What is Your Main Goal?

When deciding on a pond fountain, a potential customer needs to figure out what his or her main goal is. Often customers just hear “Oh, yeah, a fountain will be pretty to look at and aerate at the same time.” But it is important for the customer to consider how much he wishes to strike a balance between the two. As a general rule of thumb, the more decoration, the less aeration. And the inverse is true: the more aeration, the less decoration.

Pond fountains can be divided into three main categories:
Decorative fountains, Aerating Fountains, and Surface Aerators.

Decorative Fountains

These provide versatile patterns and typically (not always) include multiple nozzles to change displays when you wish. The catch is that to provide so much display, nozzles can be intricate with many holes, restricting flow rate, and pump impellers are used. Fewer gallons per minute of water being oxygenated is the result.

Because of this, Kasco recommends using a 1HP pump for every ½ acre of surface area (a 100 x 200′ pond approximately). It should be noted that Kasco biologists and engineers rate conservatively and make recommendations according to optimal pond health, and sometimes less HP works well enough.

Many other decorative fountains, if not most, aerate less than Kasco products, so for proper aeration a ½ acre pond might need a 2HP pump for proper aeration. That’s because the flow of water from the pump to the air and then back to the pond is oftentimes greatly reduced by the nozzles.

Aerating Fountains

An aerating fountain does not use a nozzle at all, but a propeller forces the water into the air. Thus, flow is not nearly as restricted as a pump using a nozzle. But aerating fountains provide only one kind of display, the V-pattern.

Kasco recommends 1 ½ HP of fountain for every surface acre of water (a 200′ x 220′ pond). Of course how much HP you need depends on the manufacturer of the unit you eventually purchase.

Surface Aerators

Surface aerators are primarily only that, aerators. Large bubbles arise from the pump’s propeller. There is limited display, though adding lights to it can make even a surface aerator beautiful at night.

Kasco recommends a 1HP to 1-acre ratio (that is, 1 HP for every 200 x 220′ of pond). Of course, this varies with the manufacturer and shape of the pond.

Calculating Your Pond Size

We have an online pond size calculator to determine your surface acreage here.