I’m a 55 year old woman building my 3rd pond. This time I’m doing it on a budget and really enjoyed watching your instructions. You are a great teacher with a fun sense of humor, the humor is very appreciated! Thanks:-)

I can't even express my gratefulness for this video. I've looked at over 30 videos of DIY pond filters. They are either too complicated, expensive, too large, too small, or just way too confusing for someone as inexperienced and me. I can't wait to set this up. Thank you thank you thank you!! Also, do you have an estimate of how much everything costs, minus the pool that is already set up. Thank you again😂🥰

I AM AN 88 YEARS YOUNG AND IVE BEEN KEEPING FISH FOR A WHILE NOW AND HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR CHEAP WAYS TO FILTER OUT MY PONDS. THANKS FOR THE TUTORIAL AND WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK

Been looking for a simple to follow filter guide for the last few days. Thanks for making something that’s easy to follow and actually diy

On the spray bar, offset the holes so they spray in a zigzag pattern. It will help with the straight down pressure and spread the initial contact points from a single line.

Made this filter last weekend and my pond is much clearer! Thank you so much for posting this

This video was our bible in making our own homemade filter. We have gone even cheaper using a bucket that we already had. Our fish are happier, healthier and better than ever. Thanks for your help 👍🏼🙂

Yes! I learned so much!!!! Those little ladies at the end are so lucky to have parents who will guide them through life with such hands on get up and go!

I've gotta say...this is the best filter DIY ever!!! My husband and I built one of these large scale. Our pond is like a giant aquarium in our back yard. It's 16'x3'x4'. We've had the filter about a year. I've only had to clean it out twice. With our old setup, I was cleaning twice a week! It's really an amazing setup. We built ours with a 40gal trash can. I highly recommend this for a pond. It was so easy to build. All the directions were understandable. Can't say enough how much we love this filter!!

for your t-sprayer, if you drill slightly smaller holes on the sides instead of the bottom, you get more spray/aeration. half way through my build i figured that out. keep up the great work

Yes this is perfect! I’m building a modern pond for my new house and I can totally do this! Thanks for sharing🙌🏽

This is honestly the best cheap filter video I've seen. Thank you so much! Also thank you showing what you use as media and where you got them.

I dont have a pond, and I wasn't looking for a filter but now I'm going to build the best filter for my dog's water bowl. Love your video and your sweet girls 💜

SC should easily be as big as King of diy

Thank you! Of all the diy videos I watched this is the only one with a SIPLE AND CLEAR explanation, with a little bit of humor 😎. Great job!

Totally using your video to make my own bait fish pond! This was the absolute BEST tutorial Ive found. Thank you!

Been wanting to have a fish pond for years. This looks really cool and easy to modify to the size of the pond you want and your imagination. Its great how you listed the materials and steps. I’m going to give this a go this spring. I will use fish and critters from the creek behind my home. Thanks and God Bless.

Definitely going to build one like this, thanks, I'm currently breeding tilapia so something like this is exactly what I need

Thank you for explaining so well. As a total novice you have demystified how to create an effective, cheap filer. Blessings.

What a great set up! Easy to understand instructions with a bit of humour. Brilliant video! I was looking for a simple type of filter for our wildlife/swim pond and needed an idea for a filter going into the top wetland pond then down over the falls into the lower pond. This is exactly what I was looking for! I may actually implement the black filter cloth though instead of the poly fill...it can be brought out and hosed off, hung on the line and back into service again. (A tip from a friend who builds small ponds for us budget and eco minded folks...) Thank you for making this video!!!💚

Used a plastic tote and a similar pump, I did have difficulty when the tote was on the ground, but once I raised it up a little it worked perfect and my water is crystal clear!

Uni seals are the game changer, I made my own filter with similar techniques and my water clarity is amazing! Thanks for posting.

Me and my friends recently built a pond and were looking for a way to filter it out. We found your video very helpful!! Your instructions were very clear. The filter has been working very well! Thank you so much!

Thanks for such a great video!!! Wow I’m so excited now. I just came to watch this video for my son, now I’m ready to get out there and build my own pond and filtration system. So exciting!

Hey Zac, just wanted to say thanks for posting your videos. I just built the DIY filter system for my goldfish/koi pond. It’s working great. I was pretty stumped and frustrated with the cost of buying a system. You’re the man.

This was exactly what I’ve been looking for forever

Thank you for a great DIY pond filter system. We just finished ours and it is working great!! You are very good with instruction mixed with humor! LOVE IT!

I need to make my pond and I'm going to do this filter, love it, thanks!!! 2 mos later from seeing this & i just got a 150 gallon tub & will be building my filter today! This is the easiest build I’ve watched, ty ty !!

Hi Zac, WOW, this is my first time watching your show, Kudos, will definitely use your methods building one filter pump for my fish tank. Thanks so much for the tutorial. Simple to follow as well.

This was 100% filters for dummies. I APPRECIATE THIS.

That is so Awesome! I really feel anyone can do that now! Thank you for right to the point easy as can be instructions!!! Gonna give it a try!

