How To Make A Pond Filter

I love having a swimming. There is nothing better than sitting and watching your fish swim about.

To get to this betoken took me a lot of inquiry, some fairly bad DIY projects, and plenty of sweat and hard work.

Is it worth it – it sure is.

Today I want to prove you lot how to make a small swimming filter that takes care of both mechanical and biological filtration. There is not a whole lot to the filter itself only information technology does wonders for your pond health and clarity.

Here is a quick video showing information technology in activity earlier I added the filter media.

Now don't get me incorrect here – this is for a pocket-size swimming or water garden that you tin customize to suit your needs.

If you have a large book of water in your pond and so check out my bootleg pond butt filter.

I have a large filter organisation on my Koi pond already so am going to use this after the skimmer and UV clarifier to filter out some of the finer particles in the pond.

You could however load it upward with filter pads, lava rock, bio balls, or any other type of filter media with a good surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow. The options are endless really and all you lot really demand after that is a submersible pump and a length of flexible pond pipe.

Ok, so permit's become started on this pocket-size pond filter.

Like shooting fish in a barrel to make pond filters

Outset up you are going to need a plastic tote for the box filter. I picked this upwardly in the local hardware for a few dollars but yous can get them well-nigh anywhere – but go for a heavy-duty one because you don't desire it to crack when full of water.

This box filter holds about xvi gallons of water so would make the perfect filter for a modest pond or water garden.

The first thing to practice is measure do ane and ane/2 inches from the top middle of the filter box and use a pigsty saw to cut out a 25mm hole.

Make certain to remove any rough edges from the new hole and prepare your tank connector. I am using a 1-inch white waste pipe for this filter but you can experiment and come upward with your own design hither.

When installing the tank connector make certain you lot have the safety gasket already in place earlier you push it through the hole. The plastic nut goes on the outside of the filter box.

The reason I use these is that they have pressure fit connectors and makes it easy to dry-fit everything before last assembly.

Side by side up you are going to need two xc degree bends, a T-piece, and 3 x 2inch long pieces of pipe. This will form the starting time part of the inside of the pond filter spray bar.

When assembling this section of the filter showtime insert the two pieces of piping into either end of the T-piece and take note of the measurement.

Become ahead and dry fit the rest of the parts together and button the small-scale slice of pipe coming out of the middle of the T piece into the tank connector. This should agree everything in place for now.

Adjacent up you are going to demand two longer pieces of pipe for the spray bars. Cut these about 20 inches in length and set them to ane side.

Using the measurement you lot took a min agone cut a small length of the i-inch pipe. and add together a ninety-caste bend to each end. This volition form the other end of the spray bar and help go on the pond water in the arrangement and saves you from cutting any boosted holes in the filter for support.

Next, you need a length of 1 i/4 inch piping to human action every bit a support for the other stop of your spray bars and to drain the water back to your pond.

Measure down 2 inches from the end of the pipage and utilise a i-inch hole saw and cut all the way through the piping. Slot your smaller pipe through this and add together a 90-caste bend to each cease.

The final matter you need for this part of the pond filter is a 1 one/4 inch t-piece for the other end of the pipe.

Dry fit everything together now and make the required adjustments to the long i inch pipes are level and the cease of the t-piece is near an inch off the bottom of the filter base.

Make a mark on the sidewall of the filter box around the end of the tee. measure down three/iv of an inch from this marker and this will be the center pigsty for your next chore.

Take a larger hole saw and cut through the side of the plastic tub. You are going to need a uniseal for this adjacent flake.

Insert the uniseal from the exterior of the box and make sure it sits flush. Button a spare bit of 1 1/4 inch piping through the uniseal and into the tee.

This volition now agree everything firmly in place with the bottom of the tee nearly an inch off the base of the filter. This is important because that'due south how the h2o gets out and dorsum into your swimming. The mechanical and biological filtration happens higher up.

Once you have everything looking good it's time to have it autonomously again. We need to make a way for the water to go into the filter from your swimming pump.

For this have the 2 longer lengths of 1-inch pipe and draw a line with a pencil the length of each piping. Depict a series of marks along this line – every inch or so from 1 cease to the other.

Take a small 3/xvi drill scrap and drill holes on each of the marks on both pipes. Now describe another set of lines on each pipe nearly 1/2 inch abroad from the first one. come in 1/2 inch from the stop and brand a marking. at present add marks every inch along the pipe.

Yous should end up with marks that alternate with the set of holes y'all drilled a few mins ago. Drill along the pipe once again on these marks – both pipes – and then get some sandpaper and clean up all the rough edges.

Dry out fit everything back together again and your pond filter should expect something similar this.

Setting up your pond filter

Every filtration system is different and every pond and water garden has different filtration needs. The first affair to exercise is work out how many gallons of water are in your pond and blueprint your filtration around that number. When starting our pond filters are a must-have to help residuum out your pond water.

