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3 ‘must-haves’ for a Garden Pond
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Lining a Pond
One of the most important aspects of constructing your pond is ensuring that you have enough pond liner. Having too little pond liner means you will need to rethink the size of your pond or you will have a pond that is not always watertight.
When measuring your pond you need to consider not just the length and width that you pond will take on the ground, but also the depth of the pond into the ground In other words, you need to know the pond’s volume.
A good rule of thumb is to measure your pond and then add a couple of feet to both measurements. This will allow your rubber pond liner to sit slightly proud of your hole in the ground ensuring that your pond is fully watertight and that your pond water does not seep away.
Pond Filtration
Another essential part of building a pond is a good filtration system. Search pond filtration online you should find a good selection to choose from.
What do you need from a filter system? To achieve an efficient biological surface you need to ensure the water that enters the filtration is rich in oxygen. This helps the friendly bacteria oxidise the waste products through the nitrogen cycle. This is called aerobic filtration. Filter systems must fulfil the following criteria:
- The filter volume should be at least 10% of the ponds volume.
- You should be aiming to turn over at least half the ponds volume once per hour.
- The filter should have several chambers which can be which can be kept separate and emptied individually when cleaning. A vortex should be included.
- The biological surface area needs to be at the very least one square metre per ten cubic metres of pond water.
- An ultra violet clarifier should be installed to eliminate single celled algae, which causes green water.
There are two main types of filtration. The first type of filter is called a gravity feed where water is removed from the pond via a bottom drain. It is then forced via gravity through the filter which is sited buried in the ground close to your pond so that the water level in both your filtration and pond are the same. The water is then returned to the pond via a dry sited pond pump through an outlet in the side wall of the pond below the waterline. At this stage it is important to use a venturi on the outlet to oxygenate the returned water as the biological surfaces will have depleted the oxygen during oxidisation of the waste products.
The second main filtration type and probably the more familiar is a pressurised feed filter. This involves an internal pump that handles solids at the deepest part of the pond which pumps water through a flexible pipe to the filter which is positioned above surface level. Forces of gravity allows water to return.
Water Pumps
Without a good pond pump, a water garden is at the mercy of bacteria, lack of oxygen, and the settling of dirt and debris. In circulating and oxygenating water continuouslyd a dependable pond pump can do wonders for maintaining a healthy environment and balanced ecosystem in your garden pond. Additionally, the water pump plays an important role in keeping humans and pets safe by helping to prevent unwanted insect pests from breeding and infesting the area. You can find a wide variety of pond water pumps for any small pond application via good water garden product retailers.
If you are serious about creating a garden pond whether its for fish, wild life or to look nice, search for pond and aquatics shops that not only sell the equipment but also {offer advice and after sales}provide good advice and after sales support.
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