How to Choose the Best External Pump for Your Pond or Water Garden

Choosing an external pond pump for your backyard Koi pond or water garden has many benefits. Unlike most submersible pumps, which cannot be repaired, replacement components are readily available for many external water circulation pumps on the market. When choosing a pond pump, one should take total cost of ownership into consideration. This cost includes not only the purchase price of the pump itself, but also monthly energy usage and useful life of the product. The purpose of this article is to highlight five key areas to consider when deciding on which pump to use for your outdoor water feature.

Energy Efficiency

Unlike swimming pool pumps which typically run for only a few hours per day, a Koi pond pump is designed to run 24/7, 365 days a year in order to ensure optimal water quality for live fish. Because these units are designed for continuous use, energy efficiency is very important. Lower quality pumps can be energy hogs, resulting in astronomical electricity bills. Paying close attention to the rated energy wattage of a pump can help protect against surprises later on. Fortunately, the recent boom in the pond and water garden industry has resulted in a high number of high quality energy efficient pumps being made available to consumers in the USA from a variety of manufacturers.

Flow Rates

For ponds under 5,000 gallons in size, it is generally recommended to turn the total water volume over once per hour. This means for a 2,000 gallon pond, you would need a pump capable of achieving a flow rate of 2,000 gallons per hour. Total dynamic head should also be taken into account. This refers to the effective flow rate after all twists and turns in your plumbing and any resistance caused by waterfalls and other variables. There are several calculators available online which can help you calculate the total dynamic head of your water feature. Once you have calculated this number, make sure the pump you choose is capable of achieving your desired flow rate at this level of head.

Reliability

Nothing is worse to a pond owner than coming home to a find a pond full of dead fish due to a failed pump. A reliable pump is the heart of any Koi pond. Many Koi keepers spend a great deal of money on the colorful fish in their ponds, and taking a gamble on a bargain basement pump can often result with devastating results. Word of mouth, customer testimonials, and simply being diligent about researching a product can help to ensure you make a wise purchasing decision. Failure is not an option when it comes to a pump used for a backyard water feature, especially when the lives of expensive Koi and other pond fish hang in the balance.

Noise Level

Many pond owners love coming home from a long day at work to spend a few hours relaxing to the soothing sounds of a beautiful waterfall. It can be difficult to enjoy this tranquil environment; however, if you are also being flooded with loud noise coming from your pump. Swimming pool pumps are typically far louder than external pumps designed for continuous use in fish ponds. A quality external pond pump should offer whisper quiet operation, so not to take away from the natural sounds coming from your pond and waterfall. Many manufacturers publish the noise decibel levels for their pumps, which should be reviewed by the pond owner before making a purchase.

Warranty Period

If a company stands behind a product they produce, they will stand behind it. In the world of external pumps designed for use in outdoor Koi ponds and water gardens, the industry standard in terms of warranty is three years. With a few notable exceptions, this is the longest warranty period typically offered by leading manufacturers of external pumps. It is not uncommon for many of these pumps to operate flawlessly on a continuous basis for over five years before requiring any servicing or repairs. If you find an external pump offering a warranty period of less than three years, you may wish to research further before making a decision.

