How To Choose Correct Circulating Pump For A Garden Pond

You only need 2 pieces of information To Be Able To make An Excellent Pump Choice Where You Have A Waterfall. These are ...

• Vertical height of waterfall inlet above water surface of pond (NOT bottom of pond) ... measure this in feet

• Width of water overflow point for waterfall ... if overflow is series of smaller overflows add all together to get width in inches

If you have no waterfall choice is easier ... see below

Waterfall Pump Selection Table ...

Check where height (left hand side) meets width in the table (across top). This is the flow your pump model must deliver to create a satisfactory water fall effect in your garden or backyard. For a wide range of guaranteed Great range of pumps for small to medium sized ponds and waterfalls Click here 

Example below ... you have a waterfall 3 feet above pond surface and overflow is 9 inches wide. You need a pump that will deliver 1200 gph at a height of 3 feet. An example of such a circulating submersible pump is  Danner Supreme Mag Drive 1200 gph as colored yellow above. If you have a waterfall 24 inches wide and 3 feet high you would need 2 model 1200gph pumps. TIP: always go for one size larger if in any doubt ... Great range of pumps for small to medium sized ponds and waterfalls 

		Waterfall Vertical Height measured from surface of pond (not bottom of pond) ... (feet)
Width Water Overflow (inches)		1 ft	2 ft	3 ft	4 ft	5 ft	6 ft
	3"	350 gph	500 gph	500 gph	500 gph	700 gph	700 gph
	6"	700 gph	700 gph	700 gph	700 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph
	9"	1200 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph
	12"	1200 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph	1200 gph

NO waterfall pump selection table ... you only need to know your pond volume or make estimate of the volume. It does not matter if you are not perfectly correct

Example ... you have a pond whose volume is about 1250 gallons your chosen pump must be able to pump about 700 gph maximum flow.

An example is the Danner Supreme Mag Drive 700 gph as colored pink above. You could if you really wanted to save some money get away with the 500 but if in any doubt always go one size bigger. For a much wider range and choice click here For a wide range of Great range of pumps for small to medium sized ponds and waterfalls

On the matter of cost do take note of the operating cost .... normally far more important than the original cost and if you ever compare pumps ALWAYS take this electricity cost into account. Pondmaster and wide range of other pumps to choose from here are hard to beat for reliability and low power consumption

Why you need a Pump to move water around your pond and filter ... Your pond fish need to breathe. Submersible pond water pumps are essential to provide oxygen for garden fish ponds & bio filters. Why does my garden fish pond need a water pump anyway? The water pumped around the garden fish pond circuit supplies fish and pond filter bacteria with life-giving oxygen. If the water pump stops for any length of time (certainly more than 4 hours) the bacteria within your fish pond's biofilter which are there to purify the pond water die. The result is the pond filter stops working and undesirable levels of ammonia and nitrites build up in the pond water. These impurities become highly toxic to pond fish and especially koi at even low concentrations.

If all you want is a simple water fountain pump then choose a pump that comes complete with the water fountain included

A water fountain pump is useful in any garden or backyard pond.

The action of sprinkling water into fine droplets allows a lot of oxygen to be captured from the air. The fountain pump is designed to generate lots of fountains droplets to aid this process.

Types of fountain pump nozzles

Different water fountain pump manufacturers use different names for the fountains produced ... names like foam jets, tulip jets, umbrella jets and so on. Choose the water fountain jet appearance you like when you buy the fountain pump. To create high fountains you need more powerful fountain pumps and this is why it is always best to buy a fountain pump that comes with a range of fountains included in the price. You'll then know that these fountain pumps will produce the desired fountain effect.

Water fountain height and fountain diameters

A coomon fountai is a 3 tier simple water fountain pump jet. There are also 2 layer and single layer water fountain jets. These are cheapest kind of water fountain nozzles normally. If you choose a water fountain pump with high jets make sure that your pond width is enough to prevent all the water being blown away on a windy day.

As examples the Nautilus water fountain pump series from Oase can produce 3 tier water fountains up to 4ft high (115 cm) and with a fountain diameter of almost 2 feet (55cm)

The Aquarius pond and fountain pump series also made by Oase produce water fountains up to 4 feet high (120cm) and 3 feet diamter(100cm)
If you find that your fountain pump is a bit too strong divert some water back into pond by adjusting the valve that comes attached with most good fountain pumps.
We recommend tried & trusted USA Florida Supplier submersible pond pumps  and UK supplier for whole range of pond pumps, fountain and solids handling pumps
How to select a pond pump for use with a waterfall

How To Convert Different Measurement Units

• To convert gallons to litres multiply by 4.54

• To convert gallons to US gallons multiply by 1.2

• To convert US gallons to litres multiply by 3.78

• To convert cu.feet to gallons multiply by 6.23

• To convert cu.feet to US gallons multiply by 7.48

• To convert inches to cm multiply by 2.54

• To convert feet to metres multiply by 0.305

• To convert pounds to kilograms multiply by 2.2

• To convert sq. feet to sq. Metres multiply by 0.093

• To convert cu metres to litres multiply by 1000

Of course to convert in the other direction you divide by the factor. For example to convert litres to gallons you would divide by 4.54

Importance of PIPE DIAMETER and PIPE LENGTH for a pond ... Hopefully you have decided to download the free calculator from Free pond calculator page By inserting different values for length and diameter you will see amazing impacts upon pump specification. You might find it difficult to believe but using small diameter pipes (especially long lengths) can reduce your pump flow to a trickle. Pipe diameter has a bigger impact than pipe length in most cases. Always use the biggest diameter pipe you can and always have the shortest length. Pumps and pumping systems are the source of live-giving oxygen to your fish and plants as well as your biofilter's bacteria.