So I don't normally comment on videos but I just had to thank you for this tutorial. I have a fully stocked and planted clawfoot tub pond in my garden that, even with a pump claiming to handle a volume twice its size, has never gotten the water clean without clogging within a matter of 2 days. That's been a ton of cleaning this past year, but this weekend me and my hubby followed your guide and built our own filter system and I can finally see my fish and plants at the bottom! Its amazing and we ended up having everything on hand, so we only had to purchase the pump. Thank you sooo much!

Nice project and excellent presentation. Quick remark; I've built a similar setup but inverted the filter where the initial intake to the filter's first contact is with the larger media and as the filtration process clears the water, finer media is encountered (long way of saying start with lava rock and ends with fine material.) It improved my water quality by about 20%. (Hard to improve on good quality already achieved with this good system. For final water polishing, I added some plants (Aquaponics!!) in the outlet. Happy fish, happy plans and beautiful amazingly clear water. Well done!!

I’m going to save this video. This is exactly what I need in a future project

I’m building this filter! Thanks so much for being so thorough in your demo and explanations.

I love it!!! Very excited to try. Thank you for the wonderful step by step easy directions.

I really like the pump being in the box also because I am worried about my fancy fantail goldfish getting their tails injured. This is definitely something that I am going to put on my spring project list! Thank you for adding parts lists and making it look easy to do!

You forgot one of the supplies you need... A broom to clean up all the plastic bits from drilling in the kitchen! 😂

Simple to the point video instructions, compared to the dozen others I just watched. Great Job!

This is genius! THANK YOU! I'll probably use the tote method and some flexible pond tubing so I can bury it and tweak it for an in ground system I plan on constructing next year. Awesome video!

This is awesome! You made this look super simple. Saving this video for when I finally do a pond of my own.

Great design only depending on size of pump you may have to increase the size of your output or it will just overflow. I went with two outputs at 3" to 2" out the can that "wyes" into four 1 1/4 inch flex pipe to my waterfall. Works perfect! End of day one and I'm starting to see deeper into the bottom of the pond.

I love this and it makes me want to start right now! I have investigated aquaponics for years but yours looks so do-able!

thanks for taking the time to explain the Uniseals. I've used bulkhead fittings before and couldn't figure out how these could possibly be water tight

We used this system thanks to this video and it works amazing! We have 2 ducks that love to be in their pond all day long floating, bathing. Eating fish now and then. It has little minnows in it and for 4 days it is still crystal clear! Thank you for this video and I wish I could share mine using your system. I love it!

Love it, nice and simple plan. I do a very similar design. No need to have the media within a bucket in the bin.. only minimising the available space but it's such a big flow rate it doesn't really matter. Another advantage moving the pump to the other end is you're getting better flow through the pond and not re-filtering the cleaned water.

Zac!!! I’ve been Covid quarantined for a week watching gardening videos and just stumbled across your channel. I’m hooked! For years I’ve been trying to get the men in my life (3 Was-bands,son, son-in-law, son-in-law’s dad, current gentleman friend) to build me a bog filter without over “man-splaining” the whole thing, and yet here I sit with no bog filter. This is by far the simplest and most entertaining process I’ve ever seen. THANK YOU…I think I can do this myself!!! And if your cuteness didn’t reel me in to your channel (I’m an old woman so I can get away with saying that), your little girls at the end clinched it for me!! I sincerely hope you are wildly successful beyond all you can hope or think!!

This is EXACTLY what I'm looking for to pair with a 275 gal IBC, simple and elegant! TY!

Great video Zac! I really like these DIY videos! I just learned how to do a filter build because of you!

instead of going through the lid, a third uniseal close to the rim of the can would not only eliminate one elbow, but would mean you could preform maintenance without disconnecting anything.

A few more Tweeks and a water wall into the pond with a couple vines and solar lights and I'm sold on the awesomeness of the project!!!!! Thanks man! 😎

You just helped me so much with this video thank goodness. You are saving people a lot of money and headaches with this sort of knowledge. Thank you for this

That's so badass. Years ago, I used to make my own filters for turtle tanks, water snake cages, etc. by using a power head, 3 liter soda bottle and media. Just cut the top of the bottle off to the desired height, then drill a hole in the bottom on the side. Using the rubber aquarium tubing, run the tubing into the hole on the side of the bottle and up to the power head suction cupped to the side of the aquarium. Then, stack media in the bottle, plug in and bam, we have a biological filter. That trash can pond filter is genius. I love it. I live in western Washington, just outside of Seattle, and i want a small pond with a couple of koi, as the weather is always cloudy, sometimes rainy, cool and winters are moderate. the winter varies from the high teens with snow to mild, 30's with no snow. the cold lingers for months which is why fish selections are very limited. So, I'm planning on using your brilliant trashcan idea. Although, I will probably be using a 50 gal Brute trashcan, as my pond will be around 9' L x 4' W x 3' D. as the fish will need the depth to survive the winters.

Thinking 2 upgrades: 1. Water return set higher and a filter drain added to remove settled solids that will collect in the bottom. 2. Direct the spray bar arms in opposite directions to disperse flow over a larger field of the media. This might also add some circular filtration keep solids from reflowing into the tank, and later removed via the drain mentioned in item 1.

