The biofilter chamber is home to beneficial bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrates using a process known as the nitrification process. Without the nitrogen cycle taking place it would not be possible to keep healthy fish in your garden pond.
The rate at which ammonia is converted is dependant upon several factors including the choice of pond filter media used, the level of oxygen and level of ammonia that needs to be converted.
Mass Transfer Processes are defined as: “At the interface between two components transfer between the two is limited by the concentration difference. The larger the concentration difference the faster the transfer will take place.”
In pond keeping terms it means that the higher the surface area of your biomedia the more bacteria there will be and the quicker ammonia will be converted.
In the Koi keeping industry, particularly in the USA, bead filters are used extensively as the biofiltration method in large Koi ponds. Bead filters are often fitted with air blowers or bead agitators that vigorously shake and stir the biological bead media, so as the encourage faster mass transfer rates.
Please be aware that the one piece of pond keeping equipment that you don’t want to cut back and save money on is a biological pond filter. If you have a fish pond then you MUST HAVE A POND FILTER.
The full article can be read at http://www.garden-pond-filters.com/garden-pond-howbiofilterswork.html, where you will find other water gardening articles and pond keeping resources.
