New Koi Pond - Do I Really Need A Fancy Filter And Pump?

I have had friends express an interest in having a Koi pond, after they have seen ours. Some of them have wondered whether it is really necessary to buy the circulation equipment. They are just coloured carp, right? Is it really that complicated? How do fish live in a lake or pond without that fancy equipment? Is it expensive to run it, and how often do you need to have it going?

This article will answer those questions. In a future article, we will address the issue of matching the size of the equipment to the pond's requirements.

To answer the title question in a word, yes. If you want to have a small fish pond, you will certainly need a pump and a biological filter. Fish are rather unique in that they have to live in water; there is no other choice. They carry out all their metabolic processes in that water. They breathe, digest food and nutrients, and excrete waste, all in the same inescapable space.

It is the bodily excretions that are toxic to the fish. These must be neutralized somehow, and bacteria provide the perfect solution. Certain forms of bacteria thrive on fish waste products, and put them to good use. For example, fish produce ammonia, and it is toxic to them in high dosages. Some bacteria use ammonia and convert it to nitrites, which are still harmful to fish. Other bacteria crave nitrites and convert them to nitrates, which are harmless to fish.

That cycle is what allows fish to live in ponds and lakes, without filtration. There are very few fish relative to the volume of water in a typical pond or lake, so the ammonia and nitrites are extremely diluted. The toxicity ratio is very low. There are many bacteria in the lake, so the toxins are easily neutralized.

But when we confine many fish to a small volume of water, such as our typical Koi pond, now we have a much higher concentration of toxins in the water. We need a biological filter and a pump to move the pond water through it. A biological filter has media in it for bacteria to grow on. The medium looks like plastic, and it has a lot of surface area.

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The bacteria are microscopic, so we don't see them, but they gradually grow into a colony that loves ammonia and other toxins. These bacteria, plus some others in the pond, will neutralize the toxins that the fish (and decaying leaves) produce. This is how we use filtration to make a healthy environment for the fish to survive and thrive!

So, if you have a pond measured in square feet rather than acres, and you want more than a couple of fish in it, you do need circulation and filtering equipment. As long as the fish are eating, plan on running it 24 hours a day. In very cold weather, if you have entirely stopped feeding, then the pump may be shut down.

The expense of running a pump all day and night, week after week, is not negligible. It varies directly with the pump's power requirements. This is another topic to be addressed in that future article. Let's just say that if you have made the effort to design and build your Koi pond, and now you have it stocked with some fishy friends, you will want to keep them very healthy with good filtration. That benefit will be well worth the cost of the electricity, without a doubt!

About the Author:

Alan Austin is a Koi Pond Enthusiast. He has recently launched a new website, http://www.NiftyStuff.biz and will be devoting a section of the site to Koi Ponds. Please visit!

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