The primary piece of equipment for this maintenance is your koi filter. Without proper koi pond filtration you cannot have the quality of water you need to keep your koi alive, much less healthy!

Skimmers and pond nets are two ways of dealing with larger pieces of debris like leaves, twigs, insects, etc. You can purchase a skimmer separately or even get a bigger filter that combines mechanical filtration with biological filtration. If you get a combo type unit you will have less plumbing and electronic equipment to deal with. Your skimmer will do just as it says and skim the larger chunks of debris, allowing only the finer sediment through the biological filter. This filter is populated with beneficial bacteria that feed on, and eliminate the ammonia from your pond, changing it into nitrites and nitrates. A biological koi filter take time to develop a large enough population of bacteria to operate at peak efficiency, so prior to this you will want to monitor your pond water more frequently and make adjustments as needed.

Your koi pond filter is the “heart” of your pond, keeping the water clean and healthy for your fish!