Anyone who owns a garden pond with fish and aquatic plants should not do without a pump that cleans the water and at the same time adds oxygen. You should pay attention to the right size of the pond pump.
Table of Contents
criteria for selection
If you are thinking about a pump for the garden pond, then the desired functions should be specified here in advance. A pump is not only necessary when there are fish and aquatic plants in the pond. So there are the following additional considerations:
- a creek is to be fed
- a water fountain or game is desired
- the pump is connected to a water filter
Calculate pump performance
In order to find out the size and capacity of the pump required for the pond, in this example without a waterfall or stream, it is important to measure the pond if this was not done directly at the system. The pump capacity is the capacity of how much water has to go through per hour to keep the water clean and clear. The following factors must be taken into account:
- Length (L) x width (W) x half depth (D)
- gives pond volume (V) in cubic meters
- Pond volume x number of filtrations (F) : 24 hours per day
- results in pump capacity l/h
sample calculation
The example calculation was created using the above formula for calculating the pump output:
- Pond volume 5 meters wide, 5 meters long and half of 2 meters deep
- results in a calculation of 5 x 5 x (2/2) = 25 m³
- Pond should be filtered four times a day
- 100 m³ of water run through the pond pump in 24 hours
- Basis of the calculation: 25 x 4 = 100
- Pump capacity of 4.2 m³ per hour
- based on the following calculation: 100 : 24 = 4.166
- 1 m³ is the equivalent of 1000 liters
- therefore rounded up 4.2 x 1000 = 4200
- results in an output of 4200 l/h
According to this calculation, a pond pump with an output and a circulation cycle of 4200 l/h is required for a five meter long, five meter wide and two meter deep garden pond.
Note other criteria
However, the above calculation is only an approximate and simple calculation, because there are other criteria that have to be taken into account when it comes to the required pump capacity:
- pond location
- sun or shade
- aquatic plants
- fish stock
The more sun falls on a garden pond, the more pond plants there are and the more fish there are in the pond, whereby the size of the fish is also decisive here, the greater the performance of a pump must be. A simple garden pond with little pond planting or a pure swimming pond can therefore get by with the pump capacity calculated in the example. However, extras such as water features or a stream have not been considered here. A stream pump must be selected for this. A pure pond pump does not have the delivery head capacity for this.
