Pond Filter Box - 3 Sections: Screen medium cavity

I have a small pond using a TetraPond 550. My water feature was losing pressure with my original mesh bag solution so I designed something new. This design is actually based on work I did as Biosystems engineer 20 years ago at the Oklahoma State University Hog Research Farm. At the time we were using straw biofilters to clean out the odorous air leaving swine barns, this uses the same basic concept to work. Essentially it has 3 layers: 
The top layer is a simple screen which is designed to capture large debris like leaves and garbage. Most of the time you can simply remove this dump it in the garden and carry on. 
The second layer is for bacteria medium. I have mine filled with 9 nylon scouring pads. You could also fill this with printer poop, but you would probably just want to use PETG so it doesn't degrade as much (?). Really any medium would work as long as bacteria and stuff can live in it and help clean your water as it gets pumped through.
The third layer is simply a void area so that your pump can remain efficient. I have the inlet a few inches off the ground to avoid any heavy stuff getting sucked in. 

Connecting it to your pump can be a bit tricky. But I found using a compression male adapter connector was the best solution. The outlet pipe for the filter is: OD=32mm ID=26MM and the center of the outlet is 87MM from the bottom (which is essentially a 1" pvc pipe outlet).

I would recommend printing in PETG (I should have used more subtle colors for mine).

You can check out my other designs at my homepage here: https://spencermann.com

It is a work in progress, but I hope to provide more information about my models, and some tips if you want to create your own.