Essential Garden Pond Equipment
Lining a Pond
One of the most crucial aspects of constructing your pond is ensuring that you have enough pond liner. Having too little pond liner means you will need to rethink the size of your pond or you will have a pond that is not always watertight.
When measuring your pond you need to consider not just the length and width that you pond will take on the ground, but also the depth of the pond into the ground i.e. you need to know the pond’s volume.
A good rule of thumb is to measure your pond and then add a couple of feet to both measurements. This will allow your rubber pond liner to sit slightly proud of your hole in the ground ensuring that your pond is fully watertight and that your pond water does not seep away.
Pond Filtration
Another essential part of building a pond is a good filtration system and if you look for pond filters on the net and you will find a good selection to choose from.
But what is it you need out of a filtration system? To achieve an efficient biological surface you must ensure that the water that enters the filtration is rich in oxygen. This helps the friendly bacteria oxidise the waste products through the nitrogen cycle. This is called aerobic filtration. Filter systems must fulfil the following criteria:
- The filter volume should be at minimal 10% of the ponds volume.
- You should be aiming to turn over at least half the ponds volume once per hour.
- The filter should have several chambers which can be which can be kept separate and emptied individually when cleaning. And a vortex should be included.
- The biological surface area should be at least one square metre per ten cubic metres of pond water.
- An ultra violet clarifier should be installed to eliminate single celled algae, which causes green water.
There are two main types of filtration. The first type of filter is where the water is removed from the pond via a bottom drain and is called a gravity feed. Gravity then forces it through the filter which is sited buried in the ground close to your pond so that the water level in both your filtration and pond are the same. The water is then returned to the pond via a dry sited pond pump through an outlet in the side wall of the pond below the waterline. At this stage it is important to use a venturi on the outlet to oxygenate the returned water as the biological surfaces will have depleted the oxygen during oxidisation of the waste products.
The second main filtration type and probably the more familiar is a pressurised feed filter. This involves an internal solid handling pump at the deepest part of the pond pumping water through a flexible pipe up to the filter which is sited above the surface level of the pond, which allows the water to return by the forces of gravity.
Water Pumps
Without a good pond pump, a water garden is at the mercy of bacteria, lack of oxygen, and the settling of dirt and debris. A dependable pond water pump does wonders in creating and maintaining a healthy environment and balanced ecosystem in your garden pond by circulating and oxygenating water continuously. Additionally, the water pump plays an important role in keeping humans and pets safe by helping to prevent unwanted insect pests from breeding and infesting the area. You can find a wide variety of pond pumps to fit every small pond application from good aquatic and water garden retailers.
If you are serious about having a garden pond whether its for wild life or koi, have a look round for pond and aquatics retailers that not only sell you the product but also provide good advice and after sales assistance.