Im a newby and just started to build two ponds for tilapias. Im also intending to build a DIY filter and your ideas are of great help. Thanks for sharing.

I have made a few trashcan filters over the years. I always used flexible tubes for my pipes and always had the intake at the bottom so the water comes in at the bottom and filters as it slowly rises through media then flows out my two output pipes and usually a third slightly higher overflow emergency pipe at the top. I liked watching your design though gave me a few ideas about raising my pump higher in my pond. great video and very good ideas.

Drill the in hole just below the lid so it can open with no disassembly,and easier to clean the spray bar which will clog up.

Thx for telling me one how to make this filter because I have been wanting to do pond diy from last video

Great setup! Glad to see it is working well, and the mods you made. I am in the experimentation process of a similar setup myself. Happy ponding! 👍🏼🐠🐟🐟

Thanks, finally a concise, simple, well explained method to filter, I was ready to give up. gonna do this in a few days

Thanks for posting this - I'd be interested in seeing a follow-up to this once it's actually filtering something and what sorts of steps you take with one of these filter setups. Do you have to switch out that batting? What about those other materials? Thanks much!

Great job, I myself have stopped using the polyfill for the fact of the replacement, if u have some heavy bio load fish. Now I will say something u can do is remove the lid on that filtration system and add some bog plants. They will help filter as well and can dress up the filtration system.

I am absolutely blown away by this!! 👏👏👏👏

Love this. Thanks! Totally doing this for my new pond

"Retrieve your pvc" I cracked up

Great DIY !! Quick question, would you use a 1” hole saw for the uniseal/ 1” pvc or go a little bigger ? 1 1/8”

I made a canister filter but was looking to make a larger one. My gildfish are getting huge and need a better filter. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for sharing this. Your daughter are adorable😊

NICE video! Perfect build. I'm taking notes. I've built tons of filters before but needed container ideas.

Helpful hint: when using a hole saw through plastic, run it in reverse.

Put some perch in the pond they would look perfect

Perfect! We want to put in a koa pond in the spring and the equipment is ridiculously expensive at the store. This is a great DIY solution.

Babies stole my heart. Thanks for very clear instructions too.

As he's drilling through the lid of the can over his hardwood floor I'm wondering ,where is this guy's wife? She'd be pissed!

This is awesome!!!!!!!!!! I plan on making my first indoor pond this summer as a slow diy project.

Absolutely brilliant thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Excellent video, I'm using this idea for my rainwater catchment tanks, to keep the water in the tanks nice and clean.

I'm so happy I watched to the very end and got to see those adorable smooches! ❤️❤️

The kids are the cutest. Thanks for the info. Great video.

I love this! I so badly want a water feature! I'm a 72yo woman and this totally looks like something I could do!

I am building mine this weekend. My uniseals just came in today! So excited!! Thank you so much for this video. 👏😁

Setting up my koi pond....on a budget. This is what I've been looking for!

Thanks for sharing this. It’s perfectly clear. Definetely doing this...

My first DIY filtration system I actually understand and could follow Thank You.

This is something that even I can make. Thank you for showing us this.

It is currently 0330 I have been watching video after video of filter videos and yours has been by far the best! Thank you so so much.

Nice video mate. Huge props from South Africa. Going to make my first pond filter like this. Simple, easy, and effective.

Thanks, I'll be starting on my version tomorrow. Really helpful info.

I'm glad to find your Chanel!!! This video made my life easier!!!! I already have 2 weeks trying to find the correct video for Build My Pond!!!! Thanks for your knowledge and your time to explain this amazing process 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼

So far , its the best video we've seen .. Cheap , efficient & easy to understand . Thanks for sharing !

I absolutely about to build it , but smaller version, such great idea and very simple , love it , thank you

I will be building this. Thank you for the break down and links!

Really well done video and very informative. Thank you for making it and sharing.

I think it’s a great idea for a budget pond I’ve got something similar on a 1000 L IBC. That are used for growing out discuss and Angel Fry I did a couple of things different. First one is because by weather sucks in the UK I’ve got a heater in the filter. And to make the pipework look tidier I put uni shells through the side. I like how you put the pump at the opposite end to the returning water you see so many people do things like this and chuck the pump directly underneath the return never really saw the sense in that that pipework so cheap probably cost you are extra five bucks to put at the other end. Good job man keep up the good work👍

So doing this for my upcoming projects! Indoor pond!

Perfect filter when complete, you can use any media you want. Currently use it with a 5 gallon bucket in my 160 gallon for a turtle. Works perfectly 10/10.

Great simple filter. I like it for my secondary filter. I am doing it. Thanks brother.

Very helpful thanks, I'm going to glue as much as possible and use unions at access points. You can also turn slip fittings in to threaded fittings. Makes a lot of pvc reusable.

My husband and I just built this... different trash can. And the next day my pond was clear. I CAN SEE MY FISH!! thank you!

You are a great teacher! I’m still working myself up to get a pond going and love your easy to follow instructions.