Equipment for your Garden Pond
Lining a Pond
One of the most crucial aspects of constructing your pond is ensuring that you have enough pond lining. Having too little pond liner will mean a sudden rethink in the size of your pond or, worse still, will give you a pond is that is only watertight some of the time.
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 Meaning, you need to calculate the pond’s volume.
A good rule of thumb is to measure up 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. Search pond filters online you should find a good selection to choose from.
What do you need from a filter 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 to 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 least 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. A vortex should be included.
- The biological surface area needs to 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 called a gravity feed where water is removed from the pond via a bottom drain. It is then forced via gravity 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. Because the biological surfaces will have depleted the oxygen during oxidisation of the waste products it is important at this stage to use a venturi on the outlet to oxygenate the returned water.
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
Water gardens are at the mercy of bacteria, lack of oxygen and the settling of debris and dirt without a good pond pump. In circulating and oxygenating water continuouslyd a dependable pond pump can do wonders for maintaining a healthy environment and balanced ecosystem in your garden pond. 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. Find a wide range of pond water pumps for any small pond application via good aquatic retailers.
If you are serious about creating a pond whether its for koi, wildlife or aesthetics, have a look for pond and aquatics shops that not only sell the products but also {offer advice and after sales}provide good advice and after sales assistance.
Related How To Articles:
