Best Pond Pump Information 2021
Pumps keep the water in your pond healthy. They help evenly spread nutrients in the water to fish, plants and other aquatic life. Running water prevents stagnation and cuts down on algae and mosquitoes. Keeping the water moving ensures that oxygen levels are distributed throughout the pond. Pumps also provide power for a pond’s water features, like waterfalls and fountains.
This guide will help you learn about the best pond pumps for your garden.
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The best water pumps for your pond and its fountain or waterfall come in variety of types and styles. They include submersible, external, magnetic drive and direct drive. Each of these water garden pumps offers its own advantages.
Submersible Pumps: These pumps are designed to work while wholly submerged in water. Typically, they are installed in the deepest part of the pond. Submersible pumps can be placed either directly into your pond or in a skimmer box or pond vault.
- Easy to install.
- Work well in environments that capitalize on a natural setting.
- No need to camouflage the pump.
- Run very quietly so there’s no distracting noise in your garden.
- Submersible pumps can be used to drain your pond, if needed.
- Range in pumping size from 50 to 5,000 gallons per hour.
- Can generate higher energy costs than other pump types.
- For smaller ponds, submersible pumps are generally more economical.
Tip: Some submersible pumps use oil to operate. If the pump seal breaks and leaks harmful oil coolant into the water, fish can be hurt or killed. If you have fish or other aquatic life in your pond, you’ll want to look for a submersible model that does not use oil.
External Pumps: External pumps can move a high volume of water, yet usually have lower energy costs than submersible pumps. They are not as quiet as submersible pumps. They should be placed in a dry location near your pond. External pumps are a lot more complicated to install. However, they are generally more reliable.
- Available as self-priming pumps able to draw their own water.
- Can be loud, disturbing the quiet of your garden.
- Work well for larger ponds that are 1,000 gallons or more.
- Offer long-lasting performance and easy repair.
- Require less routine maintenance than submersible pumps.
Tip: Pumps that are not self-priming can burn out a motor if the power shuts off momentarily and then comes back on. Protect against this by installing a check valve.
Magnetic Drive: In a magnetic-drive pump, an electrical charge creates a magnetic field that causes the magnet on the impeller to rotate and pump water. Since they have no seals to wear out, they require little maintenance. Occasionally, you will need to clean the impeller and its chamber for the most efficient operation.
- Completely sealed. Magnetic-drive pumps do not require lubrication.
- Because they don’t contain oil, magnetic-drive pumps are safer for ponds with fish, since oil leaks don’t occur.
- Don’t generate high head heights. Magnetic-drive pumps are unable to lift pond water vertically, which you might need to supply water to a fountain. They are not the best water pumps for fountains.
- Work best in cleaner environments with little or no debris.
- Highly efficient and cost-effective.
Direct Drive: Direct-drive pumps have an enclosed motor that is powered by electricity, which turns the impeller shaft.
- Achieve significant head height, so they are able to move water vertically. They are among the best water pumps for fountains and waterfalls.
- Typically more expensive to operate.
- Push water rather than pulling it.
- Not easily repaired.
Tip: Some models seal the motor in an oil-filled shell with seals around the cord and impeller shaft. These are risky to use if you have a pond stocked with fish. There is an ever-present danger of water contamination if a leak occurs. Many newer pumps, however, feature alternative lubrication that is safe for fish. Look for oil-free models if you have fish or other aquatic life in your pond.
Pond Pump Calculations
Pond Pump Features
Planning: Pond Calculations
Here’s the rule of thumb for measurement of your pond.
SQUARE FEET on the surface area.
- Rectangle
length x width = Square feet of pond
- Circular
3.14 (1/2 diameter x 1/2 diameter) = square feet of surface
NUMBER OF CUBIC FEET
- Rectangle
average length x average width x average depth = volume in cubic feet
- Circular
3.14 (1/2 diameter x 1/2 diameter x depth = volume in cubic feet
To calculate GALLONS in your pond
cubic feet x 7.48 = capacity in gallons
FORMULAS TO DETERMINE APPROXIMATE AMOUNT OF ROCK NEEDED:
- Quantity of BOULDERS in a pond (tons) = length (ft) x width (ft) divided by 65
- Quantity of BOULDERS using 1.2.1 ratio. Length x Width divided by 40
- Quantity of 1/4 inch to 3 inch GRAVEL (tons) = tons of boulders x .45
- Quantity of BOULDERS in a STREAM = 3/4 TON PER 10 FEET OF STREAM LENGTH
Around the FACE of A SIGNATURE 6000 BIOFALLS you will need approximate 3/4 TO 1 1/4 tons of boulders.
