Beth, placing the quilt batting in the skimmer should work for you, but it will plug up very quickly. You will have to keep an eye on it all during the day.
You can try and wash the muck out of the batting, with the hose, but you will not get it all out, best to replace it after it you see it is plugging up too quickly.

In the spring, I use an old mattress cover, draped inside a half 50 gallon drum, that has an discharge pipe [outlet] which overhangs my pond.
Alternately in the late spring, if required, I place a sump pump in the pond and let it pump the silt/muck up and into the half drum, through the mattress cover material and back into the pond.
It cleans up the water in just a couple of hours.

I also use the drum set up with my wet/dry shop vac to clean up the bottom of my ponds.
After sucking up the silt, etc, from the bottom into the vac, I let the water out into the drum, via a 1 1/4" shut off valve, I fitted to the shop vac's drain port cap. The water then gets filtered through the material and back into the pond.
A panty hose fitted over the "in" port of the vac, where the wand plugs in, traps most of the heavy junk that is picked up and the rest gets trapped in the mattress cover material as it filters through.
Quilt batting can be substitute for the mattress cover.

Activated charcoal in a net bag can also be used to clear up silty/ tannin brown water.
"Horton"

I always just take a huge handful of the batting and wad it around the intake of the pump, I make it about 3-4 inches thick and cover it all over. I change it about once a week or so if the water is clear and doing great. If the water is nasty and needs cleaned like yours sounds like, I would change it every day for a couple of days then I would change it every 3 days for a couple of weeks. I always just toss it out. I don't buy the kind that is in layers I just by the cheaper kind that is stuffed into a bag... also buy any kind I can get at garage sales (there is always tons to find).
you might also stir your pond up some after you put it in so that the junk is sucked up in the skimmer and not settling on the bottom of the pond.

Interesting how different systems change how the same material is used. I have a skippy for my 1000 gal. pond and I use two packages of batting for king sized bed quilts folded to fit evenly over the top of the layers in the skippy and under the outlet into the pond. The batting prevents any mulm or other dirt that has been pumped into the bottom of the skippy from rising to the top so the water going out of the skippy is pretty much clean and clear. When there are a lot of leaves in the pond the water can get tea colored from the tannins but as Horton says, Activated Charcoal takes care of that. When I see dirt caught in the batting fibres I turn off the pump and drain the skippy. If the water coming out is still mucky looking when it finishes draining I let the pump fill it again and drain that out too. Usually I do need to change the batting once in the season but I don't need to watch it for several weeks if at all.
I would hesitate to use the short batting material around the pump intake. The fibres can work their way loose and wrap around the pump impeller. That really puts a strain on the pump, causes it to over heat and stop pumping. Then the pump has to be torn down and cleaned and all those short fibres cut away from the impeller shaft. Since the fibres are polyester they don't break easily. Sandy

Great ideas, everyone. Thank you so much!! I'm headed to the store to buy the necessary material later this afternoon.

Horton, can you tell me more about the activated charcoal? Where is that normally purchased? I'm assuming it is NOT like charcoal we cook with, but instead a special kind of charcoal....For the mesh bag, should it be a large mesh (like what lingerie is washed in) or more like panty hose?

Thanks, again!

You may find the activated charcoal in the fish department at pet stores. I have only seen the small chunked kind so panty hose would work great for that.

Beth, along with F4F's suggestion, you will find it sold in pet stores. It is quite expensive, as you do not get a whole lot for your money.
It is usually used in aquariums.
"horton"

Acorns mean oak leaves which are the worst for tannins.

Tannins turn water brown but clear like iced tea but don't hurt fish.

beth4,
I have a savio set up like yours. This is my first spring and summer with the pond. I have clear water now, I had to wait for the green algae to cycle through.

Earlier this week (just for an experiment) I put some quilt batting under the mat in the waterfall filter, now I have really clear water.

FWIW, quilt batting around the pump seems like a bad idea.

