Small pond - what size pump when you want a waterfall

[Turtleman]

Ok, the wife came home with a preformed 275 gallon pond. Not exactly what we had planned...

I going to run a small skippy out of a 5 gallon bucket. I want a waterfall. What gph pump should I get? I read for a six inch wide waterfall I should have at least 600 gph. But when is it too much for such a small pond? I would be turning over the pond twice an hour (not bad). But if I want to do like a 12" wide water fall. 1200 gph would turn over the pond 4 times an hour. The couple of fish in the pond might need help against this flow?

Will this overwhelm the filter? I suspect I'll need a bypass around the filter.

When is it too much?

I could go to a larger filter like a 55 gallon. Which would increase the volume of the pond. Or go to a RubberMaid 70 gallon.

It seems easier to figure out for larger ponds.

Thomas
Turtleman

 

[DrCase]

you can still divert excess water over the water fall ,,,filter what you can ...and mix it at the waterfall....

 

[Turtleman]

Thanks, good idea. I think I go with a small waterfall like 6". That will look more in proportion to the pond.

Now I'm looking at the Laguna Powerjet 600 or 900. I like the fact they handle waste. It doesn't make sense for me to add a I'm just wondering if I bypass the filter that I'm not putting back a lot of garbage into the pond. I guess I could go with the 600 and run that thru the filter. I like the three year warranty and 67 watts for $99. If I need more water I could just add another pump and line and mix it in as you suggested.

Unfortunately the pond will sit under a pine tree. It only drops needles once a year and I'll just net the pond during that time.

Thomas
Turtleman