Mary Allen
The most common way to clean a pond is to use a pond filter, which cleans the water mechanically and biologically. However, there are different ways of installing the filter. Find out which filter variants can be differentiated here.
Ponds represent a more or less closed ecosystem in your own garden. This ecosystem can only be maintained in the long term if it is in a healthy biological equilibrium. If this is the case, the individual values are balanced so that the pond has good water values over the long term and remains “stable”.
In most garden ponds, a filter helps to maintain the biological balance: it cleans the water and prevents an excessive supply of nutrients.
The Filter: This Is How the Selection Works
The final selection of the filter is influenced by various factors: How much volume does the pond have? How big is the fish population? How much organic material gets into the pond from outside? These are just a few questions that arise when looking for a suitable filter. In addition to choosing the right filter, you should also consider what kind of filter system you want to set up. In most cases, there are three options, but factors such as budget, space, and flooring must also be taken into account.
The Pump Version
A feed pump is installed at a medium-deep point in the pond. This is connected to the UVC device on the bank by means of a hose. The water is pumped from the pond bottom through the UV clarifier to the pond filter, where the water is finally biologically and mechanically cleaned. From there, the water returns to the garden pond via a pipe.
Advantages of the Pump Version
- Inexpensive to purchase and easy to install
- Flexible choice of location of the filter
- Can be implemented for any pond size
- Expandable and can be retrofitted to an existing pond
Disadvantages of the Pump Version
- Consumes the most electricity in long-term operation
- The pump can become clogged
- The filter is visible at the edge of the pond and takes up space
Gravity Version with Filter Chamber
With this filter variant, a floor drain is installed at the bottom of the pond, which is connected to a wide pipe. This leads the water to the gravity filter by means of gravity. This stands in a brick filter chamber, which should have a septic tank. The cleaned water is then drawn out of the filter with the help of a feed pump and passes through the UV clarifier on the way back to the pond.
Advantages of the Gravity Version with Filter Chamber
- Technology is installed invisibly
- The pump only delivers clean water and therefore does not clog
- Better filter performance, as the dirt “as a whole”, gets into the filter and can be filtered out more easily
- Space-saving solution
- Electricity savings as only a weak pump is required
- Hardly any dirt spots in the pond
Disadvantages Gravity Version with Filter Chamber
- More expensive to buy
- Complex installation
- Less suitable for small ponds
- Technology is not so easily accessible
Gravity Version with Pump Chamber
How it works: This filter variant combines elements from the models already presented. Here, too, the water is conveyed by gravity through a floor drain and a pipe, but not directly to the filter, but to a pump chamber. From here the water is then pumped to the UV clarifier (or the pre-filter) and from there to the gravity filter. After mechanical and biological treatment, it then flows back into the pond.
Advantages of the Gravity Version with Pump Chamber
- Well suited for large ponds and especially koi ponds
- Hardly any dirt spots in the pond
- Technology easily accessible: cleaning is easy
- Subsequent pumps can be switched on
- Easy filter expansion
- Filter does not have to be buried
- Energy saving
Disadvantages Gravity Version with Pump Chamber
- The filter is visible at the edge of the pond and takes up space
- Relatively complex installation