Hello everyone. Just been doing my research and I’ve talked to quite a few pond owners today that I actually know and a lot of them have said as I’m having a fair size pond I shouldn’t bother with a filter. Im going to have a waterfall to create oxygen but people are saying the best idea is to not have a filter, I’ll be having koi and sturgeon in it. I’m quite happy to clean up the sludge and algae whenever it needs it so is a filter actually necessary. The pond will be around… 12ft length, 18ft width and 4-5ft depth (around that. It may be a little off)
No filter
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Mmathis
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Not sure why people are telling you that filters aren’t needed. Maybe it depends on what they are considering as a filter. It looks like your pond will be a pretty good size. I just read up on sturgeon care and they say that good filtration is necessary, as is for koi, as well as lots of water movement.
www.sturgeon-web.co.uk
FAQ and info: Sturgeon Web: frequently asked questions and sturgeon information
If it’s kept clean enough manually and I have a little filtration part in the waterfall will that suffice?Not sure why people are telling you that filters aren’t needed. Maybe it depends on what they are considering as a filter. It looks like your pond will be a pretty good size. I just read up on sturgeon care and they say that good filtration is necessary, as is for koi, as well as lots of water movement.
FAQ and info: Sturgeon Web: frequently asked questions and sturgeon information
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I think unless you are keeping goldfish and a light load, or don't plan on feeding your fish at all AND have light load (koi), you'll be happier filtering your water. Unfiltered can have more issues and one of them is visibility. That's why a lot here use bog filters; sort of like a natural 'don't need a filter' filter. Read some threads and see whatcha think.
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See I was going to have loads of plants so technically that’s what a bog filter is
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A HUGE component of 'filtering' pond water is the biological aspect. Some small canister waterfall filter is never going to do much for a pond your size, let alone a smaller, still decent size one. Don't skimp. Then again, you can try and add as you start having problems but I'd rather not get to that stage, were it me.
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Could you send me a few forum things on here to do with the bog filters?
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If you go to the Pond Construction forum, addy has her bog build stickied. But realize, it's long but great info.
Basic bog filtration 101; it's a lined box with pipes placed on the bottom, fed by your pump, over which pea gravel is laid (12" minimum). Water is forced down to the bog box bottom, rises up through the gravel, and exits somewhere on top. The bacteria colonize ALL the surface of every single piece of pea gravel. The plants on top will take in what results; the nitrates. The bacteria (there's basically 2) breaks down ammonia into nitrite, and the other bacteria breaks that down into nitrates. That's the basic concept. Easy peasy.
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Adding to brokensword's post above
If you have no filter. The total surface area for the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrate to live in is very small. If you only have a few fishes as other stated above, you will be fine for a big size pond. But as you added more fishes, there will be more ammonia in the system. It has to be removed somehow. Nature have this process in place, and this process is done by the planktonic algae that are always in the water. These algae always compete with the other bacteria that live on the surface of objects in the pond for the ammonia.
Unfortunately, as planktonic algae bloom, it caused pea soup (green water). You can't remove them with any filter (except UV filter, but that killed good bacteria as well). The water can only be cleared up once their population is greatly reduced.
With that said, you will still need plants to remove the nitrate, otherwise the surface growing and string algae will bloom.
So read Addy's post. I started my ponds from her post
If you have no filter. The total surface area for the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrate to live in is very small. If you only have a few fishes as other stated above, you will be fine for a big size pond. But as you added more fishes, there will be more ammonia in the system. It has to be removed somehow. Nature have this process in place, and this process is done by the planktonic algae that are always in the water. These algae always compete with the other bacteria that live on the surface of objects in the pond for the ammonia.
Unfortunately, as planktonic algae bloom, it caused pea soup (green water). You can't remove them with any filter (except UV filter, but that killed good bacteria as well). The water can only be cleared up once their population is greatly reduced.
With that said, you will still need plants to remove the nitrate, otherwise the surface growing and string algae will bloom.
So read Addy's post. I started my ponds from her post
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if you dont filter the pond with the fish you are planning then nature will filter the pond for you but you may not like the results that nature comes up with.
@Meg i agree if you have a large enough pond with enough water and surface volume IN TIME mother nature can take care of everything. your pond size to me is not even close to being big enough to have koi and sturgeon with no filter. Could you drop a few gold fish in there and lots of plants and see what mother nature can do sure. but just remember water that has no movement no current also is a breeding ground for bugs especially the florida state bird the MOSQUITO
how large is your pond going to be is a 1/4 acre? earthen / clay pond. ?
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HAVING PLANTS ALONG SIDE THE EDGE OF THE POND IS STILL NOT A BOG. while the plants still do the same taking in nutrients from the water the roots can not trap the partials when they are along side the pond like they can when the water comes up from below and is forced upward through the mat of roots. i have a picture in my build where i allowed a papyrus to grow in a aquablock so the roots were suspended and nothing interfered with the grown. in one year those roots filled the aquablock and was as dense as a brillow pad. My build is in the link below this text.
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I built the simple type of bog filter. There's another a bit more complicated type with aqua blox, centipede and snorkel.
Heres my bog build:
My add-on bog build
I finally did it! I joined the bog club! The bog is approximately 14 feet by 5 feet and about 12 inches deep. I know my 1600+ gallon pond has been overpopulated due to my fish reproductive rates! Last year the water never cleared up to my liking. I figured my two pressure filters and my...