Still struggling to keep water clear

[mario]

Yeap, looks like I have some work to do.
A quick google search based on koiguy's Laguna pump listing shows that if I went with this Laguna Max-Flo 2900 GPH Pump, it would give me almost the same flow as my current Little Giant 3000 unit, but only use up 130Watts to my Little Giant's 750Watt.

Now I have more work to do before purchase.
Things like:
1. How large of a pump should I get for my 2200Gal pond with a single waterfall?
2. Can I run the pump on it's side since I'm using this Savio - SkimmerFilters? Not sure if I can fit Laguna pump laying down.
3. Is Laguna pump strong enough to run thru 25' of 1.5" PVC pipe with about 5' rise, AND a Tetra - BP2500 Pressurized Filter?
4. What else should I be thinking about?

 

[koiguy1969]

laguna makes a pump for skimmer boxes...heres a link: http://www.ebay.com/...=item35b05fc865
this may be more to your liking or needs... but i believe your can remove their other pumps from the cages as well.
i am ordering a LAGUNA pump as we speak...just not sure what size yet... i'm getting it as a gift. that i get to pick...lucky me!
i would look on ebay...

 

[mario]

I'm going to get my sh*t together and start a new thread with few pictures of what I have and see if you "water bugs" can help me determine which pump to get, and if I should have everything go thru my filter, or if I should let some water go directly to my waterfall, or maybe even just let it go back into the pond at water level. I'm sure I screwed up in the design of my pond in more ways than one. :-(

 

[sissy]

seems like consumer affairs wants the year the pump was built and the codes on it .I can understand the year as it seems newer pumps have to be more energy efficient than older models as of 2 years ago they raise the standard on them .So guessing that means newer ones are better ,by government standards

 

[koiguy1969]

i run 1000 gph thru my filter and everything else gets venturied into the top of my filter to flow out with the filtered water thru my falls. my pond is 1200 gallons. my filter is a 70 gallon skippy style filter...theres a build thread for it in the DIY section, if your interested. https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/3510-koiguys-70-gal-skippy-style-filter/

 

[sissy]

The more air you get into your pond the better and that helps keep a pond clearer .Thats why i run a fountain head and a aerator in my pond

 

[viggen]

the reason that Sequence pump sucks so much juice with that type of flow is that it's designed for high head situations which something like a Laguna4200 isn't designed to push. If you need to push water through a canister filter (Advantage, Aquadyne & the list goes on) or up 5-20 feet vertically you need something that has a lot of power.

If you have lower head pressure then something like the laguna 4200 will do the trick. I have one & it's a great powerfull pump..... I also have it's evil twin called "Red Dragon" which many use in their aquariums. My Red Dragon 12m3 pushes slightly more water vs a LAguna 4200 & pulls around 120w..... I purchased it as a scratch & dent piece, didn't pay close to retail!!!!

If you want a external pump I would consider Performance Pro products. Seems to be more effecient vs Sequence & also has the primer basket & all that stuff.... seems to be the pump of choice in the koi pond world. I have 1 of their performance pro A2-1/3-63 which pulls 450w max & 440w at 6ft of head. Mine runs through a Advantage bead filter so it probably sees 6-10 ft of head thus probably under 400w of power. Just started the pump today..... also have two of their A1/3-56.... not looking forward to me electric bill when all 3 pumps are running...... need solar

http://www.performancepropumps.com/artesian2_curves.htm

 

[taherrmann4]

I have the sequence pump with the primer basket and have been very satisfied with it. I just looked at my electric bill and having my pump running 24/7 for 23 days of this cycle my total electric was only $104, the month before it was $112 without the pump running at all. So that is why I say that I don't even notice it. The max draw is 537 watts but I would be surprised if that is what it is actually using, I should get one of those testers and see what the actual draw is.

 

[sissy]

Lowes here had those testers on sale

 

[johnnyi]

Mario,

Here are the performance charts on Laguna pumps:

http://www.azponds.com/laguna_maxflo_chart.htm

The models are the older ones. There are newer, even more efficient models just being released - I have the 2900 and the newer 1348 (or something like that). I have 2" piping that only rises 2.5 feet and I get a lot of water going through, but this style pump will loose a lot going 5' up and 25' distance. Through 1.5" pipe that might add up to 8' of head.

John

 

[mario]

I'll have to do a writeup of what I have and what all it's going thru, so you guys/gals can recommand appropriate GPH flow for my ~2200Gal pond.

 

[addy1]

The recommended flow rate is turning your pond over once an hour. So a pump of around 2200 gph, some do a pump that turns the pond over every half hour, some every two hours.

 

[mario]

I'm going to ask the wife how she likes the waterfall flow and see if I should keep about the same 3000GPH that I have now or go up/down from that point.
I have 1.5" pipe running about 20', thru the TeraPond filter (model 2500), up 5' to the waterfall.
I also have 2" pipe that I ran 'just in case'; I'm hoping not to have to redo my plumbing. The pump I have now is 1-1/4" and so is the filter. I'm hoping that I don't have that much parasitical loss to justify going to a larger pipe size.

 

[hdavid44]

Gentlemen (and you addy1): I am happy to report that my two ponds have clarified to the point where I can see the bottoms.

Thanks for all the advice from this forum.

I did not change the pumps -- I have not even started up the pump/bead filter/waterfall this spring out of laziness and ennui. I wanted to determine if the water could be clarified before investing anything else in these fish and ponds.

What seems to have worked -- and improvements are still feasible -- is the activation of the bog. No pea gravel as yet, just bags of lava rocks taken from the two inactive waterfalls including the sponge mats at the bottom of each waterfall tank. I did use an initial dose of microbe lift but have not added any more in the past two weeks.

I have a very small pump that feeds a steady flow of pond water into the bog in which all the above stuff sits. The bog overflows into the stream bed that runs from the inactive waterfall and back into the pond.

Now if I can only find a decent pond vacuum to do some localized vacuuming of the pond and sides -- my PondVac is temperamental and dies just when I need it most. I will get that going and do some cleaning of the two ponds.

The water in the two ponds is a bit brownish perhaps due to the oak leaves sitting in the bog all winter.

Very pleased with everything so far -- all the fish survived and I look forward to some new fish babies especially from the koi. Previously babies would get sucked into the filter intake.

Thanks for all the members who helped with advice. If any of you are near Bloomfield, CT come and visit. It is snowing this morning!!!

harry

 

[sissy]

remember as the weather gets warmer you need that filters bio load built up .Do not get to confident I did that 2 years in a row and did I pay dearly ,learned the hard way here ,the sooner the better