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Pages.

Introduction
About The Author
Authors Notes
Your First Pond
Trees & Sunshine
Take The Plunge
Preformed Pools
Installing A Liner
Making A Raised Pool
A Koi Pond
Miniature Ponds
Adding A Waterfall
Electricity
Colourful Ponds
Dangers
Choosing A Pump
Solar Powered Pumps
Looking After A Pump
Pond Pipework
Installing A Fountain
Self-Contained Fountains
The Leaky Pond
Planting The Pond
A Wildlife Pond
A Bog Garden
Pond Plants
Plants Round A Pond
Choosing A Lily
Floating Plants
Water Hyacinth
Oxygenating Plants
About Fish
When To Buy Fish
Choosing Fish
Quarantining Fish
Fish Under Stress
Feeding Your Fish
Holidays & Fish
Breeding Coldwater Fish
Changing Colours Of Fish
Pond Fish
A Koi Collection
Ghost Koi
Fancy Goldfish
Coldwater Catfish
Sturgeon
Grass Carp
Rearing Trout
Swan Mussels
Visitors To The Pond
Frogs
Newts
Visiting A Koi Auction
Clubs & Societies
Caring For Fish
Testing The Water
Oxygenation
Are You Poisoning Your Fish
Ponds & Medicines
Diseases & Parasites
Disappearing Fish
Problems With Herons
Filtration
Green Ponds
Fish Pond Filters
How A Filter Works
Improving Your Filter
Ultra Violet Sterilizers
Looking After A Filter
The Pond Through The Year
Spring Cleaning
Pond Plants In Spring
Ponds In Summer
Autumn & Winter
Breaking The Ice
10 Problems
Useful Facts & Figures

Allotment Articles1.
Allotment Articles 2.

Looking After Your Filter

Some people are under the misapprehension that fishpond filters start working the moment they are turned on and that they only need a little attention. This is not the case at all as a biological filter will not become fully operational for about 8- 10 to weeks after it is initially turned on.

Admittedly it will start to physically filter the pond. That is to say it will remove the larger particulate matter by way of the water passing through the foam, or filter brushes. The biological action takes longer as the colony of bacteria build up. This process can be speeded up, by adding bacteria in solution to the new filter. If the filter is turned off for any length of time, such as for winter, this process should be repeated, as the filter will die just like any other living thing without its nutrient rich supply of water from the pond. If the good aerobic bacteria are allowed to die after a long period of operation then the filter should be washed out thoroughly to remove the anaerobic bacteria that will have built up in the sludge that will have accumulated in the filter. This is the only time the filter should be cleaned out thoroughly.

In normal maintenance only single sheets of foam, or filter brushes should be cleaned and then only lightly as the cleaning will wash away some of the filters bacteria. If at all possible, rainwater out of a tub is better for washing the filter foams than tap-water. It is easy to tell when the filter needs a little bit of a clean because the water level will start to rise towards the overflow pipe as the foam blocks up with muck slowing down the free flow through it. 

Ideally, when any filter is installed, a facility should be made to allow the filter to be backwashed. This is by far the best way of washing, or flushing the Filter through because natural pool water is used instead of harsh chlorinated tap water that will kill many of the bacteria. If the filter is small it may become totally overloaded with sediment and then it will be necessary to dismantle it and clean it, but again it should be treated as a new filter and fed with a bacterial solution.

If the filter is not doing its job properly and is not removing the ammonia and chemical waste from the water this will often react with oxygen to make a white solid that shows itself as scum on the water at the outlet into the pond. In this case the filter may need cleaning, and or the capacity of the filter should be questioned, and or the flow rate for the size of the pond needs adjusting.





































 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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