Design Aquarium

How to Start Your Own Backyard Koi Pond

There are many different opinions of what constitutes a good koi pond design, one design does not fit all situations as there are many important factors to take into consideration when looking to build your own koi pond.
I have never met anyone who has regretted building there own koi fish pond, sure mistakes can be made, but having the basic information and advice like we have here can go a long way to making sure you have the best possible chance of producing a great looking healthy koi fish pond.
If you can afford it employing professional koi pond installation companies is probably one of the best ways to go, but going down this route can be expensive and can run into thousands of dollars for a reputable company to build your pond, plus you don't get the satisfaction of knowing you created something amazing with your own hands.
The first thing to consider when looking at koi pond design is the area where you intend to build the pond, try to pick a spot that is not subject to the hot sun all day and that the level of the pond is on a very slight incline to allow for drainage. The size is the most critical aspect of koi pond design, most people never build there pond big enough in the beginning.
Remember that keeping koi fish is very addictive and you will always want to add extra fish at some stage, therefore make sure the pond is big enough for the amount of fish you intend to keep. A general guide for stocking your pond with koi is that for 20 full sized fish you should have a minimum of 2,000 gallons of water in your pond.
There are also predators to consider when building your pond, a minimum depth of four feet is advisable when digging the hole for your pond. This gives the fish somewhere to hide from herons and racoons which just love to eat koi fish, purchasing a heron net is also advisable to give them extra protection from these hungry birds.
A large heron can soon wipe out your total stock of fish in one sitting, so make this a major consideration before adding any fish to your pond. Water lillies and other aquatic plants should also be added to your fish pond, these are great at not only providing cover for your fish they also help with oxygen levels in the water.
Remember fish need oxyginated water in order to thrive, so in addition to plants you will need some sort of water pump to keep the water circulating. There are numerous designs of pond pumps available, the most important aspect is getting the right size of pump for your pond.
This can be determined by working out how many gallons your pond will hold, then go online with this information and you will discover a pond pump that is rated in that particular range. (tip: always go slightly larger not smaller)
Pond liners are another important aspect of koi pond design, there are a few options here you can consider. There is the expensive concrete option, or the more affordable UPVC option, or you could be interested in the many performed liners available.
Personally i prefer the UPVC option as you can mould it to the shape of the hole you have dug for your pond which looks more natural, the preformed option sort of dictates as to what shape and size your pond will need to be, and finally the concrete option can be a great choice but can work out mega expensive compared to these other options.
Filtration is the next aspect to consider in your koi pond design, pond filters come in many different styles and sizes. Choosing one should be done very much the same way as you would choose a pond pump, the filters are rated in gallons so getting the right one is fairly straight forward.
This is where you can also do some research into the different kinds available, reading customer reviews on Amazon.com is a great way of understanding how the particular filter or pump performs when in operation.
Finally one last piece of advice is to never let the pond freeze over in the winter months, there should always be a break in the ice to allow oxygen to get into the water.
This can easily be achieved with the many pond de-icers there are available these days, these units cost very little to run (pennies a day) and help to maintain the oxygen levels in your pond water which is vital to the health of your fish.
These are just some of the starting points you need to know when looking at koi pond design, you will undoubtedly learn more along the way of enjoying this great pastime of koi fish keeping.
Understanding these basics is a step in the right direction to creating a koi fish pond, so go out there and build your own, the satisfaction levels of achieving a great looking healthy koi fish pond are enormous.

Design Aquarium

Fish Keeping Made Easy Or Aquariums For Lazy People Part 4, Biologic Filters

In a natural environment bacteria and fungi break down waste and recycle nutrients so they are useful to plants. These bacteria live on all surfaces under the water. How could I increase the surface area of the filter to cultivate more bacteria?
I tried fiber-fill, the cotton like nylon stuff you pack into pillows. My tank was shiny clean, incredible water, no more diseases, water changes perhaps 25% once a year, no more chemicals except to remove chlorine when I couldn't let water sit outside for long periods.
Then one day the entire tank was filled with detritus, fish and plant waste. The filter material was simply saturated and then collapsed. I did this several times over three years and each filter worked for six to eight months then collapsed again.
Eventually, I went to the hardware store and bought several types and textures of nylon cleaning pads. I cut them to fit into the canister filter then finally through a sponge filter, now I don't even do the sponge. I do keep the heavy textured nylon close to the water inflows to catch bulk detritus, the finer nylon materials toward the outflow side for finer filtration.
Replace all filter material in a canister with scratch pad nylon, fill in all gaps so water cannot flow around the material, detritus is filtered, fungi and bacteria break that down to recycle the elements and provide CO2, other organic compounds, and minerals for your tank. Don't let water intake or outflows disturb the surface, extent the inflows down into the tank.
Place the intake and outflows on opposite ends of the tank to create better circulation.
Let nature take its course. Be sure to have snails in the tank.
When the water looks cloudy, remove the filter, take it out in the garden and just spray off the built up material, replace the water and reassemble the filter.
You have just created an incredibly efficient biological filter. When it slows down, take it apart and wash off some of the detritus, which is the only maintenance needed.
You can oversize the canister for the tank size and yes, this increases filtration. But not needed.
In fact, if you have enough plant material, you don't even need the filter. The twenty gallon tank behind me as I write does not have a filter because I also raise Cherry Shrimp and the shrimplets were being sucked into the filter. It is too much work to get them out several times each year, so I simply shut it off.
The aquarium looks great.
Before you go, there is more to come. We need to show you have to handle algae, use detritivores, and discuss the substrate in the next article. If you are in a hurry, go to the swimming pool supply and buy washed swimming pool filter sand and use several inches as a substrate. Plants will love you. This is your major natural aquarium set up. Just add water and light.
Design Aquarium