Pond Fountains and Aerators, LED Fountain Lighting & More

For a comparison chart of Beckett, Danner, Jebao, Little Giant, Fountain Pro, and Smart Pond Pumps, please click this link.

When replacing a fountain pump or choosing a new one, first there are some keys terms to keep in mind:

Head: This is the maximum vertical lift of the pump. For example, a 6′ head means the pump is rated to pump water up to 6 feet high. Note, however, that at 6 feet the pump would be providing very little water, pumping gallons per hour around zero. So if you need to pump, say, 200 gph at 72”, you will probably need about a 500-600 gallon per hour pump to do the job. See the “pump curve” listed for each of our pumps to determine the amount of water pumped to various heights.

GPH: Gallons per hour, usually rated at different heights.

GPM: Gallons per minute, usually rated at different heights.

Pump Curve: The amount of water volume “curved” according to various heights. A 500 gallon per hour pump, for instance, might pump 500 gallons per hour at 0” lift, 350 gallons per hour at 24” of lift, and so forth.

Water Volume: This is controlled by a few factors. One factor is the size of the pump, as covered above. How wide should your tubing be? Tubing is measured in two ways: inside diameter (i.d.) and outside diameter (o.d.). Very thin i.d. tubing will greatly reduce water flow. Many customers are shocked when they find that, after hooking up their 500 gallon per hour pump to ½” inside diameter tubing, they are only getting what they consider a trickle. Well, about the most they will get is 200 gallons per hour or so. They have restricted the flow too much. When purchasing a pump, find out what size of tubing is supposed to go with it. Another problem is running the tubing too far. Long lengths of tubing create resistance. If your pump calls for ½” i.d. tubing, for instance, but you are running the tubing twenty feet from the pump, it is a good idea to use ¾” tubing instead so as not to cut down too much on flow.

This question is answered in part by whether you want a “trickle” or a roar. For fountains, you will usually find a recommended flow. For waterfalls, use this as a rule of thumb: for every inch of stream width or waterfall “sheet,” you will need to deliver 100 gallons per hour at the height you’re pumping. So if you are building a 12” wide waterfall that is three feet tall, you need to buy a pump that will be pumping 1200 gallons per hour at three feet of height.

For ponds, whenever possible, it is a good idea to re-circulate the water once an hour, more often if possible. Thus, if your pond is 500 gallons, try to buy a pump that will re-circulate water at a rate of 500 gallons per hour. For really large ponds, this is not necessary and is far too expensive.

For a nice waterfall effect, we usually advise about 4000 gallons per hour or more at the top of the waterfall. This creates enough volume for a wide, crashing spill. Adjust stones to soften the splash if desired.

In-line” pumps provide the “most bang for the buck” in two ways. For one, the purchase price is quite reasonable for the high volume of water being pumped. But even more importantly, these pumps dramatically outperform typical submersible pumps, cutting electrical costs two to three times. Since electrical costs for a large pond can easily run from thirty to one hundred dollars a month, choosing the most energy-efficient pump is tremendously important.

However, if you need a lot of “head,” that is, if you are pumping to a height of more than seven or eight feet, or if you must pull the water (not “push”, for in-line pumps push water fine but don’t pull well) a long distance from the pond to a skimmer, then these pumps probably won’t work for you.

We receive many, many calls about battery-operated pumps. While there are companies who manufacture pumps that can operate on “A” and “AA” batteries, we have not found a battery-operated pump that lasts or that is reasonably priced. For those customers who need battery fountains for wedding centerpieces (a common request), we suggest finding the one you want and buying as many as possible at a store like Wal-Mart. You get the whole fountain for as good of a price as we could get you these specialized pumps all by themselves!