Pump placement?

[Gavin Adcock]

This should probably be in the newby section - I certainly feel at home there!

I am entering into season 3 of my pond, and still trying to ge the balance right. The (minor?) issues I had with silt and algae are in this thread: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/thr...bout-silt-cleaning-options.21944/#post-353853.

The pond is about 7m long and 1m wide, with 3 shelves (each 2m in length) roughly 25cm, 50cm, 75cm deep. It is fed with rain water from the house roof, so water is replenished as and when it rains. More descriptions and pictures are in the thread above.

I'm seeking advice on where the pump should be situated. It is a Heissner FPU7000 - basically a submerged pump with a long hose leading to a box with sponge filters. Water pours back into the pond via an outlet on the box (30 cm drop to water level).

At the moment, the box is over the deep end and the pump in the shallow end - I have read that they should be as far apart as possible. This position is more from accident than by design, although in my fuzzy logic, the water pouring from the box into the deep end would maximise aeration. As this is at the deep end, it also tends to keep from freezing over in the winter (the pump is then moved to deeper water). Also, the pump is in shallow water so there is with minimal height difference between the outlet and the pump depth, maximising the flow rate. The downside is that I have to climb on the rockery walls to access the sponges for cleaning.

I am considering switching this around - pump in the deepest part and box over the shallow end. One clear advantage is easy access for maintenance. Not sure what the downsides might be... Any advice out there?

 

[Mmathis]

I’m not an expert, but this is my thought. Yes, separation between the pump and water return is good — this gives better circulation. But want to caution you about this when keeping the pump in the deep end. If your pond somehow drains, you will lose water down to the level of the pump. This means, your fish will be high and dry. A lot of us use a plastic [milk] crate (or concrete block, etc.) to elevate the pump off the bottom. Or, if you have a shelf, use that — just so it’s not at the lowest spot.

One of the hardest parts of having a pond — to me, anyway — is to balance efficiency with convenience! In the end, I lean toward convenience because if it’s not convenient, it’s probably not going to be done (or not done in a timely manner). This is something that only you can decide.

 

[Mmathis]

@addy1 Could you maybe move this to a different topic — maybe “equipment”? Just a thought.

 

[Becky]

@addy1 Could you maybe move this to a different topic — maybe “equipment”? Just a thought.

Done