Pond pump help....Confused

[racerx1119]

Hello All,

I'm probably making this out to be harder than it needs to be; however, I ve been researching pond equipment for over a month and the more I read the more I get confused. Basically I am looking for someone to help me out with what size/ type of pump to buy.

The pond I am constructing is approximately 1500 gallons give or take. I recently purchased a tetra pressure filter rated for pond up to 2500 gallons. It says that it can handle a maximum pump of 4500 gph. It has a UV light inside of it. I will have a waterfall which is approximately 27" high. The waterfall is roughly an average of 20" wide. The rough dimensions of my pond are 13' at its longest, 8' at its widest, and 3 different depths of 18"/24"/40". There will be approximately 16 feet of tubing from the pump to the waterfall.

Where I am getting confused is how the tubing used can restrict the gph of the pump. And how to figure out how much water will be need to flow over the waterfall to look appealing. I would much rather buy a bigger pump than I need so I dont have to worry. Some people say to buy 2 pumps. One for the pond and one for the waterfall.

Basically if I buy the maximum pump of 4500 gph will be that effective in working the filter, and being able to divert water from the filter to the waterfall through 1 1/2" piping.



THANKS!!!! IN ADVANCE

 

[jason081180]

oh so much to go over here. lol you have come to the right place. I'm new to the pond thing as well but these leaders know a lot check this out. it has sections on how tubing size affects water flow and the amount of water you need for any given waterfall width. it gives examples and will help you find the total head of your system. once you know that and how much water you will need for your waterfall width you just need a pump that will do that amount of GPH at your total dynamic head.

 

[racerx1119]

Ugh, LOL ive looked at that website for the last week and it just confuses me. Initially I had only purchased a 1500 gallon filter but after reading the information from that website I decided to go with the 2500 gallon filter; however I cant seem to make any sense out of the pump situation.

So basically I think where im getting confused is that I need to determine the total head before I can determine the pump I need?

In looking at that link does this sound right for my total head.
My waterfall is roughly 27" above the pond surface.
I will have roughly 16 ft of 1 1/2" tubing.

So looking at the total head chart:

If i would buy a 4000gph pump w/ 1.5" tubing, I would have a head loss of 18".

Then being that it says you lose 1" of head for every 10' of tubing, I would lose approximately 1.6" of head.

Then putting the numbers into the formula it shows...

27" (vertical height) + 1.6 (friction loss due to tubing) x 18" loss of head = 4.65 FEET.

If all those crazy calculations are correct, so now where the heck does that leave me lol???

 

[phillyofish]

if you look on the specs of the pump, it will give you different outputs at different heights. so if you got 4.5 ft head loss then the output of a 1500 gallon pump will reduce according to the chart provided with the pump.

 

[jason081180]

if you go with a 4500GPH pump use 2in flex pipe much less head loss 1.5in would be about 32in of head and 2 in pipe would be about 13in of head loss.

ok lets start over. if you have a pond that is 1500gal you need a pump that will do 1500-2000GPH at your head height. to find that we need your waterfall height over the top of the pond surface. 27in. and the length of pipe 16ft. so if your pushing 2000GPH threw 1.5in pipe your head loss per 10ft is about 6in . 6 x 1.6 =9.6in of head loss from the pipe. plus 27 from the waterfall = 36.6in. lets call it 3.5 ft.

so you need a pump that will do 2000GPH at 3.5ft of head.

i would go with the Laguna Max-Flo 2400 if your looking for a Submersible Pond Pump
2,400GPH
2,193 at 2ft of head
1,664 at 6ft of head
only uses 100W

 

[jason081180]

as for the waterfall look at the pictures and movies on this site and find one that is like what you want your to look like. then ask them the GPH and the width of their waterfall once you know that you can find the GPH per inch of waterfall they have so if you make yours about the same. if they have 50 GPH per inch and the flow looks good then that's what you want.

with the Laguna Max-Flo 2400 pump you would be getting about 1900GPH across a 20in waterfall that would give you about 95 GPH per inch of waterfall according to that website i sent you to that would give you a flow about 1/2 to 5/8 in thick across the whole waterfall.

another thing to think about is that filter slows the water going threw it. i have read as much as 40% all pressure filters do i guess. i was looking at buying the TETRA POND BIO-ACTIVE PRESSURE FILTER BP1500 W/UV as well before these people talked me in to building a DIY stock tank filter instead. remembering this now i think i would go with the Laguna Max-Flo 2900 it would have more flow to make up for the head loss from the filter. i would buy it here for $197 if DoDad cant get you a better deal. he owns a pond store so PM him before you buy anything.

 

[racerx1119]

Thank you everyone for all of your responses. I think I finally understand. I did go with the laguna 2900.

THANKS AGAIN!!

 

[DrCase]

You will save a lot of power cost with that pick ..