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Ponds & Aquatic Plants

what type filter do I need

10 years ago

I have been reading all comments in faqs about the various filters and if it is necessary. My pond about between 800 and 1000 gal plus a small upper pond. I use a sump pump which works well but my problem is algae. The pond is clear as I have many plants in it with my gold fish. But the algae floats on top and clings to the sides. I pull all I can out

I have been looking at various types of filters and prefer an inpond type if possible. There are those types which float on top.

I have about a dozen goldfish and 100s of mosquito fish I also have bubblers in both ponds.

Comments appreciated. Penny

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Comments (4)

napapen
Original Author
10 years ago
I use well water, have a couple of bull frogs in the pond also and lots of birds use it to drink. I prefer not to use any chemicals

Thanks Penny
sleeplessinftwayne
10 years ago
Hi, a filter does more than pull out debris. The filter material will reduces the algae, provide a home for aerobic bacteria that consume bad stuff, increases oxygen and traps debris, particulates and fish poop that accumulate in the water. It does produce much better, healthy water.

A filter that sits in the water usually winds up dumping what it collects back into the water since there is no dwell time. It needs frequent and annoying cleaning. My Skippy gets cleaned once or twice a year, barring attacks by the raccoons. A floating filter only collects what is floating on the surface. Most stuff eventually sinks. A sump pump is not really recommended for the 24/7 use of a pond pump according to the manufacturer.
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napapen
Original Author
10 years ago
My pump is not used constantly and is the now for maybe 30 years. I have been considering getting a pump to shred the stuff that drops in. In the meantime I made two balls of straw and have them floating around.

Do I need a filter if I buy a shredding pump.

thanks
mckool
10 years ago
Shalom, shading the pond helps keep out sun and thus algae, that's why lillies are great. Rule of thumb is 70% surface coverage.

Hydrogen Peroxide also helps get rid of the algae (and the price is right) - works best if it can be applied directly - doesn't harm the fish, actually, it can be used for an emergency supply of oxygen in the water.

Maybe an island, fixed or floating.

A healthy pond will have algae, though not overwhelming the pond.

To me it's worth it's value to make a sand/gravel or skippy filter and make it large enough. When using a pressurized filter, I found that one that was rated for 4 times or grater than the size of my pond work well and reduced cleaning to once or twice a summer - that was value to me. I am currently using a 7000G rated filter for about a 1000G pond, only cleaned it once in about 9 months and that was because I had it disconnected to change the pipe size (it wasn't anywhere near needing cleaning). Will be installing a 30G sand/gravel filter to the existing filter as I want to reduce maintenance to a minimum, hopefully it won't over burden the external pump - we'll see.

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