Habitat - Outdoor :: Outdoor filter for small pond

[julie]

I have had two red-eared sliders, one map turtle and one soft-shell all living in harmony both indoors and out for ~ 12 years now in Missouri. I just purchased an outdoor pond. It has a water pump, but I didn't know what kind of a filter I could get that could manage the amount of leaves and other natural elements that will fall into the pond. Any suggestions?

[SpotsMama]

Depending on the size of pond, you might not even be looking for a filter that would filter out leaves and stuff. Mine, for instance, is a 500 gallon pond. The only filter is a bio filter - water runs over beneficial bacteria which neutralize the ammonia. There's no mechanical filter and no chemical filter. There's enough moss/algae in the pond that the nitrates are kept to a reasonable level but not so much that the water is murkey or filled up with it. The pump sends water up to make a little fountain and that provides additional aeriation. The pump also pushes water through a UV steralizer which kills microscopic algae in the water and bad bacteria. There are minnows and mosquito fish that eat the mosquitos and do some amount of clean up.

When leaves and things get on the pond, we scoop some of them out with a net. Most however wind up on the bottom and there they stay until spring, when we'll do our spring cleaning, scoop up all the leaves and muck, and start over fresh for the new year. The minnows, by the way, will wait out the cleaning process in a bucket (or two) as they survive over winter just fine.

My pump is a 500 gallon per hour Pond Master magnetic pump. It sits in a mesh bag and is hooked to the fountain and the UV steralizer. That's all there is.

[GunnerMan]

Get a Skimmer, SAVIO makes good ones and a high flow pump, if your pond is 300g get a 500gph pump. This will create a good surface current flowing into the skimmer where it will collect the leaves and debris in a basket and continue through a UV light and Biofilter. Becareful if you have small fish though as they like the stuff flowing in there and like the flowing water. The swim in and get stuck in the basket. Check the basket regularly to make sure your fish are not trying that stunt.