After the barrels swelled up, we installed a pump and filter to keep the water from becoming stagnant. The filter helps cleanse the water of fish waste and plant debris, and the pump oxygenates and circulates the water. We estimated the total volume of water in our three barrels at about 120 gallons, the water should recirculate at least half of the total volume per hour, so a pump of at least 60gph was needed. We bought two Little Giant submersible pump/filters (170 gph) for our 3 barrel pond for $60 each. We placed one pump in the bottom barrel to circulate the water of the entire system. The other pump was placed in the top barrel where the fish actually live to further increase circulation and filtration of the water. The fish use it for "aquatic aerobics" and enjoy swimming in the current. We found that cleaning out the filters once a week was sufficient.
Another
way to provide a filtration
system is to create one yourself that imitates nature. We used
various sized rocks in a clay containers and sat them under the small waterfalls
which are created by the bamboo pipes. As the water flows from barrel to
barrel it passes through the rock filter, depositing small particulates.
This residue would tend to cling to the rocks and/or sink to the bottom
of the pot. The water as it falls and runs over the rocks creates a gentle
soothing sound, and this gentle splashing also helps to oxgenate the water.
We also created a bio-filter bog at the lowest barrel by filtering the water through coarse sand. The increased surface area of the water as it surrounds the sand creates an enviorment which allows more of the beneficial bacteria to thrive. This was done by taking 3/4-inch PVC pipe and drilling lots of little holes in it. We connected it to our submersible pump, laid the pipe on the bottom of the barrel and then covered it with a bag of washed Monterey coarse sand. This produced fantastic improvement in water quality and increased the load (amount of fish the water can support) for under $10.
REMEMBER: You must clean out the pot of rocks or bog filter regularly, although not as often as you would a mechanical filter. An easy way to clean is to use an aquarium vacuum cleaner.
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