Selecting The Proper Filtration For Outdoor Water Features

Test it and Best it

The key to creating a successful miniature water feature is to balance everything.  That is how nature tends to itself.  Different elements are working at the same time, and an ecosystem without proper balance will destroy itself given enough time.  We have to rely on intuition and good product design to create the perfect ecosystem.  The Water Filter is one of the most important pieces.  A proper one can suspend your wildlife (fish, plants, etc) much longer.  Clean water means healthy looking life as well as a healthy looking area for that life flourish.  To ensure clean water, you have to remove almost everything that is not water.

Buy a Test

Start by running a simple water quality test on the water in your ecosystem.  Buy a water quality test kit from the AquaScape for about $20.  Just make sure the kit tests for Chlorine, Chloroform, Fluoride, organic chemicals, and certain metals.  The kit is worth the investment because knowing exactly what ails your ecosystem is half the battle in preserving it.  It will save you money over time.  Now, depending on what comes back from the test, a certain filter will be the appropriate choice.

If the test comes back with lighter elements in your water, then you want to go with a carbon filter system.  Elements such as chlorine, chloroform, pesticides, and microbial contaminants all can be stopped with a decent carbon filter.  Try the MicroFalls Filter for this job.  It’ll remove all these elements in a jiffy.  However, sometimes a filter alone cannot remove heavy elements from water as effectively as possible.

If the test comes back with elements such as sodium, iron, nitrates, or large organic contaminants, the job requires the rest of the MicroFalls family.  Invest in the MicroSkim — a skimmer that takes out many of the large organic contaminants like leaves, dirt, and unwanted rocks, that will dirty your water.  Finally, if the sodium and metal contents are also at large according to the test, buy the AquaSurge pump to finish the job.

After installing the filter, skimmers, and/or pump, make sure to regularly check and provide maintenance on them.  It is very important that filters be cleaned.  A dirty filter is just as bad as not having one.