You can choose from submersible filters that sit at the bottom of your pond. Some even accept a built-in pump but you then have to deal with a power string coming out over the side of your swimming. While these are like shooting fish in a barrel to install, submersible filters have to be removed from the swimming to make clean them.

You should e'er base the size of your filter on your pond size. Are you looking to power a pump and fountain or perchance an all in 1 pump filter combo? Whatever yous decide on a practiced bio filter is the deviation between a good for you pond and a deadly pond.

Mechanical and Biological filtration

The whole purpose of your filtration is to clean your pond water. Some of the best pond filters on the market tin practice a great chore but as well cost y'all a small fortune, plus there are so many options out there that your head would melt trying to figure out the best filter for your pond.

The mechanical filtration removes the solids from your water. The quicker you can remove these from your ponds the less take chances they have to break downwards and cause problems with your water quality.

The biological filtration in your pond filter converts these nasties into harmless nitrates as part of the nitrification bicycle that happens in a good for you swimming. Benign bacteria colonize on your filter media and the walls of your pond – well, pretty much everywhere in your swimming and slowly break downward the waste matter.

Flow Rate

Water period rate is very important for your filtration organization. You demand a pond pump that can wheel your water every hour or so. You likewise demand pond filters that can cope with the waste load in your pond.

I result nosotros encounter all the time is the pump is either too weak for the filter system and also minor for your ponds or it'southward too powerful and moves the h2o too quickly before the filters tin do their work.

Adding a diverter valve or a ball valve to the pipework allows yous to easily control the flow charge per unit of your water in and out of the filters. There is heaps of content online about this topic so do your enquiry.

UV Clarifier

Calculation a UV clarifier to your filtration does nothing to clean the waste out of your water just it does help gainsay light-green water. Dark-green h2o is caused by a build-up of green algae in the water. Whilst information technology does no harm to your fish – they actually like it – information technology does ruin the view. A uv low-cal is a quick mode to articulate up a greenish pond, but the ultraviolet lite also helps remove some of the nasty bugs from the water as well. Read more about green swimming water.

One of the brands we similar is Oase. They produce crawly UV light options for ponds of all sizes.

Filter media

The whole thought of a pond filter is to provide mechanical and biological filtration and to clean your pond water. At that place is an countless list of filter media like bio balls, K1, etc, to cull from but hither is a breakup of a few of our favorites.

Bio Balls

Bio Balls are a swell option considering they provide a huge corporeality of surface expanse for beneficial bacteria to colonize. This bacteria is what removes the nitrates from your pond water – deadly to fish if left unchecked.

Filter Pads

Filter pads are readily available in all shapes and sizes. I similar to buy mine in larger rolls and cut them to size. I'm using fine filter media for this filter box because I want to try and remove the finer floating debris from my water. You can become different grades of filter media from very coarse to fine. These are ofttimes layered on elevation of bio media in a pressure level bio filter or a submersible flat box filter setup.

The coarse filter pads make a not bad home for benign bacteria and provide plenty of surface expanse for these to abound on. Often called Jap Mat you lot tin pick information technology up in whatever decent swimming supply shop or here on Amazon. You lot often see the filter kit packs with 3 dissimilar color pads. They are very easy to install and work wonders to clean your pond water.

DIY Pond Filter Media

If, similar me, you lot are a fan of DIY then why brand some DIY pond filter media. You don't have to become too technical with any of this actually. You lot are looking for some sort of media with a high expanse that can be used to concur beneficial bacteria, and some course media to filter out the heavy solids from the water equally it passes through.

Green scrubs

The green scrubs you buy in whatsoever hardware or household store are ideal if y'all become enough of them. Hither is a handy bulk pack of 24 Greenish scrubs. These are great if yous accept enough of them layered in your DIY filter. The original 'Skippy Filter' design used these and they were great.

What is the best small swimming filter?

This really depends. For a small-scale pond, you want something that is easy to clean out and compact enough that information technology does not take over in your landscape.

Most of the fourth dimension you are going to exist stuck for space. The central things with any pond filter are biological filtration and the ability to mechanically remove fish waste matter from the water.

Does a pocket-size pond need a filter?

When a pond is new information technology is advisable to install some sort of pond filter. Over time your pond will balance out and the plants when they mature will starting time to remove the waste product from your water. Yous ofttimes encounter ponds with bog filters installed. These are just an area of the pond that pumps through the root base of plants to remove waste product.

What is the best pond filter organization?

This actually depends on your swimming and your fish stock. Pond filters, peculiarly ones you buy are all rated based on the size of your pond. For example. You could have a pond of about 500 gallons and when you go online you will notice a pond pump and filter combo with a built-in uv clarifier that is rated for ponds up to 500 gallons.

If you take a modest pond, water garden or water characteristic then you may opt for a submersible pond filter that y'all tin can hibernate out of the way. These are great to filter the water if you are tight on space and some come with a built-in fountain head which looks cool.

If you are thinking almost building a small pond filter then drop u.s.a. a message and nosotros will transport you over the plans for ours. It's really easy to build and only cost a few dollars to put together.