• Raccoons
• Muskrats
• Opossums
• Foxes
• Beavers
• Otters
• Bears
• Bullfrogs
• Turtles
• Birds

Some of these are deceptively harmless seeming and there are one or two that may make you decide they can just have your fish.  There are, however, a few things that can be done to help your little swimming friends.

The easiest, and many say the most effective, is to give your fish a hiding place.  If predators can’t catch them, they can’t eat them.  The answer is lots of floating plants and something to hide under.  An easy and inexpensive solution is laying a piece of black PVC pipe on the bottom of your pond. ­­­­

Decoys work well for some types of predators.  A few (like this heron) are territorial and if they think an area is already dominated by one of their own, they will not intrude.

Risking an attack by a natural rival like a snake, owl or alligator is another thing many will avoid. Remember, decoys need to be moved around often, animals can be very smart.

Your watergarden can also be covered with a net to keep most predators away.  It can be covered at night when most hunters are out.  A lot of people also cover in the spring and fall, when predators are the most active.

If a bear decides your back yard is where he likes to eat dinner, then I suggest a nice saltwater aquarium : )

What predators visit your pond?  Let us know in the comments.

1. If your pump has been off for the winter, check to make sure it is running properly and the pre-filter or intake is clean and free from debris.
2. Check the PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels.  If any of the levels are too high- you should do a partial water change.  (Don’t forget that when you add water you need to treat it with a water conditioner like Re-Vive or Aquascape Pond Detoxifier .) Monitor the water temperature.  Do not feed your fish until levels are inline and water temperature is above 50 degrees.  Fish will be more active and closer to the surface (to get warmer.)  Feed sparingly and watch for stress.
3. Any plants that need to be trimmed should be done now. Rotting leaves will raise the water acidity.  If plants have gotten too big and need to be divided – now’s the time.
4. Use your net or vacuum to clean any settled debris that has gotten into your pond over the winter.
5. Make sure the filter is clean and the filter media isn’t clogged.  If your filter media needs to be replaced, now is a good time to do that.  The stronger sunlight can spark algae growth until the surface leaves develop.  (Especially when your water temperature is above 55 degrees F.)  This can cause your water to go green for 2-4 weeks if you don’t get the pond cleaned up a little first.  Keep adding your beneficial bacteria on a regular  schedule.

Once your pond is tuned up and ready for spring, I recommend pouring a glass of wine and spending some time enjoying your pond and marveling that Spring is almost here again.

Here’s a video from Aquascape that has some more tips on getting your water garden ready for the warm weather:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The dragonfly symbolizes the same thing in most parts of the world – Change.  Everything from the change in your “perspective of self” to the mental and emotional change that maturity brings.  Some believe that the Dragonfly’s flight over water symbolizes looking deeper – beyond the surface of things.

I can’t begin to explain all of the things that the Dragonfly symbolize, but I can tell you some of the facts that I find interesting.

• Dragonfly’s can fly in all six directions, forward, backwards, up, down and towards both sides.   They can hover like a helicopter or fly at 36 miles an hour.  Their wing strokes have 20 times the power that other insects do.  They only flap their wings 30 times a minute. (Mosquitoes – 600, houseflies – 1000)

• Almost 80% of the insect’s brain power is spent on its sight.  It can see in all 360 degrees. They have about 30,000 lenses.

Big eyes, little brain.

• Dragonfly’s have been around for millions of years. The largest fossil found had a 2.5 foot wingspan.

One of the largest flying insects, the 300 million year old Meganeuradae

• There are about 5000 different kinds of Dragonflies.

And what I think is the best fact:  dragonflies eat mosquitos, ants, termites, and gnats.  They can eat their own weight in pesky insects in about 30 minutes.  (kinda makes you wish those 2.5 foot ones were still around)

Dragonfly eating a mosquito

Here are some more pictures of this cool insect:

Image credit for the Meganeura photo, Wikipedia.

