Mechanical Pond Filtration Filters

All fiters have a mechanical filtration funtion, the most basic function being the removal of solids from the water from the pond using gravity to drag the solids out of the water by slowing the flow of the water. This is done by various means such as a settlement chamber, a sieve or a section of the filter filled with filter brushes. This will always be the first chamber of a filter that the pond water meets either by gravity or via a pump. Depending on the filter many come with drains to which allow the main solid waste to be flushed away, this is part of your general maintainence of your pond and there are various factors to take into account when looking at how often this needs to be done. These would include fish stocks and how the pond is planted up with plants such as lillies and reeds. Also the factor of fallen leaves has to be taken into account.
The use of the settlement chamber is important to the filter as it is this section that stops the larger solids from fouling up the finer sections of the filter which will be enclosed in the chambers after the settlement chamber. The following chambers can contain many various types of media, they start off being larger gradually becoming finer and finer to filter out all the particles before being returned back into the pond.
When purchasing a new filter or pond pump it is vital that you purchase the system that matches your pond, by this we mean if you have a 5000 litre filter and try to fit a 6000 litre pump to that filter, the water will not pass through the filter reliably to filter it and once clogged the filter will flood, causing a rapid emptying of your pond. The opposite being purchasing to small a pump for the filter will then stop the correct amount of water being filtered to maintain the healthy balance required causing the pond water to have a build up of pollutants. Our pond calculator can be used to work out the ideal pump and filter for your pond.
The most common balance is to allow your pond water to pass through your filter once every 2-3 hours, ideally every 1 to 2 hours. When it comes to filtration the bigger the filter the better, water quality is the key to keeping a healthy pond and a healthy collection of fish, we will always advise saving up for another month before buying a less suitable model, it will save you more in the long term.