What kind of a filter do you need for your water garden pond? What size does it need to be, and how clean does your small habitat need to be kept? These are decisions you need to make when you install a water garden in your yard. It isn't just a matter of putting in a liner and a pump, and sitting back to observe your little pond. You want water plants and most likely fish to flourish in the little habitat you're creating to make it both lovely and inviting. Don't think of what you're building as merely a hole in your back yard, but accept it for what it is – an eco-system. Building a pond filter will help you keep 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 initiate the project by measuring the size of the pond. You can use a rope for this purpose. You must know how much area you have to filter so that you relax knowing your filter will be able to do the job. One way you can lessen the need for filtering is by adding waterfalls and streams to your system. These will help move the water around naturally through the system as well as force it into the filters. A water garden is definitely a delicately-balanced system that must have all of its individual parts in order to maintain the health of the plants and animals living there. You need a way to filter out the impurities that can damage the environment and encourage the generation of good bacteria that rid the pond of fish waste and organic debris.

There are two kinds of filters you can employ to establish the best pond environment. A mechanical filter will rid the water of 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 begin with nothing but a large plastic pot, mesh bags, large lava rocks, and an underwater pond pump. Fill the mesh bags with lava rocks, being careful not to overfill them. Sit the pump in the bottom of your plastic container, adjust the tubing and cords, stick the lava rocks in the container, and you'll have a basic but effective pond filter.

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