I don’t, of course, agree across the board with The Verge on this. For one thing, I think that they show a bit too much love for the Sony mirrorless system (though Sony’s point-and-shoot cameras have gotten truly exemplary in recent years). I would also disagree with them on their characterization of point-and-shoot build quality as “unimpressive.” A bit of shopping around these days will reveal that the build quality on many P&S cameras has gotten very solid.

I have two main maxims for buying cameras, each applying to a different use of camera. First, the best camera is the one you have with you. This is why I don’t think very well of Superzoom style cameras at all. They’re huge, they’re expensive, and they do very, very little that a tiny P&S camera won’t do (and they’re often worse at that). So, when looking for a small, everyday use camera, ask yourself how likely you really are to carry any given model. If it seems too fragile to carry in your pocket without a case or toss in your purse, skip it. If it’s too big for in your pocket on the way to a concert or family picnic, skip it.

My second rule applies to DSLRs, primarily, and it’s something that the Verge touches on in their guide. When you’re buying a DSLR, you’re not just buying a camera, you’re buying into an ecosystem. This is why I usually advise shoppers to stick to one of the two most popular systems: Canon or Nikon (I shoot Canon). I’m not a gear nut, but very few DSLR shooters will stick to kit equipment forever. You’ll acquire more lenses and accessories, and these will be interchangeable with new camera bodies as you buy more into the system. You’ll quickly get to the point where you can upgrade your entire shooting experience for relatively little money so long as you stay within your shooting ecosystem, whereas changing systems would be very expensive. It can be a little overwhelming to think of it this way, taking into account what you’ll want from your camera system years down the road, but it’s not as tough as you might think. The fact is that both Canon and Nikon are widely used by professionals and amateurs alike worldwide, and for good reason. Both ecosystems are very, very good with tons of options, and both are always getting better.

Once you choose your ecosystem, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to find the right camera body for you. The biggest help in this is that both Nikon and Canon are producing entry-level camera bodies of such quality that just about anyone getting into photography should be perfectly happy with just about any choice. Or, at least, they will be until the Gear Fever takes them.

One last bit of advice to add to what the Verge laid out in their piece: Professional reviews are your friends, but don’t let them scare you away from what you think is a good choice. And, for your sanity’s sake, don’t read a single review after you’ve made your purchase; that’s a quick recipe for buyer’s remorse.

Today’s wallpaper is a beautiful tropical lily that I photographed during my recent trip to our partner nursery. It’s a Green Smoke lily, with pale blue tips to the petals that I absolutely fell in love with. This photo is a great example of how using narrow depth of field while taking a garden photo can lead to unexpected results. My goal with this picture was to keep the heart of the lily in focus with narrow depth, allowing a tiny amount of bokeh on the petals and much more on the pads behind the bloom. I didn’t realize until I was editing the photos later that the underside of the bloom had a really interesting speckled texture that was, fortunately, right in my field of focus. This creates a second point of interest in the photo. Further, one of the pads, covered in water droplets, was also in my field of focus, creating a third point of interest. Each of these points of focus is much more distinct because of the wide-open aperture that I used for the photo; had I used a narrower aperture for a wider depth of field, much more of the photo would be in focus, so these three points wouldn’t draw attention as they do here.

Green Smoke Lily

Image Credit: Bill Dubert
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“You know what would look cool here?  A waterfall made of light!” — if you’ve ever looked at your yard (or anywhere, really) and thought this, then you need to check out the Colorfalls made by Atlantic Water Gardens.

Basically they created a system that makes it easy to add a sheer waterfall to a retaining wall, spa, pool, etc.  Then they added LED lights in a way that makes it look like the light is flowing down the water. The effect is very cool:

At Loch Ness we sell a lot of these. I think it’s because the people that want a water feature want something that looks and sounds great and feels a little magical. The Colorfalls kits do a great job of all of these.

The installation was easy. We just watched one of the Youtube videos. The only negative I have regarding the fountain is that you can not change the color.
~ Thomas Wetherald of Illinois

If you want to see the video Thomas is talking about, scroll down towards the end of the post. Here’s a picture of his installation:

Thomas's Colorfalls

As you can see from the picture above, they look neat in the daylight, too.