Note: If you are building a large water feature you will need to increase the tonage of rock as the stone you will use will be larger and carry more weight.
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Dividing Plants at Spring Clean Out
Your plants can be divided in the spring and, if in pots that you can lift out of the pond, you could wait till late spring if you so desire as any plant can be divided up to early August. All perennial plants such as all Pickerel, Arrow plants, Iris and any other perennial plant in your pond should be divided approximately every three years depending on how large they have become or how crowded the pot has become.
Marginal plants can be divided two ways; either you can gently pull apart the plants which will leave you with several new plants. Or you will need a knife to cut through the plant. Plants like Pickerel, arrow plants grow in a bulb type and can be easily divided. Gently tease the growing points of the plant apart and/or dividing the plants at a natural breaking point. Iris grow in a rhizone which also can be divided by pulling apart, just be careful that you get some root with each plant. Always throw away mushy or diseased sections. Trim back any old or dying leaves, old rootstock or spent flowers.
If using a knife, clean with a bleach solution before cutting other plants. Some of the bulb plants such as the Arrow plant are late to produce any growth. You will just see the bulb and if it is in a pot, just thin out. If planted in the pond, you may have to look hard for these bulbs or divide later. Iris rhizone can be divided and replanted in the pond. Iris do not need to be planted very deep and only like their rhizone wet. Most of the pickerel, rushes, iris, and arrow plant need to be on the first shelf as they are marginal plants. The second shelf is usually held for the Lilies.
Floating plants (such as parrot’s feather) and oxygenators (anacharis, hornwort) need to be trimmed also. Trim off 6 to 10 inches of the fresh growth at the top of the existing strands. Cut out the middle section of straggly growth. These cuttings will root on their own accord. Parrot’s feather can be tucked into the rock substrate to hold it in place or placed in a pot.
Lilies have two forms:
Clump-Forming Lilies and Tuber-Type Lilies.
Clump Form Lilies
The clump form will produce new baby plants at the base of the mother plant. Wash the soil off the roots and look for these delicate little plantlets at the crown of the larger plant. Gently work them a part. Mix a granular, slow release fertilizer into the soil at the bottom of the plant pocket or pot and replant the largest clump with the crown at or just above the soil surface. Soil just needs to be good clay dirt not potting soil or use aquatic soil (available at any Home Depot). Remove any ragged leaves and flower buds to save energy for root growth. Always use pebbles on top of the soil to prevent fish from disturbing the soil and fouling up the water in your pond. Believe me this can make quite a mess in your pond by turning your water brown if you do not use gravel particularly if you have large fish.!
Tuber-type Lilies
The tuber form of the water lily produces new plants off the rhizome or tuber. Find a firm piece of tuber with plenty of growth points and use a clean, sharp knife to cut off a section that is at least two inches long (three or four inches is best). It might be tempting to just snap off a chuck, but a clean cut will heal faster.
Mix granular fertilizer into fresh soil at the bottom of the plant pocket or pot and plant the tuber with the cut end against the side of the pot/pocket. Make sure growth points are at or above the soil surface, but the cut end can be below the soil. Layer pea gravel or a couple of well-placed rocks that help keep the plant in place until its new roots anchor it. Also, remove the ragged
leaves and flower buds to save the plant’s energy for root growth.
Tropical Lilies are Different
Starting out as a small, moldy looking bump at the leaf’s sinus (the point where the two lobes of the leaf meet), a tiny plant clone forms. Cut the stem of the parent leaf, turn it upside down on the water surface and a plantlet will grown from the leaf sinus. When roots form, the plantlet can be removed from the parent leaf, planted in a small, soil-filled pot and placed in shallow water.
As with most lilies, when young plants have four or five good-sized leaves, it can be placed in a full size pot or plant pocket and placed in deeper water.
Fertilize again with tablets as the season proceeds. Push tablets down the sides of the pot away from the plant. Continue to feed your lilies about once a month until fall.
So don’t be shy….divide and share with your friends. They are hardy plants and as long as you keep them well hydrated, it is hard to make a mistake besides you will get more bloom from a plant that has more room to grow.
Happy Dividing,
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