Mechanical filter?

[MichigooseOH]

Ok guys....now I'm confused.....Here's the scoop...I'm putting in a skimmer, and have a bottom drain leading to a settling chamber. In the s/c (actually settling pond) I have the intake for the bio filter pulled by a pump, probably around 2400 gallons per hour. The intake will have a wire screen on it. Biofilter will have pvc ribbon, then the filter media pads, then a layer of old egg crate matress, followed by plants. Do I need a mechanical on top of that? I didn't think so, because the b/d to settling pond and the skimmer would provide that.....let me know if I am having a brain glitch.....

[LJA]

Sounds good to me. Personally though, I'd ditch the egg crate mattress pad. That stuff is way too fine-pored, and as soon as it gets just a little bit clogged, since your system isn't pressurizing water through it, water's just going to go around the stuff anyway and it'll be basically useless. Headache to clean, too, especially once algae starts growing.