Here’s another installation from Amanda and Scott:

Here are a couple pictures of how our Colorfalls turned out. We did it a bit unconventionally as it sits much higher than what your website shows but we really wanted the sound of the falling water. The installation was easy as there’s a video that shows exactly how it get’s put together…it took a little bit of figuring out on our part but all in all it was pretty easy. One thing we noticed about installing the colorfalls as high as we did was the splash radius is quite large but our plants love it. : ) I was surprised at how the light was still able to shine almost all the way down the water but fortunately it does and we’ve received a lot of compliments on the appearance. The water doesn’t evaporate as much from the basin as we thought it would so it’s nice not having to constantly run out there with the hose to top it up. Ideally the Colorfalls is meant for lower waterfalls but to our delight it works quite nicely at higher heights as well. It’s definitely a nice touch to our yard! We recommend getting the colorfalls to anyone that compliments us on it telling them how easy it was to put together and the visual appeal it provides.
~ Scott and Amanda Novakowsky from Alberta

Amanda and Scott's Colorfalls

Cool effect, huh?

Here are the colors that are available:

Another customer, Bill had this to say:

The installation of the Colorfalls kit was pretty straightforward, and we were generally satisfied with the results.
There were a couple of concerns with the installation.  There were conflicting instructions regarding the weight bearing of the weir.  At one point the instructions indicated that blocks/stone could be placed directly on the weir, but there was also a contradictory statement that blocks/stone shouldn’t be placed on the weir.  I found a metal shelf long enough to bridge the weir and rigid enough not to bend with the weight of the stone.  I used construction adhesive to attach rock to the front of the shelf to blend into the wall.
I also needed to raise the pump to properly align the connection through the basin to the flexible PVC pipe.  I bought a couple of extra PVC pieces to make for an easier connection to the weir in case I need to remove it from the wall.
We found that the slightest bit of garden debris–leaves, flower petals, acorns–on the splash mat causes a splash outside of the basin area that creates a loss of water in the basin.  So you have to pay attention to the water level.  (We placed our falls close to some overhanging trees, so this is probably less of a problem depending on one’s placement of the falls).
Some people liked the quietness of the splash mat whiles others were disappointed that it didn’t make more of a “water” sound.  I am thinking of a possible change in the spring to increase the “water” sound (since my wife is one of the disappointed ones).
I was hoping for the color from the light to diffuse through the falls a more than it does.  However, when the stone path in front of the falls is wet at night, there is a very nice blue reflection on wet stones.
Frankly, I am not sure that the suggested kit price is quite worth what one gets.  It is helpful to have (almost) everything you need, but it does seem a bit overpriced.  On the other hand, everyone has really liked it, and I was asked by two other people to do the same thing in their yards (that is not happening).
~ Bill from NY

Bill's Colorfalls

Here’s another angle that show’s off Bill’s great landscaping:

Bill brought up some good concerns with the installation, so I spoke with James over at Atlantic Water Gardens and he answered the weight question:

The colorfalls can support up to 40lbs per every linear foot. This is based on our recommendation to have one layer of pavers across the colorfalls spillway when installed. Typically, you are looking at approximately 40lbs for a single paver.

He also agreed that under a tree isn’t the ideal place for the Colorfalls because if the tree drops a lot of debris, it can deflect the flow of water.  If this is a concern, there is an auto-fill valve available that will regulate the water level.

Another point that James clarified is that the kits come with two styles of elbow joints so the pump can be aligned just right.

Have you installed AWG’s Colorfalls? We’d love to hear about your experience in the comments. If you have pictures, please email me and I’ll add them to this post (scot@lochnesswatergardens.com).

Thank you very much for your great pictures and valuable insight James, Thomas, Bill, Amanda and Scott!

Think a lighted waterfall would look great in your own yard? Our 36″ Colorfalls Kits and our 24″ Colorfalls kits are on sale now for 25% 0ff.

As promised, here’s the video Thomas and Amanda talked about showing the installation:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And here are some more pictures:

Amanda and Scott's Installation

Thomas's Installation

Thomas's Installation 2

Bill's Installation

In the last several months I’ve found myself spending a lot more time in beautiful Charleston, SC. This opened up a great opportunity to visit our partner nursery, Charleston Aquatic Nursery. I let them know I was coming, grabbed my camera and a monopod, and headed out.

