Biofilters are the difference between life and death for your fish ponds. You need clean healthy water.
Summary from a chapter of "Your Pond: Crystal Clear Water Guaranteed" - Generally speaking a garden pond has too many fish for its own good. - The waste products build up in the water unless they are continuously removed. - The waste products from the fish in their initial form are mainly expressed as ammonia which is poisonous in even small quantities and especially so under certain water conditions -- high pH -- which will be discussed later. - Another type of bacteria also present in the biofilter then converts the nitrite chemicals into nitrate chemicals. - These chemicals are less polluting and toxic than either ammonia or nitrites -- both of which are very poisonous. - The health of the pond is determined by this relentless ongoing conversion of ammonia to nitrates. - If pond water is changed frequently then to some extent the poison levels are "controlled." - The food used has a significant impact upon the amount of waste produced. - Waste products are converted to relatively harmless nitrates by naturally occurring bacteria. - Rocks, submerged trees, etc all help to purify the waste products from the fish by providing holding points for the bacteria to live on. - The more bacteria there are the better the purification. - The bacteria need oxygen to survive and they get this from the water - oxygen is absorbed by the water due to the action of waves, waterfalls and wind. - A biofilter is designed to allow large concentrations of bacteria to operate effectively in a small volume within a garden pond environment. - For larger ponds the filter needs to be installed outside of the pond.
Garden Fish Pond Keeping Articles To Explore
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copyright: 2002, this website and many others to do with water gardening and use of water in the home was created by Tony Roocroft who lives in Johannesburg South Africa
