Fish Pond Pump 101

People want to have ponds for various reasons. You can have a water feature with or without running water effects or possible want to keep koi carp and goldfish. 

A pond pump simply does what it says on the box. It pumps water, which means that it becomes the water in your pond. The pump you choose will depend on the pond effects you want, the objective of the pond and its size. A pond pump may not be necessary for example if you create a wildlife pond you can use certain plants to help keep the water clear. Koi ponds require water to be removed at least every 1-2 hours, and average pond (without fish) every 3-4 

When you choose a pond pump, it is necessary to pump the water in the pond. Here is a rough guide:

Imagine how many liters of water you have in your pond: Width (m) x depth (m) x Length (m) = x l. E.g: 

    * 2m wide x 1m deep x 1m long = 2000 liters 

    * 3m wide x 1m deep x 2m wide = 6000 liters 

Now you have your pond volume estimate the required pond pump output liters per hour) to consider the purpose of the pond (fish or no fish), as mentioned above 

    * A normal 2000 liter pond (no fish) will require a pump with 250 LPH starting to circulate the water every 3-4 hours 

    * A normal 6000 liter pond (no fish) will require a pump 1500 LPH starting to circulate the water every 3-4 hours 

With me so far? 

Pond pumps are not cheap, and you do not want to make a costly mistake as larger pond, more expensive pump will be! So you should ask at the pond pumps shop for advice, just to be safe. 

It is a good idea to have a pump which has a more powerful potential output than what you intended. This is simply because you can make a bigger pump down, but you can not make a pump operating at its maximum capacity to work harder without doing any harm. If you have a pond holding 2,000 liters of water, choose a pump that can operate with a higher output than 1000 LPH. 

You may also require a filter to clean the pond by small residues and blanket weed or maybe you want a nice fountain or waterfall effect. When you ask the pump to work harder, which has one of these will mean that you need a bigger pump. But there are many combination pumps on the market that act as both pump and filter. 

Finally, many pond pumps production in the name such as Oase Promax Filter Pond Pumps or Bermuda Atom Fountain Pond Pumps. This is a combination of pumps, so you do not have to make two different sets of calculations for your pump and filter or pump and fountain.