Driving around Charleston is a uniquely varied experience. It’s not a tiny city with nearly 700 thousand people in the metro area, and of course it has all of the expected things from a city that size. It’s a very water-heavy town, with rivers, streams, marshes, and of course the harbor, all spanned by bridges (like the Ravenel, pictured). The downtown is dense with rich history, nearly every building in some areas centuries old. Just across the rivers, though, Mt. Pleasant and West Ashley are Suburban shopping havens. The Nursery that I was headed to is on John’s Island, which is covered with ancient oaks hung with Spanish moss. There are many places on the island where one turns a corner and is transported from a perfectly normal suburban landscape to the middle of a haunted forest. Mixed in among these are areas of working family farms and nurseries, many of which have been in family hands for generations.

I had been warned before coming out that the nursery was in the middle of a seasonal changeover, and that there might not be many plants blooming worth seeing. Brian, the co-owner who had warned me of this, has a different idea of “not many plants blooming” than I do. I was treated to row after row of stunning lily blooms. I had expected to spend less than an hour at the nursery, but after a warm welcome and quick tour I spent more than two hours wandering around, taking hundreds of photos (as well as idly wishing that I had brought a full tripod and more lenses). It had been overcast for most of the week, but the sun came out and cooperated for much of the time I was at the nursery.

Also cooperating was one of my favorite indicators of a healthy nursery: bees. I got several great shots of bees massing on lily flowers as well as a few shots of bees in flight to and from blooms. Insects, especially in flight, are often pretty difficult to capture. It helps a great deal to be shooting under full sun, which allows you to speed up the shutter without losing detail or getting out-of-control ISO noise.

I was really pleased, when I arrived, to finally meet Brian, one of the two brothers who co-own the nursery (as I said, Charleston is big on the family-owned business). Having worked with and for more than a few nurseries, one pattern I’ve seen is that the best nursery owners have dirt under their fingernails and usually take gloves off to shake your hand. I was really happy to see that Brian is one of those, and he spent most of the time I was there busily and skillfully repotting and moving plants around.

For more photos from this trip, check out our Flickr set of these photos here.

Each year at my mom’s house we have a bit of a tradition: photographing the pink lotus. Because lotus blooms don’t tend to last very long, we have a limited window with each bloom that comes up. It’s a pale pink flower that contrasts strongly with the dark rocks and ivy that back it in her pond, making it a particularly photogenic specimen. I’m not going to say that things can get ugly in the limited time we have to photograph these blooms, but some mocking emails have certainly been received by family photographers who happened to be out of town during the best part of the show.

A lot of gardeners tend to get a bit bored with perennials. This is worse among garden photographers. How many pictures, after all, can you possibly need of the same Lantana, year after year? I know that I have certainly fallen into this trap. Lilies are the hardest for me to control myself with. I constantly want to pull up some of the existing, long-loved water lilies to make room for new colors, new forms, new pads. Or, arguably worse, I find that temptation to think in the off-season oh come on, just one more plant won’t possibly overcrowd this space, will it? There are, though, a few reasons why these old friends of the garden are more of a photography opportunity than you might think.

I am not, by my nature, a photography gear nut. Or, at least, I work very, very hard to resist that urge (although I swear that that f1.4 50mm lens actually knows my name and whispers it to me across the internet when I’m vulnerable). However, it is almost inevitable that there be some new gear in my bag from spring to spring. I relish the chance to photograph the same subject to see how my updated arsenal takes it on. Even more pronounced each year is the change in technical skills. Photographing perennials year after year allows for a fantastic chance to evaluate how you’ve changed (and hopefully improved) as a photographer.

