landscape feature filter issue.

[Michael Garver Jr.]

Man, wish I had photos. tomorrow, I promise, it might make better sense.

So I have a kiddie pool, 3 inches deep and 15 feet diameter. There is a pile of rock for the fish to hide, Blue Gill, Koi, and Mosquito fish, that we had place around the filter. Okay, so to keep solids away from the pump, we cut a bunch of slits and holes into a 2 gallon plastic pot and nestled it down onto a gravel bed, the rocks on and around that.... you with me? Good.

The trouble comes about when the pump is still getting solids around it in the pot, and the water doesn't seep through to the pump quickly enough. I want to install a baffle filter 4 layers thick into the sand and gravel under the pump and rock area, but as a last minute thought I decided to see if anyone else has a similar system. If the baffles don't work then I think I have to create a separate pump pond...i'm not sure I want to do that.

I've tried cut different ways of cutting the pots to get more water in, wasted maybe 2 dozen:) Still not done trying either. can't adjust pump size without redesigning to account for terrain. Clothe and most filter pads clog too damn quick. 

What would you do? Any idea is worth spouting about. Any videos or pictures, diagrams or designs are an improvement on what I can try.