Solar pond filter?

Hi all. Does anyone have any experience with a solar pond filter? I usually keep some kind of fish in a 50 gallon stock tank outside the house every summer. I'm thinking it would be nice to supply it with some partial mechanical filtration (at least when the sun is shining), to provide some mechanical filtration and cut down on the number of massive water changes.

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar pond filter that they'd recommend?

Thanks!

Not as such, no....but don't underestimate the power of a photosynthetic filter! Plants will greatly reduce the need for water changes by direct uptake of any and all nitrogenous wastes. They don't leave nitrates behind like aerobic bacteria do. They also tend to increase water clarity, if that is a concern, through nutrient reduction, entrapment of particles, and by providing an enormous substrate for bacteria that might otherwise occupy the water column. They don't have to be traditional pond plants, either; damp-tolerant ornamentals like elephant ears and cannas, and leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and cole crops may be grown in a suspended or floating setup of some sort.

I know that's not really what you were asking, but I think plant filtration is too often overlooked.

Bob, I recommend Irate's Catch-A-Ray filter, has ZERO environmental footprint, and a real bargain at $1999.95. Will filter a 2000 gallon pond*. Available at most pond supply houses, or direct from the manufacturer.

*High noon at midsummer, in southern climes.

A 50 gallon tank is not a pond. If you had a pond, then I would suggest getting a solar powered pump (example: http://www.google.co...iw=1368&bih=608 ) and rigging it up to your own garbage can filter, design for example here: http://www.instructa...-A-GARBAGE-CAN/

The solar powered pond pump plus the DIY garbage can filter would equal a solar powered pond filter. But you don't have a pond, you have a 50 gallon tank. Just use a normal aquarium filter and a waterproof extension cord. Or use a normal aquarium filter, a solar panel, and an adapter. But solar panels are a tad expensive, so ... personally, I'd use the extension cord.

Edit:
And Newt has a point; if you had live plants, you wouldn't have to make any massive water changes. I have a tank right now set up with lots of live, growing plants, where the plants eat all forms of nitrogen as soon as they are created. They suck up ammonia and nitrate greedily. Do some research on what is called a "Walstad" tank, after Diana Walstad.

Edited by EricaWieser, 27 March 2011 - 12:31 PM.

Bob has been around for a long time - I'm sure he knows about Walstad tanks and ponds and such like.

So Bob, how about that filter? I offer a 10% discount for NANFA members!

Hi Martin.

I've back burnered the solar filter for now. My hope was that someone who had used one would have a recommendation. As you know, when a NANFA member recommends something, you can take it to the bank. Barring that, I think I'll wait awhile, until the technology improves.

A 50 gallon tank is not a pond. If you had a pond, then I would suggest getting a solar powered pump (example: http://www.google.co...iw=1368&bih=608 ) and rigging it up to your own garbage can filter, design for example here: http://www.instructa...-A-GARBAGE-CAN/

The solar powered pond pump plus the DIY garbage can filter would equal a solar powered pond filter. But you don't have a pond, you have a 50 gallon tank. Just use a normal aquarium filter and a waterproof extension cord. Or use a normal aquarium filter, a solar panel, and an adapter. But solar panels are a tad expensive, so ... personally, I'd use the extension cord.

Edit:
And Newt has a point; if you had live plants, you wouldn't have to make any massive water changes. I have a tank right now set up with lots of live, growing plants, where the plants eat all forms of nitrogen as soon as they are created. They suck up ammonia and nitrate greedily. Do some research on what is called a "Walstad" tank, after Diana Walstad.

I have a half dozen tub 'ponds' set up on my back deck, they are all 18-20g sizes and I have air driven sponge filters in them. I also have the same thing set up in a small preformed pond in the front. Last year I set some tanks up outside over the summer and they did pretty well with no filtration/aeration at all except for plants, however I think running some sort of filtration/aeration is ideal.

Yeah, I've always set up the stock tank without filtration, and my solution to accumulating detritus is to empty it and refill it once or twice during the season. I was hoping to have some kind of intermittent filtration without having to run a line from the house or the outdoor outlet in the back of the house.

One thing that works well for me with barebottom indoor tanks is to fit a powerhead with a filter and drop it in the tank overnight. The next day, all the junk is in the filter fiber, which I change and add to another tank. It's easier and less time consuming for me than vacuuming with the Python.

I have a half dozen tub 'ponds' set up on my back deck, they are all 18-20g sizes and I have air driven sponge filters in them. I also have the same thing set up in a small preformed pond in the front. Last year I set some tanks up outside over the summer and they did pretty well with no filtration/aeration at all except for plants, however I think running some sort of filtration/aeration is ideal.

Yeah, I've always set up the stock tank without filtration, and my solution to accumulating detritus is to empty it and refill it once or twice during the season. I was hoping to have some kind of intermittent filtration without having to run a line from the house or the outdoor outlet in the back of the house.

One thing that works well for me with barebottom indoor tanks is to fit a powerhead with a filter and drop it in the tank overnight. The next day, all the junk is in the filter fiber, which I change and add to another tank. It's easier and less time consuming for me than vacuuming with the Python.

I think one way around it would be to put mineralized soil/clay substrate so that the detritus soaks in and eventually gets broken down on it's own. some stem plants to soak up the nutrients and all is well in hypothesisville.

That's an interesting idea. The tub gets some direct sun, so I'm wondering if the mineralized substrate would really spark algae growth.

I think one way around it would be to put mineralized soil/clay substrate so that the detritus soaks in and eventually gets broken down on it's own. some stem plants to soak up the nutrients and all is well in hypothesisville.

I think one way around it would be to put mineralized soil/clay substrate so that the detritus soaks in and eventually gets broken down on it's own. some stem plants to soak up the nutrients and all is well in hypothesisville.

Does substrate do anything to convert ammonia on its own? I always assumed it was the plants that did the nitrogen fixing. Drat, I wish I had my copy of Diana Walstad's Ecology of the Planted Aquarium handy, because I bet she published some data in there.

Edited by EricaWieser, 25 April 2011 - 10:26 AM.

Does substrate do anything to convert ammonia on its own? I always assumed it was the plants that did the nitrogen fixing. Drat, I wish I had my copy of Diana Walstad's Ecology of the Planted Aquarium handy, because I bet she published some data in there.

Yes, the substrate provides surface area for nitrifying bacteria and will convert the ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate.

BTW, nitrogen fixation is a different thing. That is done by bacteria (often in symbiosis with the roots of certain plant species, but also as free-living cyanobacteria). They take nitrogen gas from the air and convert it to ammonia.