How Often Should I Clean My Pond Filter?

The aim of any pond owner is to have clear and healthy water. But despite the filter’s obvious job of sucking in and trapping all the waste a ponds filter system should actually be clean inside too. Here’s why it is so important to keep your filters clean with regular maintenance,

Pond filters typically work in two ways Mechanically and biologically.

Mechanical filtration is when particles are physically trapped inside the filter and biological filtration is when beneficial bacteria are used to convert toxic fish waste into less toxic forms. The two work together to clean and cleanse pond water making it clear for viewing fish and healthy for fish to live in.

Beneficial bacteria actually like clear well oxygenated water too and if too much muck builds up in the mechanical section of the filter the flow can drop or slow and with that the essential water flow the food and oxygen that the bacteria needs to do their job, Muck also gets trapped on the mechanical side it can then itself start to break down releasing phosphates.

How often to clean filter sponges

Filter sponges work both mechanically and biologically so therefore in the most need of frequent cleaning. The bacteria live within those holes in the sponges and if the holes block with muck and waste they wont get the water flow and oxygen they need. If the sponges shrink considerably those little holes become smaller and less desirable for good bacteria to live in.

Some filters will use a combination of coarse and fine sponges so the coarse sponges catch most of the solid muck and block less easily leaving the fine sponges to do the biological work.

If the filter has just one sponge it will need to be cleaned frequently to keep its shape and to remove muck and waste from them but also to keep the good bacteria alive. Only ever wash sponges in old pond water and you can wash them as often as you want even daily which may be necessary for some ponds in the hight of the summer season. Here ay Cotswold Koi we have a great selection of filters that use sponges here are some links to a few for you to look at, Kockney Koi Fibreglass Filters Archives – Cotswold Koi        Pressure Filters Archives – Cotswold Koi

How often to clean multi-stage filters

Some of the best pond filters separate the jobs of mechanical and biological filtration with different media in different areas of the filter like the  Kockney Koi Fibreglass Filters Archives – Cotswold Koi  The advantage is that then the mechanical filter can be cleaned frequently but leaving the biological filter intact and undisturbed. With a separate mechanical filter it can be cleaned daily, hourly or even constantly trapping the waste and flushing the waste on a constant cycle before the bacteria have a chance to break it down. This is more work than any pond owner can handle but better still the filter cleaning can be automated like on a Nexus or Eazypod Automatic or an Oase Drum Filter or Draco Drum. Cleaning the mechanical filter as frequently as is needed automatically and hands free.

Automatic pond filters often use pond water to clean the mechanical filter only removing a tiny proportion as they do so and this in itself also provides a tiny but frequent water change.  (often called a trickle in) This is deal for keeping nitrates low, pH and KH levels high and fish healthy with maximum growth potential.

So the answer to the question of how often you should clean your pond filter?  is as often as you can for the mechanical filter and less often or not all for the biological filter if its prefiltered first.

Always use old pond water and never use tap water And if you can’t or don’t want to clean your filter regularly we would recommenced for you to go to an automatic system.