flower planter. most people do have flower beds along side their ponds.
well... it just needs to be flower boxes with various plants in it to look great.
Ingrid

(matrix) wrote:
I used to have a VF but it took too much space so i switched to UV...
Now my pond is bigger without the VF...

I also switched to a much higher surface bio-media to reduce my filter
size from 130 gal down to 60 gal for my 3000 gal pond.

There is NO way I am going back! ;-)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

wrote in message
...
the problem is what is removing the nitrates in your pond??? I agree
about too much
space. my entire backyard is 25' x 25' ... which is why my veggie filter
LOOKS like
a regular flower planter. most people do have flower beds along side
their ponds.
well... it just needs to be flower boxes with various plants in it to look
great.
snip

I agree, I think that is the cool part of the VF. It is just another pond
for you to plant in!

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

Veggie Filters vs UV Filters ??

My feeling is that Mother Nature always, well mostly, gets it right and she
likes veggie filters and the UV shining down on the pond.
And I like the additional pond effect - my water hyacinth filter is full of
snails and dragonfly nymphs - kewl critters!


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Do I correctly understand that the apple snails I sent up to you as eggs
made it through the MD winter? They abound in the everglades and mine can't
make it thru a MS winter!

As to plants: Here is what I have and could send -

My hyacinth are getting under way. The babies are just starting. Could
send some if it is legal.

Celery: have huge amounts.

Parrots feather: multiplying and growing like mad.

Anacharis: growing well and available.

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"Jim and Phyllis Hurley" wrote in message
. ..
Thanks BV, it feels nicer to be looney in cyberspace.

By the way, my snails just laid their first egg case. More to come
soon,
I
suspect. Need any?
snip

Last week I would have said yes, but I noticed last night, plenty in the
VF.
Thanks anyway. Now how about plants?

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

Ingrid,

You are getting a lot of mileage from a few feet. Well done. I am
specially grateful to have enough room to spread out. Our main pond is 16 x
22. We four veggie filters, each with different plants. Mine is certainly
less footprint efficient than yours.

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

wrote in message
...
the problem is what is removing the nitrates in your pond??? I agree
about too much
space. my entire backyard is 25' x 25' ... which is why my veggie filter
LOOKS like
a regular flower planter. most people do have flower beds along side
their ponds.
well... it just needs to be flower boxes with various plants in it to look
great.
Ingrid

(matrix) wrote:
I used to have a VF but it took too much space so i switched to UV...
Now my pond is bigger without the VF...

I also switched to a much higher surface bio-media to reduce my filter
size from 130 gal down to 60 gal for my 3000 gal pond.

There is NO way I am going back! ;-)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

"Jim and Phyllis Hurley" wrote in message
. ..
Do I correctly understand that the apple snails I sent up to you as eggs
made it through the MD winter? They abound in the everglades and mine
can't
make it thru a MS winter!

As to plants: Here is what I have and could send -

My hyacinth are getting under way. The babies are just starting. Could
send some if it is legal.

Celery: have huge amounts.

Parrots feather: multiplying and growing like mad.

Anacharis: growing well and available.
snip

When I got the snails from you, they went right into an aquarium in the
house. Some of the larger ones went into the pond. I have since had, I'd
estimate about 100 snails pop up. Some got fed to my clown loach and some
went to the pond. I can't say for sure your snails made it thru the winter,
but I definately have snails alive and kicking in the pond.

As for plants, The Hyacinth are my main goal, but I'd love some celery and
parrot's feather. My PF didn't make it thru the winter. The celery is
growing nicely as a marginal along the pond edge, but it'd be nice to have
some extreme growth like you and Ingrid are reporting, so I'd love to try it
in the VF as well.

If you are willing to part, I'll pay the postage as always!

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

......... here are pictures of pond and veggie filter construction
http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2000/p2000.htm


Wow, really nice. I can't wait to have one.