Why does everyone have such good luck with Skippy Filter??
DizzyBlueBaby
11 years ago
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koijoyii
11 years agoRelated Discussions
watercress rootlet grow through Skippy filter medium
Comments (2)It just goes to show the filter is working. The roots should be consuming excess nutrients like crazy. Since the good bacteria grows everywhere there is good water flow supplying oxygen I doubt the watercress is hurting anything. If it worries you, rip some out. You may leave a lot of roots behind but they will either provide a source of nutrients for the good bacteria or will send up new plants. What you have right now is a combination Skippy/veggie filter. The questions I would ask are: has there been a heavy rain?(even not so heavy rain can mess up the PH), are my fish flashing?(Milt in the water can cause cloudy water),am I overfeeding?(this is the most common problem.), what does my test kit tell me( testing is important)? All of these things and more can be pertinent to cloudy water. If you don't have a test kit, get one and use it. It is a lot better than guessing and getting the wrong answers. You should use it at least once a week. Get a jarful of pond water and allow it to settle for several hours. If the problem is soil or other material has gotten into the pond, it will either settle out or float. That would mean you need to do a little more filtering and water changes to make it go away faster. Otherwise you can just wait it out....See Moreskippy vs bog filter?
Comments (16)Hi Jill, I put in my 60 ga filter cause I wanted more plants. It's a ~2' x 3' x 18" deep stock tank with 4 or 5 bricks on the bottom, then a plastic overhead light grate cut to fit, with a mesh bag of scrubbies spead on top, then 1"-2" rocks on top. Or another grate would work. Water is pumped from the pond into the bottom of it via a hose with a shut off valve in it, and spills out the top thru a hole in the side with an outlet pipe and down a streamlet back to the pond. Keeps my 300ga pond crystal clear, but I have a light fish load and lots of plants. I grew water cress, WH, Parrot Feather, Mexican bluebells, and dwarf papyrus in it. Also Sweet flag and 1 iris. My impatiens were so-so. This photo is from last summer and the tank and plastic streamlet were not yet camoflaged with rocks/plants. The 60 ga is on the right, and I have a 1/2 whiskey barrel filter on the 2nd pond, to the rear. I must admit that I never clean my skippys. Many will disagree with that practice. I live in zone 4 so the filters get shut down for the winter. After running all summer, last fall I stopped the pump, unscrewed the drain plug in the tank, pulled the plants out and flushed and flushed the rocks and scrubbies, letting the water run out. No massive black gunk, etc. Again, I have a light fish load, results may vary! I let it drain and left the plug out for the winter. The whiskey barrel got drained and tipped on its side, rinsed off the scrubbies in their bag and stored them in the garage for the winter. This spring I filled them up and away they go. It will take awhile for it to be warm enough to grow bacteria again. Just my experience, obviously won't work for everyone. Sarah...See MoreSkippy Filter Question
Comments (14)I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond. I'm going to look into the barrels. In all honesty I dont know the exact size of what my pond is going to be because it is an irregular shape. I have tried doing the math in a variety of ways I have seen on the internet and I get a different number each time. It should be known that I am HORRIBLE at math lol. I know that there is no way it will be more than 1000 gallons and no less than 500 so I figured if I figure on 1000 gallons and filter for a 1000 gallons then the water would be that much clearer if it is filtering for a pond larger then what I may end up with. Perhaps I'm a fool for thinking that too lol. Would any of you mind helping me to figure out the gallon amount for my pond design? I have included an image of the design with measurements but they are in metric so I will give the equivalents here. For ever 30cm or ".3m" that equals roughly 1 foot. 60cm or .6m in turn would equal 2ft. 1 meter is roughly 3ft. (actually its slightly over but round down to 3ft) The one measurement that isnt on the design is the angled line with is 1.4meter long (roughly 4.5ft) Also you may notice the blue square grid and those are equal to 10 square centimeters. I completely understand if no one wants to lol....See Morewhats involved in setting up a skippy filter??
Comments (2)Hi, I've made a couple. The link below is an old thread with description and some photos. Good luck, They're easy and they work. You can use store bought 'live' bacteria to speed up the process, I never have, just let it run, the bacteria will grow on it's own. S Here is a link that might be useful: DIY Skippy type filter...See Morediggery
11 years agoDizzyBlueBaby
11 years agodiggery
11 years agodiggery
11 years agoannedickinson
11 years agoCalamity_J
11 years agosleeplessinftwayne
11 years agodana-mark
10 years agoPauleen Brown
8 years agoannedickinson
8 years ago
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