How To Choose The Right Pond Keeping Equipment For Your Fishpond Waterfall Garden

Many of my readers are curious to know about the problems and issues other fish pond owners have or are simply wanting to build up a knowledge base just in case a similar situation arises in their own ponds.

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email from Ron...

"I currently have a 2000 gallon fiberglass boat that I've turned into a Koi pond with a 5 foot step drop waterfall. I am using pea gravel and sand to act as a filter.

After doing some research I know I now need, at minimum, a bead filter, skimmer and a 40 watt UV light sterilizer and water and air pumps with diffusers to generate enough air movement to prevent water freezing in the winter in Maryland. There may be other items need and that is where your expertise comes to play. As well as miscellaneous item like tubing, air stones, etc. For logistical purposes I would like to purchase all items from one location.

I do not have the technical expertise to put this together to have a healthily pond with minimal maintenance requirements. Is this something that can be accomplished on a $2,000 - $2800 budget? And is this something you could help me with?

Thank you for your assistance.

Ron"

My Response to Ron...

"Hi Ron

You say that you use pea gravel and sand to filter the pond. This is quite bad to be honest.

If it is the type of Sand Filter used in as a swimming pool filter then this is very bad for a pond environment due to heterotrophic bacteria colonies forming. The addition of chlorine kills them in a swimming pool; obviously it isn’t possible to add chlorine to a fish pond without killing its inhabitants.

You WON’T need a bead filter unless you intend to keep large Koi or plenty of fish. They are more expensive than traditional box type fishpond filter system or pressurized pond filter types and are normally for heavily stocked, large ponds.

Modern pressurized pond filters with built in UV clarifiers are more than adequate, even if you want to maintain ammonia free and crystal clear pond water.

I would recommend either a gravity discharge box type Fishmate UV Biofilter + UV for ponds up to 3000 gallons (US) or the Fishmate Pressurized Pond Filter + UV combo for 2000 gallon ponds.

The reason I recommend Fishmate is not only because it is a reputable manufacturer but also because the biological filter media used as standard is Fishmate Supra bio-media ... In my opinion a fantastic high surface area bio-media that is low cost, should you ever need to add more.

In addition you will not need to purchase a separate UV clarifier, hence saving some money there.

You are looking at a cost of a few hundred $$$ for the UV filter.

I don’t think you need a skimmer filter either unless your pond is sited near to trees that have a nasty habit of shedding their leaves into your pond.

As an alternative to the air diffuser I would suggest that you take a look at a pond water heater (fish pond warmer).

The Pond Water Heaters in the link below are thermostatically controlled and maintain pond water at a constant temperature, even in freezing cold weather such as that in Maryland. You are looking at a cost of around $700 for a pond water heater.

Unlike pond pumps a pond water heater is not usually that economical to run; needs must however if you don’t want your pond to turn into an ice cube. Koi can be expensive to replace.

If it is only the top surface of the pond that is likely to freeze over then a much cheaper alternative is a floating pond heater that maintains a small ice free circle through which toxic gases can escape from the pond.

I would recommend the Oase Pond Vent Ice Reducer as it costs around $90 and has been tested to work in conditions up to -20 Celsius.

A fish pond can never have enough oxygen as vast quantities are needed by nitrifying bacteria colonies to convert ammonia into nitrite then into nitrate in what is known as the Nitrogen Cycle.

Your waterfall will help to agitate the pond surface which allows atmospheric air to enter the pond much easier. If you really wanted to you could add an air pump to add extra oxygen but I don’t think this will be needed. Garden Fish Pond Aerators vary in price from relatively cheap to expensive, depending upon the size of the pond aerator needed.

You will need a reliable pond pump and one that is capable of turning your pond volume over once every 2 hours. In your case with a 2000 gallon pond you would need a minimum 1000 GPH pump.

In practical terms however this wouldn’t be useful to you because you will need to power water to the top of your 5ft waterfall (I’m assuming you haven’t already got a pump to do this. Ignore the next paragraph if you already have a pump that supplies your waterfall).

There are a myriad of pumps that you can choose from that will perform the job required.

The Cal Pump range of pond pumps. They come with a 3 year warranty and are good value for money pumps. The running costs are also reasonable.

It is far better to choose a pond pump that costs more money to buy than a cheaper pump with much higher power consumption ratings. Remember a pump needs to run 24/7/365 days a year.

The electricity costs will soon eat into the money saved on the purchase cost.

As an example the Cal Pump WG1000 Water Garden Pump has been designed with a throughput of 1000 GPH and can pump water to a height of 8.9ft.

What the manufacturers don’t tell you is that at a head (height) of 8.9ft there will only be a trickle of water coming out; it is better to go for a more powerful pump that reaches a higher head.

The Cal Pump WG1500 pumps to a height of 12,4ft, meaning that at 5ft there should be a decent flow of water coming out of your waterfall.

You are looking at a cost of a few hundred $$$ at the most for a reliable, energy efficient pond pump.

With regard to tubing etc I’m not sure how much it will cost because this is something you will only really discover once you start to connect the pond keeping equipment together.

TIP! Keep the lengths of tubing as short as possible so as to reduce flow restrictions and the eventual flow rate of water from your pump through the system. Also use the widest tube possible and don’t use T connectors; instead use Y connectors as this doesn’t impede upon flow in the same way. In water gardening Short Fat Pipes Are Best...

Conclusion

The above outlines pretty much what you will need to get your fishpond waterfall garden up and running and to cope with the freezing cold Maryland winter i.e. a pond pump, a biofilter, a UV and either a pond water heater or pond de-icer.

Other things to consider…

Read this article which tells you What To Test Your Pond Water For...

One other thing I neglected to mention earlier is that it is often Cheaper To Run 2 Pond Pumps in your fishpond waterfall garden; one to power a waterfall and the other to constantly supply oxygenated water to the nitrifying bacteria living in your pond filter.

I hope this helps!

Regards