Need a new watefall pump...

[Chez]

I have a waterfall with a 150 gallon basin, that I really like to think of as my small pond. I'm much more into the plants and goldfish than the waterfall, but I use the waterfall in my photography portrait business, because it makes for a cool background for high school seniors.

We had this waterfall for about 5 years, and I have gone through two Little Giant pumps and one SAVIO Water Master 5000. All submersible pumps. I'm wondering if I am just not getting the right brand or should go to an external pump. The SAVIO said it was 5000 gph and that produce a nice flow. I only use the waterfall for 2-3 hours a week and during the summer months it is not used at all. I have a tetra pump and filter box that runs 24/7 and also an air pump that is on all the time too. You can see them in the photos.

I was looking at this pump, the Reeflo Azure Hybrid 4500/6000 gph pump http://www.azponds.com/flowchart/Blue_Hybrid_specs.jpg because if I do an external pump, I will need to add about 6-8' more tubing to get the water out of the pond to the pump and back for the fountain. This pump sounds like it will pump an extra 1000 gph compared to the SAVIO pump. I would also have a priming pot before the water enters the pump.

My question is that I'm really a newb and don't want to keep making mistakes with selecting the right pump. Any advice on submersible vs external or gph that you think I need, or what brand I should get would be greatly appreciated.

BTW - The waterfall is about 4' high and goes back about 5" so I am guessing that there is about 10' of 1 1/2" pipe that the water is traveling with the submersible pumps.

 

[vertigo72]

That looks pretty nice! But I dont see any water falling on the pics, so id say it could use a (much) bigger pump.

I dont really have an opinion or a lot of knowledge on submersible vs external. I guess external is easier to get to if anything clogs. OTOH, it seems like a good idea to keep a pump running cool, so what better place to put it, then in water?

 

[addy1]

if you want to go cheap, get a harbor freight clear water pump, 895 gph, handles a head up to 115 feet. External, not a power hog. We are using one for our stream water fall, with 30 feet of head. Gives a real nice water flow, was cheap, main thing you need to put netting, box, filter pads around the input from the pond to keep debris from entering the pump. We have ours on a timer turns on and runs for around 4 hours to keep the stream and little ponds fresh.

We paid 39 dollars for one.