Discover the answers to most often asked Pond Care Questions
A pond of volume 2,000 litres would be happy having a flow rate between 700 and 1,600 litres per hour.
The important point is to get the flow rate somewhere between one third and about two thirds of the pond volume for a good balance.
What is more important is that if your pond is say 1,000 litres you certainly do not need a pump that can do 5,000 litres per hour.
If you have a waterfall refer to this site.
Pond pumps are designed to operate in harsh outdoor environments.
In practice this means the water in which they reside becomes polluted.
it is illegal to sell an outdoor pump unless there is at least 10 metres of 3 core cable attached to it.
The box and if not the box the label on the pump itself will indicate indoor or outdoor (a small sign showing picture of house with arrow pointing into the house indicates for indoor use only).
The pump will have 2 or 3 year guarantee period.
If any of these are missing do not buy the pump for use in a pond.
A pond is a very harsh environment in which a pump has to run 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
When you see a 2 or more years guarantee on a pump you can buy with total confidence.
These pumps are powerful and large they stand upright and are thus easily recognised.
Sump pumps are designed to run for a certain amount of hours and since they are primarily designed for intermittent running their life span can be considerably shortened when run continuously in a pond.
HOW TO SELECT THE CORRECT PUMP?
Selecting the correct pump is critically important.
Apart from doing the job you want it will last you a long time and running costs will be very low.
If you want a waterfall and no fountain choose a pump which does not need a sponge on the suction side of the pump.
Do ask us for advice if you are not sure.
Many pumps sold in South Africa are not suitable for ponds.
You can tell a pond pump very easily.
It will have 10 metres of 3 core cable and the box will tend to be larger.
There will be a guarantee of at least 2 years DO NOT buy 1 yr. guarantee pumps for ponds.
You need to specify how much water in litres per hour you want to pump and to what height this quantity must be pumped.
A pump using 100 watts will cost R200 Rands per year to run.
WHAT DO PEOPLE MEAN WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT THE HEAD OF A PUMP?
This is a fancy word for what pressure can the pump develop.
In other words how high can it pump.
Head is the height difference between the water surface in the pond and the outlet point of the pipe attached to the pump.
If the outlet pipe from a pump was lifted 50 cm above the pond surface then a certain amount of water would flow out of the pipe.
If the pipe was then lifted to 1 metre above the surface of the pond then a reduction in flow would be seen What we now see is that the higher the head for the pump then the lower is the amount of water pumped.
Maximum flow is the absolute maximum water the pump can handle.
However it is only able to pump this amount with no vertical pipe attached to it.
This information should be ignored or used for comparison only.
It has misled many people into buying the incorrect pump.
It is important to know how much water the pump can handle at different pumping heights.
If you need to run a fountain in your pond it normally makes good sense to select a pump that comes with these fittings.
Most FOCUS pond pumps are supplied complete with fountain attachments.
If you buy the fountain attachment later it may be expensive.
On the other hand there are some very impressive fountains which might appeal to you.
If you want to run both a waterfall and a fountain make sure your pump is powerful enough.
You must run the pump with the sponge in the suction to prevent the holes in the fountain blocking with debris.
The bell fountain is a very popular design.
It is a good idea to have a waterfall for the following reasons:To hear running water, to add character to your pond feature, to add oxygen to the water for the benefit of the fish and the biofilter and to use the soil that came out of the ground when you installed the pond.
A waterfall with a wide lip will need more water than one with a narrow lip to create a good effect.
In my experience the fibreglass rock-like waterfalls are perfect for most garden ponds and are well designed to handle the appropriate water flow for the size of the waterfall itself.
Very few garden ponds benefit from a waterfall as high as 1 metre and even this is probably too high unless a cascade effect rather than a fall effect is required.
An ideal height for a waterfall is between 40 cm and 60 m.
Install an Ultra Violet Clarifier of correct wattage for your size of pond.
Because algae is very small (4 microns) it is almost impossible for a normal filter to remove it.
If water containing algae is passed through an Ultra Violet clarifier the algae are killed and they clump together making it possible for them to be taken out in a good biofilter.
The UV lamp inside the quartz tube has to be replaced after about 8,000 hours use which is every year in practice.
