Fish Pond Filter

The fish pond filter is the most important piece of equipment in any fish pond or water garden. The external pond filters or submersible pond filter are fed dirty water by the fish pond pump. However, it is down to the quality of your fish pond filter, how effective your filtration system will be. Therefore, it is a good idea to get the best fish pond filter you can afford in order to keep your fishes' environment clear, clean and healthy.

Fish Pond Filter

There is no doubt that the fish pond filter is the hardest working piece of equipment in your armoury against algae and bacteria. Its job is the maintenance of your pond water keeping it crystal clear and clean of ammonia and debris.

There are many types of fish pond filter on the market and you can either buy a pond or water garden filter or make your own. If you make your own, you will have more choice of what you want to use to filter out contaminants.

You could use a sand filtration unit for your fish pond filter. Sand filtration units work on the principal of forcing water through a packed layer of sand. This means that pond or water garden debris, such as rotting plant leaves, fish faeces and the like are trapped by the biological or mechanical filter and only clean water and sand will be able to slip through it.

When the sand filter becomes clogged you will notice dirty water flowing out of the filter and back down the waterfall, which leads the filtered water back to the pond. When this happens you will have to clean the sand filter by rinsing the sand and maybe topping up the level of sand if necessary.

A sand pond filtration unit is is the easiest and cheapest for maintenance, but you could also use carbon chips, fibre glass or even coconut shredding. Your fish pond filtration unit should also include ultraviolet lighting to kill harmful bacteria in the water. This may sound difficult to set up, but it is not really.

Many pond owners use a solids-handling aquatic pump that will allow bits of plants and other green material to pass through it and up out of the pond to your biological or mechanical filter, which could be , say, three or four feet above the water level.

This water will then pass through your filter to remove those pieces of leaf, algae and faeces under gravity. When it leaves the biological or mechanical filter, it can flow down steps or a waterfall, but before the water gets back to the pond, it should pass close to ultraviolet lighting in order to sterilize it.

The clean water will then find its way back to the garden pond and keep your pond crystal clear and your fish healthy and it will all be due to your fish pond filter. Aquatic plants can also make a valuable contribution to the filtration of your fishes' water.

For example, water lilies covering a certain surface area of the pond, will stop light getting through and creating algae. Aquatic plants will also help with aeration of the water to keep your koi or other fish happy, stress-free and healthy.