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!