What kind of a filter do you need for your water garden pond? How large does it need to be, and how clean does your little habitat need to be kept? These are questions to ask yourself when you build a water garden in your yard. It isn’t just a matter of adding a liner and a pump, and sitting back to look at your little pond. You want growing plants and probably fish to live in the little habitat you’re establishing to make it both beautiful and inviting. Never think of what you’re building as only a hole in your back yard, but understand it for what it is – an eco-system. Adding a pond filter will assist you in keeping your system clean, and it isn’t going to cost you nearly as much as it would to purchase commercial filters.

You will want to start out by measuring the area of the pond. You can use a rope for this purpose. You have to know how much area you have to filter so that you relax knowing your filter will be able to handle the job. One way you can decrease the necessity for filtering is by adding waterfalls and streams to your system. These will assist in moving the water around naturally through the system as well as force it through the filters. A water garden is in reality a delicately-balanced system that requires all of its separate parts in order to maintain the health of the plants and animals living within it. You must have a way to clean out the impurities that can destroy the environment and encourage the growth of good bacteria that rid the pond of fish waste and organic debris.

There are two types of filters you can employ to help you develop the ideal pond environment. A mechanical filter will remove debris and contaminants. A bacterial filter, on the other hand, will break contaminants down into substances that the plants and fish can use. To build your own filter, you can start with nothing but a large plastic pot, mesh bags, large lava rocks, and a submersible pond pump. Fill the mesh bags with lava rocks, being careful not to over stuff. Position the pump in the bottom of your plastic container, adjust the tubing and cords, place the lava rocks in the container, and you’ll have a basic but effective pond filter.