Speaking of improving as a photographer, photographing the same plant year after year can actually help you to do so. Many photography classes and instructors have their students repeatedly photograph the same subject throughout the course. Limiting the content of the subject forces the student (and we are all students) to photograph more creatively. Given very similar blooms in very similar setting year after year, you’ll find yourself experimenting more with framing, lighting, settings, and post-processing. I find that every year I try new angles and approaches to this same pink lotus, and that gives a jolt to my creativity, not just in garden photography, but in both my photography as a whole and, a bit unexpectedly, in my gardening.

I’ve put a quick, small set of photos from this year’s Lotus bloom up on our Flickr so that you can see a little bit of what I’m talking about here, how being forced to experiment has led to some shots that are much more interesting (I think, anyway) than just capturing the bloom. You can check out the set here, and check out our free garden wallpapers to download desktop wallpapers made from some of these images.

Source by Loch Ness Water Gardens

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Hate mosquitoes? Of course you do! And yet, you love your pond which can turn into a mosquito nursery. Luckily there is a fish ideally suited to keeping your pond free from the little bastards. The western mosquitofish (AKA Gambusia affinis) loves mosquito larvae. Introduce a few of these mosquito assassins into your pond and you’ll keep it mosquito free.

The mosquitofish is a small guppy-like fish that’s sort of a dull grey color.  The females can reach 7 cm and the males 4cm.  Here’s a picture of one:

Don’t be fooled by their unassuming appearance.   They’re tough little guys, able to stand temperatures from almost freezing up to 108 degrees F and live in water with low oxygen saturation and even salinity up to double that of sea water.  They’re super-effective mosquito killers, too.  Just one can easily eat over 100 mosquito larvae per day.  In fact, they’re credited with helping to eradicate malaria in South America, the Ukraine, and South Russia.  The Russians love them so much, they built a mosquitofish monument near the Black Sea:

They’re so tough, they’ve become a problem in Australia.  They were introduced to help control the mosquitoes there and ended up also causing the deaths of some of the local fish and even frogs.  For instance, they’re responsible with the extinction of the rainbowfish around Brisbane.

They’re big time breeders, too.  The females are ready to breed at about 7 weeks old and can have 3 or 4 broods per season.  They’re live bearing, so the survival rate of their young is much higher than most egg laying fish.  Add that to the fact that they can give birth to 60-100 babies at a time and you can understand how they can quickly have a major impact on an ecosystem.  This, combined with the fact that they’ve been introduced to so many environments to help control mosquitoes means that they may now be the most widespread freshwater fish in the world.

Ok, they’re pretty tough, but in order to introduce some mosquitofish into your pond, certain considerations must be made to ensure their health and safety. If you use copper pipes or fittings in your pond where the plumbing actually comes into contact with the water, the pipes must be coated with a special paint to prevent unintentional poisoning. Also, even though mosquitofish can withstand pH levels that are toxic to many other fish species, keeping your pond pH level between 6.5 to 8.0 is important to keep your fish happy.

Certain types of algae and other free floating plant life such as duckweed should be kept to a minimum. Filamentous algae, in small doses, is beneficial to your pond and to your mosquitofish, however care should be taken to prevent the algae from becoming excessive as this will prevent your fish from being able to access the mosquito larvae. These plants should be manually removed instead of chemically controlled to prevent poisoning your fish.

Mosquitofish prefer warm (77-86 degrees F), slow moving water with few floating plants. They actually enjoy living among the roots of water plants, instead. Mosquitofish are omnivorous and will eat a wide variety of prey and detritus, making them a great addition to water gardens that house other fish species. Mosquitofish thrive in ponds that receive several hours of direct sunlight and will languish in heavily shaded ponds.

Natural predators of the mosquitofish include many of the same predators that threaten other pond fish species. These include raccoons, possums, cats, herons, egrets, frogs, and larger predatory fish. Providing plenty of rooted plants and large rocks will give the mosquitofish plenty of places to hide from predators. This is especially important for mosquitofish fry, who must hide from the usual predators as well as adult mosquitofish.

So if you are annoyed by the constant “bzzzzzzz….slap!” of mosquitoes, maybe this little fish is just what you need to take back control of your yard.

Do any of you have any experience with these fish?  Please post your experiences or questions in the comments.

Thanks!

