How to decide on your filtration...

Design your Koi pond around your filtration, not the other way around

You will hear us say this a lot. Your filtration system is where you will spend more time than any other if you don't 'do it right'.

Filtration is a complex subject and is one of the reasons we focus on it so highly on this website. There are a few things you have to realise about filtration.

Running costs

Filtration runs 24/7. Minimising your running costs are something that even if you can afford to fork out thousands on electricity on a monthly you probably shouldn't. It's not green, and we'd far rather have you spend that cash of fish food and Koi from us!

With some planning you can keep your running costs far lower than you might think. We have designed systems that can deliver ten thousands litres per hour of water through your filters at a total cost of 24W...

Contrast this with filter systems that we label refugees from the 1970's - the era when a sand filter, a pressurised bio filter and a UV light constituted 'state of the art' Koi pond filtration... all coupled of course to a massive noisy energy guzzling water pump for good measure...

Scary as it may seem, technology HAS actually progressed and despite the fact that there are still some supposed Koi pond builders out there that still recommend and use these outdated dinosaurs.

With high efficiency low energy and of course, low maintenance (critically important) systems you need to plan for their installation. Generally the closer to the Koi pond you can build your filter system the better. There are exceptions of course but if you are starting a new Koi pond there are very few, if any situations where your filtration need not be located close to the Koi pond.

Space for filters

Give yourself plenty of space for your filters! Do not assume that your pond only needs a small room for your filters - this is not the case. YOU are the one who has to get into such cramped spaces in order to maintain these things - and it is YOUR back which has to bend and strain... And you're going to be dong this for the next twenty years - so plan ahead!

Allow upto 40% of your pond space for your filters. We're not kidding - of course you won't use all this space for only filtration but also to move around in and to locate your pumps, UV's, air pumps and the like in easily accessible locations. A cramped filter room that's small, dark and a pain in the backside to get into is not going to get the attention that it requires. Remember a Koi pond requires constant maintenance - at least once a week or you're in for trouble.

Plan ahead

Plan ahead. Read through this site and draw your pond before you put the first shovel on the ground. You need to know the location of each valve before the first dirt from your spade hits the ground.