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Filtration Filtration is an odd combination of physics, chemistry, basic engineering, not-so-basic engineering, and common sense. No filter is perfect. There are always compromises. If your fish are alive and healthy, then your filter is doing a lot of things right. If your fish are always sick; more than likely your filtration system is not doing its job. Some koi enthusiasts say, "They keep their filter, not their fish." The terms filter and filtration system are not the same. A filtration system includes a filter or series of filters and a method of working all these filters in harmony. While a filter is just that: it filters water. We all know there are different kinds of filters. Chemical filters use bacteria to take ammonia, etc., out of the water. Mechanical filters work like tiny nets to trap particles. Living filters like water hyacinth use fish waste to grow. And the list goes on. Almost anything could be a kind of filter. Filters have been made of sand, banana leaves, plastic bits, and screens. The pond itself is a filter. As you think about a filtration system for your pond, here are some questions that will help. Ask yourself just how involved you want to be in this system. You are a component in the filter system. You maintain the system. Some systems are low maintenance; some are high maintenance. Usually, the smaller the filtration system, the higher the maintenance. |
