Pump questions

[SarahVet]

Hello! New to ponds. Working on a 30' X 33' avg 4.5 feet deep pond that has a few big gold fish and we might swim in it.
Waterfall feature on one end.
Working on figuring out how to put in a bog filtration system on one end (formerly the old small pond).
Rough calculation of 32,000 gallons for the pond.
Reading online it looks like I need to put that much per hour through the bog!
What options do we have for pumps that would work for this? Looks like an external pump would be more energy efficient.
Have a separate in-pond pump for the waterfall.
For the bog, will convert the old 10' X 15' into this with snorkel/centipede, some Aquablocks and gravel.
Just not very knowledgeable about the pump options and connections needed.
Thanks!

 

[combatwombat]

At that size of pond, you probably don’t need to stick to the 1x turnover per hour. The bigger your pond, the slower the flow can be.

You also don’t have to get all your turnover from the bog alone.

I would figure out how big your bog is and then select a pump that will serve it well. If you still need more turnover after that, you can get it elsewhere or make your bog bigger so that it will need a larger pump.

Trying to flow 32k GPH is going to use a ton of energy.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[j.w]

@SarahVet
Lots here have great bogs and info for you. I have none as I did not know about making a bog when I built my pond many years ago. Sure wish I had one now.

 

[Jhn]

As @combatwombat said you don’t need to get all that flow through the bog. Really you want the flow through there to be slower to allow the plants to do their job effectively removing nutrients from the water. Also using the aquablocks/snorkel style bog you don’t want a ton of flow going through it, as the lower part lets the fines in the water column settle out (as the water flow slows entering the bog)in to the bottom of the bog /snorkel, where it can be removed as needed.

How my 20k pond is set up, I have 2 -3000gph pumps feeding two separate bogs and a 10k pump feeding a waterfall, aerator, and some other little pumps feeding some other water features that can be turned off and on. But the point is you can get the circulation you need through multiple pumps, etc. if i5 were me I would be trying to get over the 20000gph range with my pumps at a minimum. Also think about how you want to house the pump intake, ie skimmer, intake bay, negative edge, so it is easy to access your pumps.
Plumbing is pretty simple pvc glue and 2-3” flex pvc, appropriate size pvc pipe/fittings from the hardware store, use sweep 90’s for any elbows (helps with flow restriction) then figuring out what you need to connect the pump to where you want it to go. Aquascape pumps have been very reliable for me, but there are plenty of good options.

 

[SarahVet]

At that size of pond, you probably don’t need to stick to the 1x turnover per hour. The bigger your pond, the slower the flow can be.

You also don’t have to get all your turnover from the bog alone.

I would figure out how big your bog is and then select a pump that will serve it well. If you still need more turnover after that, you can get it elsewhere or make your bog bigger so that it will need a larger pump.

Trying to flow 32k GPH is going to use a ton of energy.

So go off the bog size only figuring gph on volume of the bog? Thanks!

 

[brokensword]

Here's one way; get a pump the size (or 1-1/2) and tee it off. Put a ball valve on each feed. Send one to the bog and one to whatever. This way, you can control exactly how much water goes where. For my 7k gal pond, I have (2) pumps, each 4k gph. I send two feeds to the bog and two to the waterfalls. Each feed has a ball valve. The reason I say this is because redundancy is good. If one pump fails, I still have water movement and bog action through the remaining pump. If you get only one pump and it dies, well, hope you're a fast runner to the pond store!

 

[combatwombat]

@brokensword: Did you just tell @SarahVet to get a 48,000 gph pond pump?

 

[Lisak1]

Did you just tell @SarahVet to get a 48,000 gph pond pump?

Googling now...

Hmmm... maybe 5 - 10K pumps would work?

 

[brokensword]

@brokensword: Did you just tell @SarahVet to get a 48,000 gph pond pump?

I didn't recall the size of her pond, though the theory is the same, but break it up into pump equivalents. At that size, no, wouldn't need 48k, even if it can't hurt. Was just illustrating redundancy and options.

JUST WAIT until YOUR recommendations start coming in! heh heh