Here are two different instructions for making your own pot scrubbers. I checked at JoAnns this weekend and the nylon tulle is 99 cents a yard and 45" to 54" wide, so you can get quite a few scrubbies out of 4 yards of tulle and you can make them any size you want. Crocheted: I usually buy a couple of yards of net (tulle) and cut in 2 inch strips across the 60 or 72" width of net. Then sew them end to end, and you don't have to be too particular. Then with at least a K hook chain 5 or 6, connect the ends. Then just start sc in every spot you can around continuously until it's about 4 inches across. I try to make the crocheted area as solid as I can, but the design is not important, if there's a gap, I put a sc in it. That's all there is to it. I have made them double layered, too Sewed (per Heloise): Here's what you'll need to make one nylon-net scrubber: 1/2 yard of 72-inch-wide nylon net AKA Tulle (found at fabric shops) scissors strong nylon thread or dental floss large needle 1. Cut the nylon net into three 6-inch-by-72-inch strips. 2. Place the three strips on top of each other evenly, then take the needle threaded with nylon thread or dental floss and begin sewing down the middle (lengthwise), using long basting stitches. 3. When done, hold the thread in one hand and pull back on the nylon net to form a ball. 4. Secure the ball by wrapping the ends of the thread around its center and knotting tightly. Trim off the thread ends. 5. Pull apart the layers of nylon net to fluff, and you now have a scrubbie!

Peonie, I went to the dollar store and got bags full of little pot scrubbers. I put them in a mesh laundry bag, and this bag has a few lumps of lava rock on top, to stop it from flowing upwards. The skippy is a round plastic tub, it's not reactive to UV light so it lasts year after year. It has a lip at one side. We bought this from a pond store years ago, I think it's called a biofalls or something. It has a filter mat in the bottom that rests on some ridges. The water inlet is at the side at the level of the bottom, so that makes the water swirl around. Then it rises up through the filter mat, then through the put scrubbers. We put water hyacinths on top of that, and their roots do an excellent job catching more green stuff. Then it flows over the edge back to the pond. We run a mini indoors in the winter, in our indoor preform; same principle, made out of a flowerpot, with an aquarium filter mitt instead of scrubbies, because it's so much smaller. Works well too. Good luck with yours! :) Mary

There will be others responding who can give you detailed (and more educated)answers to your questions. All I can do is tell you my experience, which is much like yours. I read, researched on line and at the library, got terribly confused and stalled putting in a pond because I was so confused. However, once I bit the bullet and put in a 160 gal preformed pond with a PondMaster 1350 pump, things became less confusing. This size pump is adequate for 160 gals and is strong enough to run water to a waterfall as long as you aren't going too high - mine was about 2' above the surface of the water. It also has different fountain heads (including the bell /umbrella type). If you want a waterfall you will also need to buy a hose to run from the pump to the top of the waterfall. My understanding is that the bigger the pond and/or the more fish you have, the more filtration you will need. I have found that the PondMaster pump I have is adequate for my needs for now, but I would like to make a skippy filter next - mostly for the fun of it and because I have a better understanding of it now (thanks to the great people here on this forum). There are all kinds of instructions in this forum for making them and also in other sites on line. A prefilter is necessary. It protects the pump from sucking in stuff that will clog it. The filter will gunk up [very technical term :-)] and need to be rinsed from time to time. You can buy a pump with a manufactured prefilter (my preference at this point) or make one yourself using a container with holes and filter material through which the water has to travel prior to reaching the pump. The prefilter is between the water and the pump while the skippy filter is between the pump and the water source for the pond: ie waterfall. I like the prefilter that comes with the PondMaster pump I have. It has a charcoal filter and a synthetic type filter similar in composition to what air conditioners use. They aren't expensive and come in a packaged set or as single items. I usually change them once or twice a year. Biological filters mean that helpful bacteria do some of the work of cleaning the water (along with plants). The bacteria need a surface to attach to. People use scrubbies, plastic strapping tape, manufactured balls with lots of points, lava rock, etc. LOTS OF SURFACE!! A skippy filter is one example of a home made biological filter. A prefilter also harbors the beneficial bacteria, but doesn't have as much surface area as a skippy. I also add bacteria to the pond. I believe they help keep the pond bottom crud-free. There are a number of different kinds: Microblift and Pondzyme are two that I have used. I am only familiar with a PondMaster pump, so others will have to tell you about different brands. If you were going to have a homemade filter AND an umbrella type of foundtain head, well, I'm sure it could be done, but it would be an interesting challenge to do it. I hope I have helped rather than confused you more. And I know that more experienced people will help even more. Good Luck and TAKE PICTURES to post on the gallery!! Anne

1) I thought flo-cor was meant to move freely, in a jacuzzi-like churning aerated chamber? I don't think it would work well, and I don't think you need it. Green pan scrubbers seem to be the best - densely fibrous, but water easily flows through it. Don't use "foam" it will clog and restrict flow too much. The bottom half of my Skippy is some kind of fake alphagrog, the top half is green pan scrubbers. This is because it's no easy task to get industrial quantities of pan scrubbers at a cheap price. 2) Well-aerated air will surely help the "good" bacteria. I put a venturi at the input of my Skippy, but it didn't seem too efficient - I guess the flow rate wasn't high enough or the tube was too big a diameter. Now I have a low-power air pump line going straight into the venturi tube (Previously this was feeding an airstone in the pond itself). I am not sure this was actually necessary but it's working as it is and if it aint broke, don't fix it. I wouldn't put airstones in the Skippy itself because a) I think you are more likely to form "channels" through the media where the air will escape quickly before it properly aerates the water, and b) for low maintenance you want the Skippy as simple as possible - any problems with the airstones or air lines and you'll have to take the whole thing apart... 4) err... what happened to 3? Anyway, my Skippy gives me clear water, without UV. It's not like ultra-pure-crystal clear, because my pond is a wildlife pond and I'm not too fussy about clearing out leaves and stuff. But I don't have green water at all, I can always see down to 50 cm, and on a sunny day, I can see stuff at the bottom (90cm) 5) I don't use floating plants in the top, I don't have enough depth above the media in my Skippy. I use watercress, but I think anything aquatic that grows rapidly (uses up nutrients) will be OK. But didn't you say the filter would be in a garage or shed or something? Will there be enough light for plants? By the way, my skippy does not work entirely alone - I am sure that the large number of mature plants, and surface coverage from marginals and floaters are helping to keep the water clear - controlling amount of light available for algae, and competing for nutrients. Possibly the thriving water-snail population too. There is definitely competition for nutrients because the watercress fairly exploded when the pond was rebuilt and settling down... but now it grows much more slowly.