I suspect that the koi hobby is just like any other in that it benefits from a thriving grapevine. Fuelled by speculation, conversation and innovation, word soon seems to travel through the industry, especially when a rare nugget of information is unearthed. This was certainly the case when I recently visited the USA on koi related business. I started to hear from both trade and consumer sources that a real innovation in filtration (called the Skimmerfilter) had been created – something that quite literally reinterpreted the principles and execution of pond filtration. My curiosity aroused, I started to make further discreet inquiries about this new concept in filtration and why it was so unique.
I had the privilege of meeting its creator, Chic Kelty, at a trade show in the USA, and later had the opportunity to discuss the finer details of his invention into the evening. His concept of using an integral skimmer as the feed for the pond’s filtration was so unconventional compared to the usual pump-fed black box method used in the majority of small to medium-sized ponds that it took me a little time to grasp the principles involved with this unit. Only a few weeks later, I met Chic Kelty again at the huge UK garden and pond trade show – GLEE, where he spent more time demonstrating the features and operation of his Skimmerfilter. While in the USA, I was intrigued by this skimmer-based innovative approach to filtration for the USA garden pond market, and left it at that. But having now also seen it in the UK, available for pond keepers over here, I feel compelled to share my interest in the innovative features and potential of Chic Kelty’s Skimmerfilter.
Highly innovative products generally adopt one of two routes after their launch – that of the successful Dyson vacuum cleaner or the way of the Sinclair C5. Add the risk of trying to introduce this model into a new overseas market that does not have the same skimmer heritage or experience as the swimming pool-owning USA public, and from the start this skimmer has a real fight on its hands. But who’d have thought 10 years ago that today, most of us would be using bagless vacuum cleaners?
Regardless of all that, anyone who attempts to push the boundaries of pond keeping convention and takes the risks associated with it, deserves a fair hearing.
What is the Skimmerfilter?
The Skimmerfilter takes the idea of surface skimming a stage further, by incorporating an integral mechanical, biological and UV component in the same piece of hardware. Where before, skimmers acted like a surface-mounted bottom drain, feeding a filter that is situated some distance away, the Skimmerfilter combines skimming and filtering into one unit, making the filter hardware more compact and arguably easier to maintain. It is certainly very easy to install.
Chic argues that the pump-fed or bottom drain-fed conventional filter systems are ‘reactive’ in that they have to wait for debris to fall to the pond bottom before they can be removed from the pond. Interestingly, while developing the Skimmerfilter, Chic’s research showed that 85% of all debris that enters a pond, spends time on service floating around until it becomes waterlogged. So by applying and maintaining an effective skimming apparatus on their pond, a pond keeper can reduce the accumulation of bottom waste by 85%. In this way, the Skimmerfilter performs a ‘proactive’ filtering role, intercepting solid matter and debris well before a conventional pump or bottom drain-fed system would have chance to remove it, keeping the pond water cleaner, earlier.
The fully adjustable skimming orifice feeds into the leaf basket to remove larger debris. Water is then pulled through to the bio-mechanical filter mats inserted vertically into a rigid frame, passed under two integral UV lights and into the pump chamber. In so doing, the Skimmerfilter removes the need for unruly pipework both within and outside the pond.
The skimmer-fed filtration unit means that there are no unsightly submersible pumps and hosing in the pond, making netting fish far easier, and reducing the risk of fish damaging themselves on pond hardware. Likewise there is no need for the usual cumbersome and potentially restrictive host tails or pipework associated with UVcs. The Skimmerfilter moves water unhindered through 2 UV chambers. – ( so no more 2-3 ft long tubes to install or hide!) A submersible pump is still found at the heart of the operation but this is safely concealed within the filter itself.
The constant surface skimming action also produces a glass-like pond surface by constantly removing surface dust and debris. This action not only radically improves the appearance of the pond and the fish within it, but also enhances the rates of gaseous exchange, dramatically improving dissolved oxygen levels.
Chic has been testing prototypes of the Skimmerfilter since the early 1990s, improving its performance as a filter as well as its ease of maintenance. He has also obviously spent a lot of his development time (and budget) addressing the quality of construction and engineering in this unit. For the size of the filter, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a robustly built unit. It is in a far higher league than the semi-rigid black box filter unit and feels as though it could take the weight of a car!
How do you fit a Skimmerfilter?
The Skimmerfilter is ideal for installing into brand new ponds and can easily be retrofitted to most ponds that are made from a flexible liner. Also, to accommodate any concrete or blockwork ponds, the Skimmerfilter does have an extended neck attachment. Because of the simplicity of the unit, offering a one-stop single-install filter, a Skimmerfilter can normally be installed in an hour. The hardest work is excavating a 30” x 30” x 19” deep hole within 6” of the pond wall. The skimmer then easily attaches to the liner with a waterproof mechanical flange clamping the liner in a similar way to a bottom drain – apart from this is handily located right at the water’s edge. Chic’s experience shows that it is actually easier to retrofit the Skimmerfilter if the pond’s water level is maintained at its highest, as this keeps the liner flat and taught when it is offered up to the flange.
