Ammonia is present in pond environments due to several factors:
- Ammonia is present in faeces and urine excreted into the pond by fish.
- Uneaten fish food that decays on the pond bottom.
- Decaying plant life and vegetation that falls to the pond bottom and decays.
Ammonia is removed by the beneficial Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria colonies that live on the pond filter in your biological pond filter chamber. As the concentrations of ammonia increase the level of ammonia breakdown required significantly increases, putting a strain on the pond filter used.
A pond skimmer, sometimes referred to as a pond surface skimmer or pond skimmer filter, skims the surface of your pond, removing floating surface debris such as leaves, grass and twigs etc before id decays and gives off ammonia. As the debris is sucked into the pond skimmer it is trapped in a skimmer basket where it can be removed at a later stage.
Floating pond skimmers are the best choice for small garden ponds, as they are the cheapest and easiest option to install; simply connect a length of pond tubing to the suction of the pond pump. They are not affected by the depth of your garden pond. If you have a deep pond then simply connect a longer piece of pond tubing between the pond pump and skimmer unit, using as fat a piece of pipe tubing that your pump and skimmer will accommodate, so as to maximise pond pump flow. Unlike many fixed skimmer filters a floating pond skimmer can be easily added to an existing garden pond. The majority of fixed pond skimmers are incorporated into the design of the pond when it is being built.
A Fixed Pond Skimmer is very similar in appearance and works in much the same way as the skimmer used in a swimming pool. Pond water containing pond debris is sucked from the pond surface by a pipe that is connected from the unit to a pond pump which is located in a chamber designed to operate at the same level as the pond. The pump then forces the water, less pond debris to your biological pond filter, where it is purified. I would advise you to use a filter pump, also known as a solids handling pump as this type of pump has a much stronger impeller and has been designed to allow larger pond debris such as twigs to pass through it without damage occurring.
If you intend to design a large Koi pond then I would advise you to install a fixed pond skimmer so as to make your garden pond a healthy environment, free from excess leaves and other vegetation that will eventually pollute the pond when they start to decay.
If you are looking for pond keeping resources or would like to read the full article then please visit http://www.garden-pond-filters.com/garden-pond-surface-skimmer.htm ...
