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article: Pond Filters
Pond Filters
Water gardens that are on the small ‘side’ or that are housing sensitive fish
and plant may need a water filtration system. Planning for a water filtration
system takes place when you are building your pond, but it is not entirely
impossible to install a filtration system if you already have your water garden
in place.
In discussing water filters and a filtration system, it is important to know
about the different types of filters, and what the terminology of water
filtration systems are, which is a bit of what we are going to tackle here in
this article.
There are different types of filtering material, sometimes called filtering
media, available for you to use in your water garden. For each type of filtering
material, your water will flow through the water filtration system at different
rates or speeds. While a very small water garden could have just about any type
of water filtration system, the large water garden or pond may need a filtration
system that is going to move the water through the filtration system faster to
clean more water faster.
Angular gravel is one type of filtration material. This is a very inexpensive
material but is rather heavy. When I say it is heavy, it doesn’t float and it
will settle ‘together’ like the gravel in your driveway will settle into place.
Angular gravel cleans the water fine, but can be difficult to clean to reuse.
Plastic materials are another type of filtering device that you can use to clean
the water. Plastic that is made to look like a tube, but cut in small piece is
going to help filter the water. This is a very light type of material that will
never be too compact like the gravel. The holes in the plastic will never fully
clog and the water will continue to move.
Filter foam is a very popular product in water filters. Filter foam is non-toxic
to fish while cleaning the water of fish waste at the same time. Filter foam is
often used in conjunction with another type of filtering material to clean and
trap all types of waste and material from the water. Filter foam will last
through out an entire year, about twelve to sixteen months.
Filter matting is another types of water filtering material that will trap
wastewaters. Made from plastic, foam, or nylon type materials, filter matting is
one of the longest lasting filters. Filter matting is one of the easiest
materials to clean for reuse in the water garden.
Carbon granules will take out the discolorations in the water while cleaning the
water at the same time. Carbon granules are most often thought of when
discussing water filtration in the small aquarium but it carbon granules will
‘do’ the same thing, clean the water, in the water garden outside as well.
Zeolites are a mineral that you can use in the water filtration system to
neutralize and minimize the effects of ammonia and the waste products from fish
in the water. When you have too many fish and not enough oxygenizing plants,
Zeolites will help you balance your water with little problems.
Another type of filter system that you might find most helpful is the type that
uses filter brushes. Think about a few bottlebrushes put together inside a water
filtering system. The brushes are going to capture and remove the waste from the
water leaving you with cleaner water!

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