Maintenance?
Maintenance of the Skimmerfilter depends on the quantity of leaf fall or other debris that is collected in the basket. The whole operation would not take any longer than five minutes each week – about the same for a standard skimmer.
What size of pond?
The Skimmerfilter’s suitability for different sized ponds will vary depending on how you want to use it. It is suitable for all sizes of pond as a skimming component, with multiple units typically required on a pond of more than 500 ft2 surface area.
As a stand-alone filter, it will handle ponds up to 1000 gallons in volume, with larger ponds requiring several strategically placed Skimmerfilters, or requiring additional filtration units that are pump-fed from the Skimmerfilter. It offers the benefits of a larger box filter with many filtration features associated with a multi-chambered system including its concealment – something that has always been a challenge with black box filters.
The unit is available in one size, but with three different sizes of intake depending on your required turnover. The Skimmerfilter will be retailing at £249, with an additional cost for the size of intake your pond requires: 6” for £24.99, 8” for £26.99, 16” for £29.99. The six-inch collar handles up to 3500 gallons per hour turnover, the 8 inch collar up to 6000 gallons per hour turnover and the 16 inch collar up to 8500 gallons turnover per hour. The units are available either with or without UVcs, depending on your requirements.
My verdict.
Firstly I am very impressed by this truly innovative and fresh approach to pond filtration. It is well-conceived, ruggedly built and engineered to work. It offers the pond keeper many benefits over other filter options on the market in that it is easy to install (and conceal) and that it is genuinely a single install solution to pond filtration. Perhaps my only concern about the Skimmerfilter is that it is too innovative and might have a slight identity problem in the UK pond market. Skimmers have proven to be popular in a small proportion of the koi market and yet this is trying to introduce both skimming to the pond market (which is not familiar with skimmers) coupled to a revolutionary approach to filtration. For the Skimmerfilter to succeed in the UK market, it must overcome the natural resistance that cautious pond owners can show to new ideas – something that generally starts at the stockist level. As a piece of filtration engineering, it deserves a great deal of success, and it will be down to the psyche of the UK pond keepers as to whether it succeeds commercially. Even Dyson’s vacuum cleaner took several years to be adopted by the market – so watch this space!
I suspect that the koi hobby is just like any other in that it benefits from a thriving grapevine. Fuelled by speculation, conversation and innovation, word soon seems to travel through the industry, especially when a rare nugget of information is unearthed. This was certainly the case when I recently visited the USA on koi related business. I started to hear from both trade and consumer sources that a real innovation in filtration (called the Skimmerfilter) had been created – something that quite literally reinterpreted the principles and execution of pond filtration. My curiosity aroused, I started to make further discreet inquiries about this new concept in filtration and why it was so unique.
I had the privilege of meeting its creator, Chic Kelty, at a trade show in the USA, and later had the opportunity to discuss the finer details of his invention into the evening. His concept of using an integral skimmer as the feed for the pond’s filtration was so unconventional compared to the usual pump-fed black box method used in the majority of small to medium-sized ponds that it took me a little time to grasp the principles involved with this unit. Only a few weeks later, I met Chic Kelty again at the huge UK garden and pond trade show – GLEE, where he spent more time demonstrating the features and operation of his Skimmerfilter. While in the USA, I was intrigued by this skimmer-based innovative approach to filtration for the USA garden pond market, and left it at that. But having now also seen it in the UK, available for pond keepers over here, I feel compelled to share my interest in the innovative features and potential of Chic Kelty’s Skimmerfilter.
Highly innovative products generally adopt one of two routes after their launch – that of the successful Dyson vacuum cleaner or the way of the Sinclair C5. Add the risk of trying to introduce this model into a new overseas market that does not have the same skimmer heritage or experience as the swimming pool-owning USA public, and from the start this skimmer has a real fight on its hands. But who’d have thought 10 years ago that today, most of us would be using bagless vacuum cleaners?
Regardless of all that, anyone who attempts to push the boundaries of pond keeping convention and takes the risks associated with it, deserves a fair hearing.
What is the Skimmerfilter?
The Skimmerfilter takes the idea of surface skimming a stage further, by incorporating an integral mechanical, biological and UV component in the same piece of hardware. Where before, skimmers acted like a surface-mounted bottom drain, feeding a filter that is situated some distance away, the Skimmerfilter combines skimming and filtering into one unit, making the filter hardware more compact and arguably easier to maintain. It is certainly very easy to install.
