Clean without a filter?

Is there a way to keep the water in the small pond i made for my salli clean without using a filter? i wanted to give them a waterfall but the waterfalls all use normal pumps and not filters. is there something i could do? is there some really small filter i could use instead of a pump?

Hi,
I had a pond a few years back and bought a pump for it for a waterfall just like you, the pump I bought had a filterbox that could be bought (seperately of course) anf attached to it. The filterbox permitted to slot in the pump and use the extra space for filtering mareial, the resulting device was exactly like a big underwater filter.
Depending on the size of your pond, an underwater filter might have a strong enough debit for your needs, you can plug a tubing to its output and bring the other end out at your waterfall start just like the pump.
on the other hand, your pump might be sufficient, the slight current the waterfall will create will prevent stagnant water wich fouls most easily, and eventually nytrifying bacteria will spread inside your pond even if you don't have a filterbox. Keep in mind that the more surface you have, the more bacteria in place, so pebbles at the bottom of your pond would help and the more plants the better.
Hope that helps

-Isa

Do you remember what brand it was? and was the waterfall already made? or did you just put some rocks together? thanx!

Interesting topic and timing. I am setting up my first amphibian terrarium and plan on using a powerhead over an undergravel filter to provide both filtration and a "waterfall" feature by piping the outlet over some stacked rock. I plan to use about 4-5 inches of very smallish gravel as the substrate. I am hoping the result will be a mostly terrestrial habitat with a small pool fed by the falling water.

Like I said, I have about everything I need except the critter.... Anyone have an adult fire or tiger salamander for sale?

Drew

That sounds like a winning system Drew.
Mine was an exterior pond and I wanted the waterfall to go through the flower bed so I stacked some rocks but I was losing a lot of water through various cracks. You can make a waterproof waterfall by cementing the rocks together but I ended up changing my set up to use flower pots broken at the top so water would fall from one to the other to the pond. I still have the pump at home Beckie, I'll check the brand tonight and write again.

Becky, any small submersible filter (Duetto 50, Fluval 1, etc.) can be used to drive a waterfall. The other option is to make the pond removable and just rinse it out often.

Drew, I would not suggest that setup for tigers or fire sals. If anything, put some dirt over the gravel, and then it may be ok for fires.

~Aaron

The brand of pump and filter box I used is Beckett. I have the smallest and it is a 3.5/6/7 inches box. So good for outdoors setup with a good water flow, not well suited for aquarium purposes.