Thread: Drum filter advice please

I’ve been given the go ahead to upgrade my filter system, by she who must be obeyed.
At the moment I have a Nexus 300 fed from the bottom drain but it has never been able to deal with the fines in the pond so I’m thinking of putting a stand alone drum filter in front of the Nexus. I know there are drop in drums you can get for the Nexus but what I want to do is remove the eazy from the Nexus and convert the inner chamber into a K1 moving bed like the outer chamber is, so the whole of the Nexus will be a bio filter.
I have a budget of £1700 for the drum.
I have looked at the Draco drum Solum 25 and the Aqua Forte Drum Filter which is much cheaper. Both have a similar spec. So has anyone had any dealings with these filters or any thoughts on them. Or another drum with a similar spec.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have never had a drum filter before.
Many thanks..

I don't have experience of those, but I do have experience of DVS/Queni Koi. I would recommend a QK drum over both of those. They are hard to fault and back up service is superb.

Thanks for the reply Ttopheus.
l will check it out, does it have a smaller spec to the ones I found and in the same price range.

This one seems to be a similar spec - https://queni-koi.co.uk/filtration-c...m-filter-p6686

Hi John thanks for your reply.
My pond is about 9000 gallons do you think it would cope with that. It does say in the description it’s for ponds up to 10,000 gallons, but I’m always wary off what some manufacturers claim.
I do like the look of them and it is made in the UK, so getting spare parts shouldn’t be a problem.

Hi Torpheus.
Thanks for the link. It looks a nice piece of kit and well made.
My only concerns are it says it is suitable for small ponds and my pond is 9000 gal so not overly small, do you think it would cope with that.
Also the filter mesh is 120 microns which seems a bit big, do you know if they do a replacement mesh of about 60 to 70 microns for that model.


Thanks Martin.

I think you would need the Draco Solum 70 which is suitable for up to 16,000 Gallons, where as the Solum 25 is only suitable for up to 8,000 Gallons and it is always best to over filter.

The Draco Solum 70 is way out my price range, I’ve only got a budget of £1,700 for the drum.
I think I will contact Draco tomorrow because they do say in their blurb the 25 can handle ponds up to 10,000 gal. I know you should always over size your filter system but that’s the budget I’ve got so I’ll have to do the best I can with it.

Very nice setup you’ve got there mate and so clean, I think I need to tidy mine up a bit.

The QT25 has a good flow rate at 25,000 litres per hour. Do you think it could cope with a 9,000 gal pond
and how is it dealing with fines with the 120 micron mesh that is fitted.

Hi John, thanks for the reply.
My pond is basically two ponds in one, a formal and a ornamental pond, there is a wall dividing the two so the koi can’t get in and eat all the pond plants but it is still one body of water.


There is a bottom drain in the formal pond feeding the Nexus and a skimmer going to a Eazypod, returned via a waterfall to the ornamental pond. There is also a protein skimmer that does a good job taking out the doc’s. So that’s my setup at the moment.


If I put the drum after the Nexus, so the Nexus was taking out all the larger bits of waste, leaving the drum to take care of the fines. So the setup would be, bd-Nexus-drum-return.
Do you think that would work using the 25


Thank Martin.

Originally Posted by Martin59

Very nice setup you’ve got there mate and so clean, I think I need to tidy mine up a bit.

The QT25 has a good flow rate at 25,000 litres per hour. Do you think it could cope with a 9,000 gal pond
and how is it dealing with fines with the 120 micron mesh that is fitted.

no way a QK25 or any 25,000lph drum will cope will cope with 9000 gallons,
my QK25 only just copes with 2500 gallons...

you need to factor things in like treating for blanket weed, and high feeding in summer...
you need to be looking at a 50,000 lph drum minimum imo...

are you running a 9,000 gallon pond off one bottom drain and a nexus?

I have one bottom drain feeding a Nexus 300, and the skimmer feeding a Eazypod and 20 koi,
a lot of them I’ve had for over 23 years. I’ve used this setup on all four ponds I’ve had. All have been a similar size.

Originally Posted by Martin59

I have one bottom drain feeding a Nexus 300, and the skimmer feeding a Eazypod and 20 koi,
a lot of them I’ve had for over 23 years. I’ve used this setup on all four ponds I’ve had. All have been a similar size.

obviously works well for you if you've used them on ponds for 23 years.
i'd say you have no problems with weed then or the nexus easy would be choked.

if you're only pulling 10,000 -13,000 lph through the nexus, turn over once every 3-4 hrs?
maybe you will get away with a small drum if you don't have much of an issue with solid waste?