I'd like some advice on water pump choice please.
I'm currently using an Aquamax 15000, but I've just measured my flow and I'm currently getting around 1000g per hour for my 5500g pond, which is no where near enough.
I Have quite a long run back to the pond, through a Beadmaster.
I can't decide if to buy a Badu high powered pump, or put another aquamax pump in line further up the 30' pipe run, which enters the pond 1 meter under surface.
Your advice would be appreciated.
Many Thanks
pond pump
Moderators: B.Scott, vippymini, Gazza, Manky Sanke
Re: pond pump
my advice would be to change your pipe run and filter set up!
Most pumps apart from a few high pressure pumps (high wattage, high running cost) will really struggle with a bead filter, a 30' pipe run(2" pipe I hope), and a under water return . I would be really surprise if you are getting anything like 1000gallons an hour from an Aquamax 15000 through your current filter set up. It would be an interesting idea to see how well 2 aquamax pumps in series will work on your set up, my first thoughts are that it won't be up to the job but I have NO experience of running pumps in series, particularly not with a bead filter in between the two pumps. Maybe you can borrow a pump from someone and give it ago, it is definitely a case of suck it and see.
Can you give us a bit more details about your filter set up? I take it you have a sieve (Model?) off one bottom drain, pump (Aquamax 15000), Beadmaster (model?) , 30' pipe (size? 2"?) run with a underwater return and no other forms of filtration? Do you have a shimmer and any filtration off that?
Regards,
David.
Most pumps apart from a few high pressure pumps (high wattage, high running cost) will really struggle with a bead filter, a 30' pipe run(2" pipe I hope), and a under water return . I would be really surprise if you are getting anything like 1000gallons an hour from an Aquamax 15000 through your current filter set up. It would be an interesting idea to see how well 2 aquamax pumps in series will work on your set up, my first thoughts are that it won't be up to the job but I have NO experience of running pumps in series, particularly not with a bead filter in between the two pumps. Maybe you can borrow a pump from someone and give it ago, it is definitely a case of suck it and see.
Can you give us a bit more details about your filter set up? I take it you have a sieve (Model?) off one bottom drain, pump (Aquamax 15000), Beadmaster (model?) , 30' pipe (size? 2"?) run with a underwater return and no other forms of filtration? Do you have a shimmer and any filtration off that?
Regards,
David.
Re: pond pump
Hi David,
I'm hoping that the extra pump before the pond return will be the extra boost it needs to achieve better flow.
Pond details are:
Large vortex gravity fed from one bottom drain, then pumped into the beadmaster, through the uv and 6kw heater and returned via 1 1/2 inch pump under ground, roughly 30 foot run.
My after thought is I definately should have used bigger pipe work, when I was sold the filter, vortex, pump etc when I was building the pond, I was told 1 1/2 inch pipe would be ok. He definately didn't say anything about the restrictions I am getting at the mo. That's my excuse anyway
I'm thinking of buying a second hand 15000, and suck it and see!!
Kind Regards
Dave
I'm hoping that the extra pump before the pond return will be the extra boost it needs to achieve better flow.
Pond details are:
Large vortex gravity fed from one bottom drain, then pumped into the beadmaster, through the uv and 6kw heater and returned via 1 1/2 inch pump under ground, roughly 30 foot run.
My after thought is I definately should have used bigger pipe work, when I was sold the filter, vortex, pump etc when I was building the pond, I was told 1 1/2 inch pipe would be ok. He definately didn't say anything about the restrictions I am getting at the mo. That's my excuse anyway
I'm thinking of buying a second hand 15000, and suck it and see!!
Kind Regards
Dave
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Re: pond pump
before you decide on a pump have a look at this calculator.
http://www.koidirectory.com/pondcalc.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
it will give you an idea of the running cost per year. it may well influence your purchase of the pump.
you need a pump with a bit of pushing power to get the water through all the filter stuff and then down the pipe back to the pond. aquamax's were never made or used in that way, they loose flow rates very quickly. look for a pump with a good "head height" as this is a good way of telling the pressure it will push through a pipe.
http://www.koidirectory.com/pondcalc.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
it will give you an idea of the running cost per year. it may well influence your purchase of the pump.
you need a pump with a bit of pushing power to get the water through all the filter stuff and then down the pipe back to the pond. aquamax's were never made or used in that way, they loose flow rates very quickly. look for a pump with a good "head height" as this is a good way of telling the pressure it will push through a pipe.
Re: pond pump
Hi Dave,
From memory an Aquamax 15000 uses 250W or there about, 2 x250W = 500W = a farily powerful pump, so you may not be saving as much as you think. The 1.5 inch pipework is a big problem too, so is the underwater return. If you can change the pipe work so that it is shorter and to 2" pipe and over the wall of the pond then you may get away with a small pump and still get a decent flow rate. Forgot to check how far the filter is away from the pond, don't tell me 30'! As the bead filter is your only means of bilogical filtration there isn't one heck of a lot you can do to increase your flow rate without going to a big pump or getting rid of the bead filter.