RexAnne

I use polyester batting in my filter. .I buy the kind in the bag that you pull apart, I guess that would be loose batting. You could put it in a zip up laundry bag then just take it out and throw away. .a big bag of it is pretty cheap at Walmart. .Debbie

Just to ad few words,quilt batting will help if the tannin is not too strong. My pond is fairly big 12x11x2.5 and water is clean, but tea color. I have company that is suppose to take care of this things, and they suggested to use activated charcoal, which I just bought on Ebay(highly recommend). You are going to pay half the price from any store.

Thank you all for the great info and encouragement you've provided. I've purchased the quilt batting. I'll have to delay using it for a week or so, as I had foot surgery yesterday and am confined to a boot, and not very mobile. I know that when I start using the quilt batting, I'm going to need to be mobile to check it every few hours, clean it out and keep it from clogging up and shutting down my pump. So, I'm hoping that within 2 weeks, I'll be able to have used it and have significantly improved the water.

Yesterday, prior to surgery, I did throw in the activated charcoal that I purchased. So, it's in there working now. I'm guessing that it'll take several weeks to clear up the pond because it is such a strong tea-color.

I so appreciate the suggestions about where to buy the charcoal and how to use.

You guys are WONDERFUL!! Believe me, when my pond is back to its normal condition, I'll post an update so you all can know. And, I may even get carried away and take photos and post!

Beth

If you are still looking for absorbant material, Try Bamboo you can find Bamboo batting through a company in TX called Fiberco.

Here is a link that might be useful: FiberCo, Inc

Fiberco, I have to take a few swats at your post. We are not looking for material that is absorbent. We need it to have lots of fibers with lots of air spaces to trap small particles,incidentally serving as a residence for aerobic bacteria and we want it to last a long time without matting down. While some cotton batting has fairly long fibers it mats very quickly which reduces the flow of water through it and the water just goes around it. The fibers start to rot as soon as it becomes wet. It is also very expensive compared to polyester batting which can be used over and over and won't ever rot although it can become quite battered after a raccoon gets hold of it. Cotton won't hold up to a raccoon attack. I suspect the bamboo would be more resilient but the same objections hold for that as for the cotton.
My final problem is that you just joined the forum today and it appears from your posting name that you have some connection to Fieldco which means you are pushing their products without purchasing ad space. That is against forum and iVillage rules.
I really like the photo of the old building though. It would make a great screen saver. Sandy

I neglected to mention the big problem with using Bamboo fibers. Your ad says it is naturally antimicrobial. That is the very opposite of what is needed. Our filtration systems are designed to maintain a healthy population of microbes so the bamboo fibers are not useful to us. Sandy

Unless I am overlooking it, the info I was going to mention about the nylon stockings is missing. Maybe I lost it in editing. I tried to use that method and found the water just flows around the bag rather than going through it. Cotton works and there are other materials that work just fine but the stockings were a total loss. If you don't want to use a bag, get two of the perforated planting pots for ponds. Put the charcoal in one and wire the second pot to it, top to top. Sometimes I get lazy and just put the second pot in on top of the AC and then put a potted plant in that and put the whole thing in the Skippy. Sandy

The naturally antimicrobial state of bamboo isn't that it kills or harms microorganisms it simply provides no sustainable food for which microbes need to grow or spread. As for being associated with fiberco, yes I am, but promoting products no, fiberco doesn't sale online or retail,they generally willnot sell less than 500 yds, to find our products you would have to go to a quilt store or craft store.
I was just trying to recommend a better batting fiber than cotton.

Kittcatt,yes, activated charcoal is used to take the tannins out of the water.
Wash it out well and put it in a net laundry bag, before placing it in your pond or filter. There can be quite a bit of black dust in the initial packaging.
"Horton"

Thanks, I have my quilt batting in and my large box of charcol just arrived today....It's raining so I am not sure I will get it in today, but I am hoping to. The quilt batting must be doing some good as it is very dirty and I have changed it several times..thanks everyone.

Kitt