I know another pump question
Rebecca, what kind of fountain pump did you have before? Did you have that pump sitting right on the bottom of the pond, or sitting on some type of platform? If your pond bottom is really loose muck, you might want to sit your replacement on top of a milk crate, plastic bucket or kitty litter container, rubbermaid step stool, anything that will not disintegrate by being submerged in water to keep the pump elevated out of the muck.
Many filter, fountain and waterfall pumps come with a cage or mesh around it to keep larger debris (and fish!) out, and the ability to handle small solids. FishMate, Hozelock Titan, Laguna Power Flo, are a few that do and the larger versions of those might meet your needs. I’d personally recommend something efficient and made for ponds rather than a sump pump, because a sump pump is relatively inefficient and usually not engineered for continuous operation. For pumps without a cage, a device such as a pump sock, PumpBuddy or something homemade using something like plastic hardware or garden mesh wrapped around the pump would help protect the fish. I’ve seen a plastic kitty litter tub with holes drilled in the top and sides used as an effective screen container for a pump.
The specifications for the pump should show how many GPH the pump will output for a given “head”. Head is the height from where the pump sits to the output of the pump output. If you had the pump in 4′ of water pumping to a fountain head 10′ above water surface, you want a pump that has respectable gph output at 14′ of head.
Hope this helps.
Frank
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
