Having a healthy fish pond with crystal clear water & happy fish is every pond keeper's dream.
In order to achieve this you will have to put in some work to make sure your pond is well balanced and all the equipment is working as it should.
One of the most critical parts of your pond system will be the filters and pump.
Most pond owners will have some sort of filtration system and it is this that keeps the water circulating and removes unwanted debris etc.
In order for a filter to work properly it will have its own micro environment of bacteria that will remove pollutants from your pond.
These bacteria are able to remove the harmful substances such as ammonia and nitrate from the water, so cleaning needs to be done carefully so that you do not harm these bacteria.
The best way to clean your filter is to take some water from your pond (a couple of buckets full would be great) and use this water to rinse the filters in.
As tempting as it may be do not wash your filters in tap water as this will kill the essential bacteria you are looking to keep.
Do the main wash in one bucket and a final clean in the second bucket, if you still feel your filter needs additional cleaning repeat the process over again.
Frequency of cleaning will depend largely on your pond and the amount of fish you have in it.
To begin with I would recommend weekly checks until you have established a pattern of how much build up your filter has.
You will find this will be more frequent in summer when the fish are active and are feeding, during the winter this will slow down as the fish become dormant and you stop feeding.
Remember keeping your filter well maintained is essential for a clean, healthy pond and to avoiding the harmful build up of ammonia and nitrates.