Image Source

Information Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambusia_affinis
http://www.ehow.com/about_6562298_mosquito-fish.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_6303684_mosquito-fish-information.html
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/mosq.htm

Just like your body has a heart to circulate healthy blood through your system, your pond has a pump to circulate the water over the falls, providing beneficial aeration for your pond critters and plants. Choosing the right pump is essential for ensuring that you create an adequate flow of water for your waterfall or stream, which in turn maintains water quality that’s fit for your pond ecosystem.

Several pumps are on today’s market, from sump pumps and swimming pool pumps to pumps made specifically for water gardens with magnetic drives and fish safe oil-less designs. So how do you choose?  What are the most important features?

How much water flow?

There are a few different ways to decide how much water flow you need.

Flow over the waterfall:  It’s common for first time pond builders to underestimate just how much water they want flowing over their waterfall.  For example, 1,000 GPH (gallons per hour) sounds like a lot, but if you break it down, that’s only about a quarter gallon per second.  Then if you take that quarter gallon and spread it over a 2 foot wide waterfall, you’re probably going to be disappointed with the trickle you end up with. Also, the sound of a waterfall usually becomes one of a pond owners favorite parts of their water garden.  So, one of the first things you should consider is how much water do you want flowing over your waterfall and how wide will that waterfall be?

• 50 GPH per inch = This is trickle/dribble territory (~1/4 inch deep).
• 100 GPH per inch = Now you have a solid sheet of water flowing over the clean edges.  You’ll get some soothing sounds with this much flow (~1/2 inch deep).
• 200 GPH per inch =  A solid, strong, more dramatic flow of water that creates enough sound to be heard 30 feet away (~1 inch deep).

Water Quality (no fish):  The generally accepted rule of thumb here is that you want all the water in your pond to circulate at least once every 2 hours.  So if you have a 1,500 gallon pond, you will want at least 750 GPH of flow.

Water Quality (with fish):  If you have fish in your pond, you want more filtration.  For most pond setups, the main pump drives water through the filtration system; so more flow equals more filtration.  A safe bet is to double the flow if you have fish – so for a 1,500 gallon pond, you will want 1,500 GPH of water flowing.  Having extra flow will help your pond support more fish, but you want to be careful not to exceed what your pond can handle. The average pond can support 1″ of fish for every square foot of pond surface area (e.g. a 10′ by 10′ pond has 100 square feet of surface area, so you could support 20 5″ fish or 10 10″ fish or 10 5″ fish and 5 10″ fish, etc.). Another way to calculate this is 1″ of fish for every 10 gallons of water in your pond.  You want to err on the conservative side here – fewer fish are happier fish.  Don’t forget to allow for growth (and breeding!). Predators will “help” here…

What size pump?

So once you know the amount of flow you want, it’s time to figure out how big of a pump you need.  Pump performance (i.e. the actual amount of water flow you will get out of your pump) will vary depending on how much resistance it’s pushing. A term to become familiar with is “total dynamic head” (TDH), which refers to the pressure on a pump caused by the interactions of flow rate, pipe diameter, pipe length, elevation, and pipe material. The more resistance that a pump encounters, the stronger pump you’re going to need.  In other words, a 3,000 GPH pump only maxes out at 3,000 GPH.  The more resistance you throw at it, the less actual flow you get.

Here’s a chart that shows how head pressure effects the Aquascape AquaSurge pumps (this is pretty typical):

And a similar chart for Atlantic Water Gardens Tidle Wave pumps:

As you can see, the amount of head pressure you have on your pump has a significant impact on the actual amount of water flow your pump will produce.  With 15′ of head, a lot of pumps are producing half their maximum rated flow.  So the next question we need to answer is how much head pressure will my pond produce?  This requires a little simple math.  You’ll need to add up the following:

1. Add 1 foot of head pressure for every foot of vertical lift (from the surface of the water to the top of the waterfall)
2. Add 1 foot of head pressure for every 10 feet of hose or pipe
3. Add 2 feet of head pressure for every 90 degree fitting
4. Add 1 foot of head pressure for every other type of fitting

#1+#2+#3+#4 = the total feet of head pressure

So for example, if you have a pond with a 5 foot waterfall, 20 feet of pipe, 1 90 degree fitting, and 1 other type of fitting, you would add it up like this:

5 (from the vertical lift) + 2 (from the feet of pipe)+ 2 (from the 90 degree fitting) + 1 (from the other fitting) = 10 total feet of head pressure

So you take the pumps performance chart, the amount of flow you want and the calculated head pressure of your pond and use those numbers to determine what size pump you need.

