# diy filter for outdoor pond



## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

is there a cheap and easy way to make a filter out of a 5 gallon bucket for a pond? i was thinking of a sump type filter? i already have the pump and hose, all i need now is what to do to make the filter

thanks
russell


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

A fish store nearby sells pond supplies and fish too in bins situated outside. Most of their filters are DIY and consist of a pump, a spraybar, and a plastic container full of whatever biological filter material they found (bioballs, shredded sponge, etc.)

Basically the pump discharges the water at the top of a container full of biomedia (in your case that would be the bucket). The water is discharged through the spraybar, goes through a sponge for a mechanical filtration, then down through the biomedia, and simply flows down back to the pond with the fish through a simple hole close to the bottom of the container. Super primitive but it seems to work because they have these filters setup on at least 10 fish ponds.

I was somewhat surprised to see that they always used spraybars, not just a hose coming from the pump. But other than that everything else looks very simple.

--Nikolay


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

that sounds good. my plans were making the water flow from bottom to top, but i guess top to bottom would work just as well?

thanks niko


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