Choose the Right Pond Filter Media to Save Money
Why Is The Choice Of Pond Filter Media So Important?
A garden pond filter is only as good as the pond filter media used. Many
models of biological pond filter can be significantly improved by using a
filter media with a much higher Specific Surface Area (SSA). Choosing the
right pond filter media will not only save you lots of money but will
improve your filter performance. This statement will be explained as you
read through this article ...
A biological pond filter is responsible for converting ammonia, found in garden ponds into much less toxic nitrates, in a series of chemical processes known as the nitrogen cycle or nitrification process. The processes are carried out by Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter nitrifying bacteria that live on the pond filter media, housed in the pond filter unit. The higher the Specific Surface Area (SSA) of the filter media the larger the colony of beneficial nitrifying bacteria it can house. The larger the colony of bacteria to convert ammonia the better your pond water quality will be.
When choosing a garden pond filter look at the pond filter media included and choose a pond filter model with as high a SSA as possible. A smaller filter model with a superior pond filter media will perform as well as a large filter model using an inferior filter media, such as thin plastic coils.
Here is a worked example ...
The pond filter media is a plastic coil that measures 2” high x 1” diameter.
Formula: 2 x pi x plastic coil diameter x plastic coil height.
Area for bacteria to colonize = 2 x 22/7 x 1/12 x 2/12 = 0.1 square feet.
So for arguments sake we shall assume that your pond needs 1000 million bacteria and 0.1 sq feet can provide space for 1 million bacteria.
Also for effective filtration we shall assume that your pond filter requires 1000 plastic coils inside it.
The volume of 1 plastic coil is approx 0.0012 cubic feet.
This means that your pond filter would need a total volume of 1.2 cubic feet to house 1000 plastic coils. If you decided to double the weight of fish in your garden pond then you would need 2000 plastic coils. This would mean that you need a filter box with a volume of 5 cubic feet.
Can you see the problem? That’s right the filter box is starting to get big and the cost of buying the plastic coils will be expensive.
A major lesson to be realized from the above example is that a biological pond filter is only as good as the pond filter media used, as stated in the opening paragraph of this article.
What is the Best Filter Media?
Thankfully there are bio media products available with a much higher SSA than plastic coils. So using a pond filter media that is the same size but has 40 times the surface area would mean that you would only need 25 instead of 1000 plastic coils. It would also mean that the filter box needed to house the filter media could be 40 times smaller and still hold 1000 million bacteria.
Any biological pond filter media that is capable of removing solids effectively and of housing large colonies of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria will be a good choice.
The larger the SSA (specific surface area) of the biofilter media, the better, as it will significantly improve pond filter performance and breakdown ammonia concentrations from your garden pond at a much quicker rate.
Click here to seethe Pond Filter Media Reviews on this site ...
Take a look at the table above it shows a comparison between the specific surface areas (SSA) of various pond filter media including Fishmate Supra (Alfagrog in the UK). As you can see that Fishmate Supra wins the competition hands down with an SSA of 45 and 90.
Fishmate
SUPRA Pond Filter Media
In the USA a really good choice of pond filter media for traditional box type filters and smaller pressurized filter systems is Supra. This porous pond filter media has a SSA that is over 90 times higher than plastic coils. It is extremely light and best of all is low cost.
If you are looking for low cost Supra pond filter media and you live in the USA then Fishmate Supra biomedia is from a space saving and cost point of view a brilliant low cost, high performance product.
