Pond pumps - any words of advice please?

hethmar

Our very ancient pond pump has given up the ghost and the quite big pond is now a murky green

Can anyone tell me the best method of working out what size pump I will need to buy and what is the most economical for the job please.

getmore4less

If the one you had worked then check the stats and replace like for like on flow.

Too many variables, pond type, fillters, fish, plants etc. but remember the current weather will have contributed to the problem.

wallbash

Agree with getmore4less, but might be an ideal time to rethink. I'm a big fan of the UV light and filter . Check out 'Green Genie '.
But will admit having my pond for fish , requiring very clear water and growing of water lilys.
Its ornamental and not a 'natural' pond.

hethmar

Thanks. We dont have any ornamental fish now, the local heron saw to that sadly. But it is a natural pond with lots of weed, lillies, irises, frogs, newts and dragon flies.

hethmar

Ive worked it as an average 15 ft x 9 ft by (averaged) 2 ft deep = 1620 gallons or about 7400 litres.

So, sorry to be a thicko, do I need to look for a pump that does say 10000 litres to be sure?

wallbash

Maybe! What do you intend the pump to do? Just a fountain , or maybe a waterfall .

But it is a natural pond with lots of weed, lillies, irises, frogs, newts and dragon flies.

So you want/have a natural pond , but you want better water? So a filter is required but a fountain would look odd?My ornamental pond is full of life ( frogs/dragon flies) but the plants are strictly controlled .

Heron 's are a problem , the pond has a removable wooden frame holding a net .
Haven't lost a fish for years.
Back to your pump . Get a well known make. Also one that has NOT got an internal filter . ( pain to keep clean)

hethmar

Im trying to work out the size wallbash. I looked at the Hozelock Titan (which says it has protection for wildlife) 12000 but it says that handles 24000 litre ponds. So with 10000 litre pond, do I buy a Hozelock (or other pump) that says 5000 litres per hour? (I think we have a separate filter thing as that is still bubbling away in the pond). Yes, we just have a wildlife pond now, no fish, lot of weeds and overhanging trees. No fountain or waterfall, just cleaning the water.

Reading some websites it looks like a wildlife (not koi) pond with 10000 litres needs just the 5000 litre per hour pump.

wallbash

No fountain or waterfall, just cleaning the water.

So you can get away with the smaller pump , just takes a little longer to filter.
But where are your filters?
Pictures would be nice.

and overhanging trees.

So a lot of rubbish falling into water, but no strong sunlight..

Hozelock is fine , I have a Lotus at the moment .

getmore4less

with no fish, you could get away with no pump and straw


Just keep all the nutrients you can out of the water so protect from falling plant material like leaves

Get lillies so there is good cover from the sun your trees allready help with that

Our pond stayed clear, once the initial spring bloom had gone, for a couple of years without a pump and last years was totaly neglected so needs attention this year overgrown and too much has fallen in from last autumn leaf drop.

hethmar

TBH, it needs a good clear out of debris from the trees but its getting round to a big messy job. It always seems the wrong time and at the moment with the flowers out around it and the tadpoles, newts etc. is a wrong moment again.

spasguidedogs

We have 2 ponds, one for fish one for wildlife, both are fitted with hozelock pumps and filters.

We switch off the pump and filters when the toad & frogspawn start hatching and the water soon turns green.
Readers tip from Gardeners World: throw in a good handful of watercress and wait for it to root, it will absorb nutrients from the pond and results in clearer water.
We have potted our watercress and placed in the marginals and we hope this does the trick.

On a summers evening we switch on the water fountain and relax with a nice bottle of wine!!