Where about in the country are you? I may have an aquamax 16000 that you can experiment with for a week or so if you are not too far away to pick up from North East London.
Just checked out on Jane's calculator how much a Badu Top 14 would cost to run a year, something like £675 (depending on your electricity rate) a year to run!! You don't want to know how much the 25 costs a year, brings tears to my eyes. Definitely worth considering changing your filtration system.
BTW do you have a skimmer (or shimmer in my last post!) on your pond? If you do then you can always move the UV and heater on to the skimmer pipe run. I don't want to know how much it cost to run a 6KW electric heater, you must have money to burn (literally!!).
David.
From memory an Aquamax 15000 uses 250W or there about, 2 x250W = 500W = a farily powerful pump, so you may not be saving as much as you think. The 1.5 inch pipework is a big problem too, so is the underwater return. If you can change the pipe work so that it is shorter and to 2" pipe and over the wall of the pond then you may get away with a small pump and still get a decent flow rate. Forgot to check how far the filter is away from the pond, don't tell me 30'! As the bead filter is your only means of bilogical filtration there isn't one heck of a lot you can do to increase your flow rate without going to a big pump or getting rid of the bead filter.
Where about in the country are you? I may have an aquamax 16000 that you can experiment with for a week or so if you are not too far away to pick up from North East London.
Just checked out on Jane's calculator how much a Badu Top 14 would cost to run a year, something like £675 (depending on your electricity rate) a year to run!! You don't want to know how much the 25 costs a year, brings tears to my eyes. Definitely worth considering changing your filtration system.
BTW do you have a skimmer (or shimmer in my last post!) on your pond? If you do then you can always move the UV and heater on to the skimmer pipe run. I don't want to know how much it cost to run a 6KW electric heater, you must have money to burn (literally!!).
David.
Re: pond pump
Thanks for your valuable input and help so far.
The beadmaster is only 4 years old, I was thinking of changing it one day to a nexus, but just can't afford it at the moment as I'm renovating my house and the missus would kill me
I do have a skimmer which is on a seperate pump, but I wouldn't be able to alter this in anyway, due to lack of space around the pond.
Thanks for your kind offer David, but I think I'll buy a second pump, I'm sure i'll need it incase of a disaster one day.
There is a 15000 on ebay finishing in a couple of days, hopefully I'll win that, and I'll keep you posted.
If nobody else would mind bidding on the pump, that would be great
Kind Regards
Dave
The beadmaster is only 4 years old, I was thinking of changing it one day to a nexus, but just can't afford it at the moment as I'm renovating my house and the missus would kill me
I do have a skimmer which is on a seperate pump, but I wouldn't be able to alter this in anyway, due to lack of space around the pond.
Thanks for your kind offer David, but I think I'll buy a second pump, I'm sure i'll need it incase of a disaster one day.
There is a 15000 on ebay finishing in a couple of days, hopefully I'll win that, and I'll keep you posted.
If nobody else would mind bidding on the pump, that would be great
Kind Regards
Dave
Re: pond pump
For what it's worth I've just replaced my Sequence 13000 with a Badu Top 8 pump because the Sequence didn't have enough "Oomph!"
Instant success! OK....it's going to cost a lot more to run; but why spend £1000's on a pond and then scrimp on the essentials? Aquamax pumps are great for shifting large volumes of water...But not under strain. And pushing water through a bead filter takes considerable power. I wouldn't recommend using an Aquamax pump (or 2 even) in a filter setup containing a bead filter.
Good Luck,
Louie
P.s I only got the Badu off Ebay a couple of weeks ago, and I paid £60 ish.
Instant success! OK....it's going to cost a lot more to run; but why spend £1000's on a pond and then scrimp on the essentials? Aquamax pumps are great for shifting large volumes of water...But not under strain. And pushing water through a bead filter takes considerable power. I wouldn't recommend using an Aquamax pump (or 2 even) in a filter setup containing a bead filter.
Good Luck,
Louie
P.s I only got the Badu off Ebay a couple of weeks ago, and I paid £60 ish.
Re: pond pump
OK NOW I'M HAVING A CHANGE OF HEART!!
Today I first thought about buying a badu 25 pump rather than bodging the system with two aquamax 15000's.
But then i thought rather than spending £400+ on a pump, I could buy a Nexus 300 and possibly use my existing
aquamax 15000.
I have to reuse the 1 1/2" pipe as it's under ground, but if I bought it out the ground before the pond and made it enter the pond at the surface do you think I would achieve a much better flow.
I know I'm asking a question that's difficult to answer, but getting rid of the beadmaster should help a lot I hope, sod the missus
What do you think??
Dave
Today I first thought about buying a badu 25 pump rather than bodging the system with two aquamax 15000's.
But then i thought rather than spending £400+ on a pump, I could buy a Nexus 300 and possibly use my existing
aquamax 15000.
I have to reuse the 1 1/2" pipe as it's under ground, but if I bought it out the ground before the pond and made it enter the pond at the surface do you think I would achieve a much better flow.
I know I'm asking a question that's difficult to answer, but getting rid of the beadmaster should help a lot I hope, sod the missus
What do you think??
Dave