Chic argues that the pump-fed or bottom drain-fed conventional filter systems are ‘reactive’ in that they have to wait for debris to fall to the pond bottom before they can be removed from the pond. Interestingly, while developing the Skimmerfilter, Chic’s research showed that 85% of all debris that enters a pond, spends time on service floating around until it becomes waterlogged. So by applying and maintaining an effective skimming apparatus on their pond, a pond keeper can reduce the accumulation of bottom waste by 85%. In this way, the Skimmerfilter performs a ‘proactive’ filtering role, intercepting solid matter and debris well before a conventional pump or bottom drain-fed system would have chance to remove it, keeping the pond water cleaner, earlier.
The fully adjustable skimming orifice feeds into the leaf basket to remove larger debris. Water is then pulled through to the bio-mechanical filter mats inserted vertically into a rigid frame, passed under two integral UV lights and into the pump chamber. In so doing, the Skimmerfilter removes the need for unruly pipework both within and outside the pond.
The skimmer-fed filtration unit means that there are no unsightly submersible pumps and hosing in the pond, making netting fish far easier, and reducing the risk of fish damaging themselves on pond hardware. Likewise there is no need for the usual cumbersome and potentially restrictive host tails or pipework associated with UVcs. The Skimmerfilter moves water unhindered through 2 UV chambers. – ( so no more 2-3 ft long tubes to install or hide!) A submersible pump is still found at the heart of the operation but this is safely concealed within the filter itself.
The constant surface skimming action also produces a glass-like pond surface by constantly removing surface dust and debris. This action not only radically improves the appearance of the pond and the fish within it, but also enhances the rates of gaseous exchange, dramatically improving dissolved oxygen levels.
Chic has been testing prototypes of the Skimmerfilter since the early 1990s, improving its performance as a filter as well as its ease of maintenance. He has also obviously spent a lot of his development time (and budget) addressing the quality of construction and engineering in this unit. For the size of the filter, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a robustly built unit. It is in a far higher league than the semi-rigid black box filter unit and feels as though it could take the weight of a car!
How do you fit a Skimmerfilter?
The Skimmerfilter is ideal for installing into brand new ponds and can easily be retrofitted to most ponds that are made from a flexible liner. Also, to accommodate any concrete or blockwork ponds, the Skimmerfilter does have an extended neck attachment. Because of the simplicity of the unit, offering a one-stop single-install filter, a Skimmerfilter can normally be installed in an hour. The hardest work is excavating a 30” x 30” x 19” deep hole within 6” of the pond wall. The skimmer then easily attaches to the liner with a waterproof mechanical flange clamping the liner in a similar way to a bottom drain – apart from this is handily located right at the water’s edge. Chic’s experience shows that it is actually easier to retrofit the Skimmerfilter if the pond’s water level is maintained at its highest, as this keeps the liner flat and taught when it is offered up to the flange.
Maintenance?
Maintenance of the Skimmerfilter depends on the quantity of leaf fall or other debris that is collected in the basket. The whole operation would not take any longer than five minutes each week – about the same for a standard skimmer.
What size of pond?
The Skimmerfilter’s suitability for different sized ponds will vary depending on how you want to use it. It is suitable for all sizes of pond as a skimming component, with multiple units typically required on a pond of more than 500 ft2 surface area.
As a stand-alone filter, it will handle ponds up to 1000 gallons in volume, with larger ponds requiring several strategically placed Skimmerfilters, or requiring additional filtration units that are pump-fed from the Skimmerfilter. It offers the benefits of a larger box filter with many filtration features associated with a multi-chambered system including its concealment – something that has always been a challenge with black box filters.
The unit is available in one size, but with three different sizes of intake depending on your required turnover. The Skimmerfilter will be retailing at £249, with an additional cost for the size of intake your pond requires: 6” for £24.99, 8” for £26.99, 16” for £29.99. The six-inch collar handles up to 3500 gallons per hour turnover, the 8 inch collar up to 6000 gallons per hour turnover and the 16 inch collar up to 8500 gallons turnover per hour. The units are available either with or without UVcs, depending on your requirements.
My verdict.
Firstly I am very impressed by this truly innovative and fresh approach to pond filtration. It is well-conceived, ruggedly built and engineered to work. It offers the pond keeper many benefits over other filter options on the market in that it is easy to install (and conceal) and that it is genuinely a single install solution to pond filtration. Perhaps my only concern about the Skimmerfilter is that it is too innovative and might have a slight identity problem in the UK pond market. Skimmers have proven to be popular in a small proportion of the koi market and yet this is trying to introduce both skimming to the pond market (which is not familiar with skimmers) coupled to a revolutionary approach to filtration. For the Skimmerfilter to succeed in the UK market, it must overcome the natural resistance that cautious pond owners can show to new ideas – something that generally starts at the stockist level. As a piece of filtration engineering, it deserves a great deal of success, and it will be down to the psyche of the UK pond keepers as to whether it succeeds commercially. Even Dyson’s vacuum cleaner took several years to be adopted by the market – so watch this space!
