I had to look flocor up since I had never heard of it. I don't see much. If it has loose surface material then I see no reason that you couldn't add it. I don't think the skippy idea is particular about the material used for large surface area.

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

Brenda: Thanks for your help. I have stepables planted in between the rocks around my pond. Maybe I can divide some of them up since they have taken over the rocks. I bought them last year at the end of the season for $6 a tray. I didn't even plant them. Just threw them between the rocks surrounding the pond and they took off. Sandy: Bought a bunch of watercress at Giant Eagle in the spring and just plopped it in my skippy filter. Only problem: it choked out my sweet potato vines. If you look in the third picture down in the "show before the snow pics" you can see the pond behind the bridge. It is 90% covered in wh and wl so it looks green. My poor fish have a problem finding their food. I don't want to throw any (wh/wl) out yet. Figure I'll just wait until the cold wilts them. I can still see the painted great stuff in my waterfall so this year when I went to the nursery C3D and Mike told me about I got some azolla for free with the plants I bought. I didn't even notice it till my waterfall slowed down. I pulled mats of it off the top of my waterfall and just placed the them over the ugly painted great stuff in the waterfall and "viola" they grew over most of the ugly spots. That stuff (azolla) is amazing. It grows faster than the koi can gobble it up. I also painted some of the rocks in the waterfall with the moss/buttermilk recipe so some of my rocks are covered in moss. Will take some pics of the actual pond tonight (azolla covered great suff and moss covered rocks too) if it's not raining. I was so proud of my other pond before I was forced to move by the developer. I couldn't imagine any pond being better that the old one. The old one being in the shade didn't give me nearly as much enjoyment as this one that's in full sun. Last year (1st year) it was "uh-huh". This year "wow." Wonder what next year will bring. I never had so many blooms on my water lilies. It seems like everything I put in this one just takes off. Of course it's not just the pond. It's the wonderful advice from everyone here on the forum. Jenny

Hi George. I am a new ponder myself, with my first pond made this year. This site is so informative and the people here are very helpful. I know it's hard to have patience when you are so excited about seeing your fish. I too got depressed when I went through the stinky, bug infested, thick, algae, pea soup syndrome. I got spoiled by the first week of my pond, when everything was new and the water was clear. But then when it got icky, and then disgusting looking, and it seemed like it was taking forever to see my lovely creatures that I paid for, I started to get impatient too. But I spent that impatient feeling reading up the articles on here, soaking up information like a sponge. Patience is mentioned over and over again. I eventually after reading up on how the ecosystem worked and balancing act of the pond, I realized I needed to look at the pond like a new science experiment and learn from other ponders as "experienced" scientists("experienced" by what they have tried, gone through, or what worked for them, as far as the ideas and experiences that they share on here). I learned to look at my pond for what it was, and what it was going through. You will see, when it does clear up, which it will "with patience" and mother nature, you will appreciate all the creatures, microscopic up to the the large critters and plants, including healthy algae, that makes the wonderful balancing act possible. From what I learned on here, the good stuff that your pond needs has to grow from the bad stuff to make its existence possible, to complete the cycle. Chemicals are only temporary. The right bacteria/s will help your pond for the long run and help maintain your water for you, like ponds of the lucky long time ponders on this site. Patience is free. It will be worth it in the end.. Happy Ponding : )