Matala Green Filter Pad, 39.5" x 24" x 1.5"

I built a koy pond in my garden 3 years ago. 4 cubic meters or so. I've had all the normal issues about a pond, mainly the massive growing of microscopic algae that turns the water opaque green. This always dissapointed me because it was not possible to see the fish. After two weeks from a deep cleaning I couldn't even know if they were alive. After doing some research in the internet I took ideas from different designs and decided to built my own filter. It's an external tank-type filter. The water is pumped from the pond, goes through a Tetra-brand UV lamp, then goes to the bottom of the tank (there is a circular flow which produces a cyclonic effect on the solid debries). Some bio-balls help with the first biologic processing of the organic solids. Then the water passes upwards thru four layers of Matala Mats (black, green, blue and gray), combined with a last group of bio-balls at the top of the tank. At the top of the tank the water falls thru a side sink directly to the pond. It's a very simple design, and I am happy to say that IT REALLY WORKS!!!! This system kills the microscopic algae, filters almost all the solid debries, treats biologically and chemically the water and makes a very efficient processing of the solids. I started the field test with the pond totally opaque green, since I needed to prove the efficiency of the system. The combination of these different elements was able to totally clear the water in only 9 days!! By now it's been more than 3 months since the last time the microscopic algae showed in my pond. My fish are healthy and are growing noticeablely, I am sure they never lived in a better quality water. The maintenance couln't be easier: I just have to turn the pump off, dismount the Matala layers and rinse everything with a regular hose. The tank also is rinsed and the waste water is disposed of thru a control valve mounted at the bottom of the tank. Finally I reassemble the parts and the system is ready to work again. The Matala mats came in 39"x24" sheets, so I still have spare material for two more filters, If I decided to build more ponds for my friends. I strongly recommend Matala Mats, Tetra UV lamps and the bio balls for any pond enthusiast.

Love it! I bought the blue and green to start with because the filters that came with my Aquascape waterfall feature are about to fall apart and I couldn't find replacement filters from Aquascape to fit it. In about 3 days the water cleared up considerably, but the best part is the ease of cleaning them. I was surprised that a couple of wacks against a firm surface such as a flat rock dislodged a lot of the accumulated fish waste and the rest rinsed out with ease with the garden hose. I have to use the pressure washer on other filters I had which contributed to their demise I am sure, but the hose wouldn't get all the gunk out. So now my plan is to make a heavy duty screen over my compost bin to catch all that good fish waste for fertilizer since it dislodges so easy, which I am sure my gardens will love! It also cuts to size very easily with just a utility knife on a board or cardboard. Another filter I have is so tough I couldn't cut it with anything less than a hack saw, so this is awesome! I am going to order the gray one as well to catch even the smallest particles for crystal clear water.

We bought the blue one, which is medium I think. It filters pretty well. The key is that this isn't the flimsy stuff they use in HVAC units. This is really durable stuff made for long life in pond filter applications. We've been using ours about 2 months now (which would have been the life of the prior filters we were using) without any noticeable degradation from when we first installed them. They're holding their shape perfectly and the pond's doing just fine. Be sure to check the thickness, they are much thicker than the media we were using before, but because we used to use two of those, we just use the one now.

I use this as the first filter in my pond skimmer. It's good for getting the bigger debris out. My only gripe is after trimming to fit the skimmer, the edges kind of come apart. I tried heating them to try to bind them. sort of worked. I wish there was a way to kind of harden the cut edges so they last a bit longer or maybe sell a U-channel that would fit over the edges.

I'm using this media to keep a pump from clogging. It works great. I used my table saw to cut. It's nice and thick. I'd buy it again.

I have a 1200 gallon biofilter for my 10,000 gallon koi pond and have tried many different filters over 30 years. None were as efficient and as easy to maintain as the Matalas. Though expensive, they quickly become very cheap when you discover how well they filter the water; how easy it is to flush them periodically; how few chemicals are needed; and, how long they last. I have sheets that are 7+ years old. You really do get what you pay for with Matala. They are the only filter I recommend.

It is very hard to cut. The cut on the circle keeps taring when you put it in and out. This is the third one I purchased and I am getting annoyed with it. Also I think the green is not good enough..I probably should go to the black..but I am unsure of this cut on the circle . When you pick it up it is hard to lift and most of the debris falls off back into the water.. This has happened to my friend also who has this media.

After seeing my Aquascape filter just fall apart, I did a bunch of searching on Amazon and pond sites trying to find better skimmer and waterfall filters. I came across the Matala Filter Pads and folks seemed to love them. So I bought the green [3rd densest] and blue [2nd densest]. They offer a gray [real dense] and black [lease dense] too. I got the big sheets and was able to cut out two filters from each. At first I put the green one in the skimmer. My pond just seemed much clearer a few days later. When I cleaned out the water falls, a plant had grown thru the old Aquascape filter and pretty much killed it. So I tried a green pad there. I then got the bright idea to double filter the skimmer using a blue and green pad. I really seemed to make a difference and the pond water seemed cleaner. After the winter I was cleaning the waterfalls and another Aquascape filter was pretty much done. So I used my last blue filter there. I still have two Aquascape filters as the second filter in the falls (it uses two, one reason I thought two would work in the skimmer). So I order up the large green and blue pads and plans on replacing the other old Aquascape filters next time I clean the falls. They are easy to spray out and clean and do not seem to degrade at all. I really like these filters and can't recommend them enough

Had to cut it to proper size

Great stuff works really well

Some of the best filter material for my pond. Easy to clean and use over and over .

It is what I wanted