Cost to operate

One more calculation you want to be sure you run is the cost to run the pump.  Your pump will run most of the year (and for many climates, all year), so the electricity costs shouldn’t be ignored (especially if you’re still in the planning phase).

Most pumps have a watts rating.  This tells you how much power the pump draws.  You want to take that and multiply it by how much time the pump runs and multiply again by the cost of electricity (usually in kilowatt hours).  We can transform the pump wattage to kilowatts by dividing by 1000.  If we want to figure out the cost per month, we’ll need that number in hours, too (so we take the average number of days per month [30.42] and multiply it by the number of hours in a day [24] to get 730.08 average hours in a month).  So the formula to figure out the monthly cost to operate the pump looks like this:

(Pump Wattage/1000)  X  (730.08)  X (your electricity cost per KWH) = Cost to operate your pump per month

So to do an example, let’s say you are using the 4000 GPH AquaSurge pump (220 watts from the chart above) and you pay is $0.0983 per KWH (this was the US average in 2009).

220/1000 X 730.08 X $0.0983 = $15.79 per month

 Reliability

Since your pump will be running non-stop for most (if not all) of the year, the reliability of the pump should be a major part of your decision.  When your pump dies, your pond starts suffocating.

Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few brands of pump, look online for reviews.  You want to find unbiased evaluations of these brands to see what other pond owners have experienced.  If you know other pond keepers, it’s always good to ask them, too.

How long of a warranty does the pump come with?  This can be a good clue to how reliable the pump is.

This is also a major reason you want to buy a pump that is designed specifically to work in a pond.  It might be tempting to substitute something like a sump pump here (on paper they look comparable, good GPH, etc.), but that decision will likely turn into a major headache later.  Sump pumps aren’t designed to be run 24 hours a day, and it won’t be long before it burns out.

Pipes and Plumbing

In addition to your pump selection, you’ll want to give careful consideration to plumbing needs. An incorrect choice of pipe can cause friction and reduce the amount of flow your pump can produce.  Above 4,800 GPH of flow, you want to move up from 1.5″ diameter pipe to 2″ pipe. Otherwise, the pipe itself will throttle your water flow.

They type of pipe is also important. Flexible PVC pipe is a popular choice for pond projects since it can handle the turns and tight corners that often accompany residential installations. Not only that, but flexible PVC pipe contracts and expands with seasonal changes, eliminating potential plumbing headaches.

Enjoying the Results

When purchasing your pond’s pump, you can always consult with the retailer’s water garden expert to ensure you’re making the proper selection (Great idea!  Let them do the math : ). With the correct pump in hand, you’ll enjoy the delight of every pond owner when they first flip the switch and watch the cascade of water flow over the falls and into the pond (or you’ll frown and scowl at the wimpy trickle). All that’s left after adding the final touches of fish and plants is to pull up a chair, kick up your feet, grab a drink and enjoy the sight and sound of your beautiful waterfall and pond.

So what pump are you using?  I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.  Thanks!!

Check out Ewa in the Garden’s list of top 10 water garden pics.  She rounded up some very cool ponds!

If you’re looking for a very cool way to make your pond look more dramatic, I really like the Colorfalls that Atlantic Water Gardens makes.  It’s basically a lighted weir, so you end up with a waterfall with light flowing along with the water.  It’s a very cool look.  We’ll be doing a full post on them soon(ish).  In the meantime, here’s a picture:

If you have one of these (or a different, similarly cool looking setup), I’d love to include any pictures you have in the upcoming blog post.  Please email me at scot[at]lochnesswatergardens.com if you’d like to be featured in the post.  Thanks!!