There are many types of filtration systems for garden ponds. The type of filtration you need depends upon the type of pond you have, or will have. If you want a water garden for growing water plants, and have only a few goldfish or minnows for mosquito control, you can get by without a pump or filter if the fish are not fed a supplemental diet. However, if you would like to have more fish, and would like to use a commercial floating food so you can enjoy their "antics", you will need to invest in a pump and some type of filter.

For goldfish ponds from 100-1,000 gallons, you can be very successful using a pump that will circulate half of the water volume every hour, in conjunction with a filter like the one shown at "The Plant Place" (see link below, where you'll also find other excellent filter designs.)

For koi ponds from 2,000-3,000 gallons, circulate the entire volume of water every hour. A more sophisticated filter will need to be designed and installed to cope with the increased demand keeping koi places on the system.

Koi are heavy feeders and thus produce a lot of waste. Their voracious appetites can lead them to be very destructive to water plants. If you plan on mixing koi and plants you will have to take extra precautions to protect tender bulbs and roots.

Below the links to homemade filters are some very good articles about filtration.

"Jan Jordan's Home Page". Jan Jordan's Home Page
Check out Jan's filter.

"Koi Village Combo Filter" This is the filter I use for my holding tanks. You can build it out of several different size barrels depending on what size pond you have. A 30 gallon barrel will make a filter that will work well for a 300-500 gallon pond. A 55 gallon barrel will make a filter good for a 1,000 gallon pond. It will handle a heavy stocking load. I keep up to 10 large koi in a 1,000 gallon tank. If you stock this heavy you should do weekly 25% water changes.

"Skippy's Stuff Bio Filter"
This site has plans for a very good bio filter with instructions and pictures.

Articles about filtration:

Filter Flow Rate, by Norm Meck

Filter Flow Rate, by Chris Neaves

Thanks for stopping by!

Last modified on Tuesday February 15, 2000