Pond Filters: How To Choose The Right Pond Filter For Your Pond Or Water Garden

A mechanical pond filter is a filter that primarily filters out debris in your pond. It usually consists of a variety of filter pads (course, fine, carbon-coated, etc.), beads, filter nets, etc. that will 'catch' the debris that's in your pond so you can remove it.

A biological pond filter is part of a filter where beneficial bacteria (which is a good type of bacteria to have), grows and multiplies. This beneficial bacteria requires a lot of surface area to grow on, so the more surface area, the more room you're providing the beneficial bacteria to grow on. When you add beneficial bacteria on a regular basis, such as Microbe Lift for ponds and water gardens less than say, 50' x 50' in size, or PlanktoniX for ponds and lakes larger than 50' x 50' in size, you're always increasing biological filter within your pond.

Sometimes, manufacturers make filters that provide both mechanical filters and biological filters. Beneficial bacteria can grow on the filter pads which can have a bit of surface area for them to grow on. Sometimes, there's other biological media such as bio-balls, filter floss, bio-tubes, bio-beads, etc. for the bacteria to grow on. These are all pluses. The one thing to note with biological filters is that the more surface area the biological filter offers, the clearer your pond may be - at least in some cases. Most manufacturers advertise the amount of surface area their particular filter offers. Make note of this number but know that it's only part of the equation when it comes to keeping your pond water clear. There are many other factors such as:

the quantity and size of your fish you have in your pond
what size your pond is
what size of pond filter you have
what size of pump you have
if the pond is in full sunlight or part shade
how often the water is changed
other chemicals added to the pond
how often the water is filtered
if you use a UV clarifier or UV sterilizer
if you add fresh water to your pond on a consistent basis
what your pond is made out of

There are many different types of pond filters. Some are gravity fed filters, meaning they should be installed 'uphill' where the water flows from the filter down into the pond. Other filters may be submersible and can be located within the pond itself. Some have built-in UV lights that can kill the majority of bacteria, fungus, viruses and floating algae cells while others do not have built in UV (ultra violet) lights.

The rule of thumb is to have a filter that is large enough to filter the entire body of water every 3 hours. For instance, if you have a pond that is 9,000 gallons, your filter should be large enough to filter 3,000 gallons every hour. Do know, that this is not always the case. Other factors that affect the size of pond filter you have is: the quantity of pond fish you have, if you�re adding beneficial bacteria on a regular basis such as Microbe Lift or PlanktoniX, if your pond is in full sun, what chemicals you�re using or how often you�re doing a water exchange, etc.. All of these things will affect the size of pond filter you need. When in doubt, always go with a larger pond filter than what you think. Ideally, the pond filter should filter out the total volume of water in the pond every 3 hours. So, if your pond holds 9,000 gallons, your pond filter should filter 3,000 gallons of pond water every hour.

Your pond filter is the most important thing for your pond. It is responsible for good water clarity that every pond owner strives hard to achieve. Don�t skimp on your pond filtration. Only you and your pond will benefit from having the right size of filter for it.

Be educated when it comes to pond filtration. If you have fish in your pond, be sure to consider the number & size of fish you have when it comes to determining what filtration system you need. A lot of times, manufacturers will state that their filter is for a pond with 'X' number of gallons. Most likely, this is for ponds that are really water gardens - and those WITHOUT any fish! Fish add tons and tons of waste in the pond that the filtration system needs to filter out and/or break down. You CANNOT go by what size of filter a pond may be recommended for in terms of gallons without considering the size and quantity of fish you have in your pond. Remember too, fish multiply and they get bigger! So, do yourself a favor and get a much larger filter than what you may 'think' you need. It's the #1 most common area where people want to skimp on when getting their pond supplies and it's the #1 most important product they need for their pond - whether it's their mechanical or biological filtration they need, including beneficial bacteria.