SO my pump died on me at the end of last season. So I need to get one. I was wondering what luck you guys had with your pumps and what type you recommend.

I need a submersable and need a minimum of 2500 GPH with an ability to push the head about 15’. My last pump I got at Menards. It was a Sunterra brand pump. I want a little better one.

If that is 15 vertical feet and you want an output at the head of 2,500 GPH, you will need a fairly powerful pump, say something rated for 4,000 - 4,500 GPH to push that head.

I think that if you go to a pond store, they will be able to steer you to the right pump.

If you decide to go to the big box store, don’t let the know nothing clerk try to sell you a sump pump. They are not rated for continuous running.

Yeah, the last pump was a 4000 GPH pump and unfortunately it only lasted about a year. So I will probably not by that brand again. I was curious if anyone had good success with another brand of pump.

Mine is an “Easy Pro” and honestly it is a bit noisey (under water too!). Sadly it seems the typical “garden pump” is not well designed or well made.

I know nothing about this subject but I’m thinking if garden pumps aren’t well made, perhaps you should look at swimming pool pumps. They are usually continuous duty.

The pump I had (I gave it away when I thought I was going to move) was purchased at a store that specializes in ponds. That was about 8 years ago. As far as I know, it is still going strong.

I looked into that Jon. I was told not a good idea. It had something to do with the water. Swimming pool water is usually a lot cleaner than water we have in our ponds so the pumps are made with that in mind. Dirtier water would ruin them quicker. At least that is what I was told. I’m not really sure but it sounded reasonable.

I went to a pond store for my second pump. The first one came with the fibreglass premade pond I bought from Sam’s Club on closeout. It lasted for a few years, then quit one day when I was away. I then used a couple of free above ground pool pumps (above ground) with a big home made filter box (so the water was fairly clean before running through the pump.

When the home made filter finally fell apart (note to self: kittly litter buckets are not UV resistant) I bought a filter and submerged pump from the pond store. I nearly croaked at the cost (I’m cheap, so spending $150 and still not getting an engine seemed a lot of money). But it’s run for several years with no problems. The filter is pretty big, so it takes about six months before it needs cleaning. I can tell it’s time because the waterfall slows down!

Moral of story. You can buy cheap pumps that fail and need to be replace, usually at the least convenient times, or you can get a quality pump AND filter and have more time for running trains.

Yeah I agree with ya Dick. I’m looking at a magnetic drive pump. Looks to be about $275. Its higher cause I need that head pressure and that means a bigger pump. Which also means that it costs more.

Here is what I’m looking at Laguna Max-flo 4200 GPH Pump

We tried several of the expensive, fancy pond pumps, magnetic drives/etc and they all died on us. We bought a Sunterra pond pump at our local farm store and it’s ran great for years! It was under a hundred bucks. We have a large one for the waterfall/filter and a smaller one for the stream. I have a filter up on top, by the waterfall that I made, copying some ideas from Marty and it works fine.

Hmm, my sunterra pump didnt even last a year. And I had pretty clear water the whole time and made sure I kept the inlet screen clean. We shall see if this new pump lasts.

Jake,
There is a Lagona 4500 on ebay at a great price. I run two Lagona pumps, a 900 and a 2000. The 900 burns 25 watts of power and has now run for 3 years without stopping.
Good Luck.

I have put in my Laguna 4200 and it runs great. But I now have another problem. I think my pressurized filter is too small. It is rated to handle 2000 GPH and this put is twice that. Will it hurt the filter if I run the bigger pump on it?

Hi Jack,
I don’t think you will damage the FILTER but you could damage the NEW PUMP. Only 2,000 gallons per hour will go through the filter in perfect conditions and less will pass through when the filter is in need of being serviced. I would recommend that you get a 2,000 gallon per hour pump or get the larger 4,200 gallon per hour filter. The filter and the pump should be matched.
sorry for the BAD NEWS but I hope that I have helped you,

Thanks for the info Ron. Its bad news, but helpful.