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I got a heck of a deal on a TotalPond 3600GPH waterfall pump the other day.
I also found out that my pond is between 3000 and 4500 gallons.

I knew I was going to have to pump the water up and out of the pond for filtration, and I also wanted to run an irrigation system for aquaponics someday, so having such a massive pump seemed like a good idea at the time.

The problem I'm having is that now I can't find / make a filter that will handle a gallon a second. About the highest I could raise the water for a gravitational filtration system, up on the side of the pool, is maybe seven or eight feet, and that's still going to come out with ~2500GPH.

Should I look into a smaller pump / trade this one out? Or is there a way to work this out without blowing my soon-to-be-homemade filters up?

One idea I had for the winter was to make a coiled-tube solar setup, which might help slow down the water some, but ... I'm not sure how that would even work with how fast this water goes through pipes.

Also, do you think I could manage with a smaller pump / filter combo? Say, 560GPH? Or is that totally pointless?

I think I'm just going to get my money back for everything and do it later. I'm so disappointed that it didn't work out the way I had hoped.

Sorry to hear it, I'm not familiar with pond pumps.

Apparently neither am I. :\

Ill post this on a pond forum. See what they come up with.

Thanks!
I think maybe I need two smaller pumps, one on each end. Or one in the middle. ... I don't know.
/hands head in sadness

apondfortimmy wrote:Thanks!
I think maybe I need two smaller pumps, one on each end. Or one in the middle. ... I don't know.
/hands head in sadness

I know you need at least 2 pumps for such a large size to get enough circulation. You may think its overkill with just that 3600pump buts its not. Its only circulating the pond a little more then once in an hour. Im sure my friends on a very small pond forum can get you in the right direction. They actually have ponds that are that large. One has 1000 gallon pond that flows into a 8600 gallon pond x.x

Ah. I do think I'd feel more comfortable with two pumps; this one was huge and scared the turtles - I didn't see them show their heads for two days after I stopped the pump experiments. Could I get away with circulating it less than once an hour? Is the circulating just for the filter to work the best?

... I still need to work on that DIY super trash-can bio filter of doom thread. I just haven't started the thing yet. I think I'll be building the filter and THEN getting the pump(s) to work with that. Maybe.

First, just to help with exact amount of gallons you have: http://www.gardenendeavors.com/rack/pool10.html

They said this if your having problems with the force:
Install a "T" connection in the line from the pump and fit it with a valve that diverts water directly back to the pond. The valve can then be adjusted to divert water sufficient to allow the flow to the filter to be within the limits required.

Diamondbacks4Life wrote:First, just to help with exact amount of gallons you have: http://www.gardenendeavors.com/rack/pool10.html

They said this if your having problems with the force:
Install a "T" connection in the line from the pump and fit it with a valve that diverts water directly back to the pond. The valve can then be adjusted to divert water sufficient to allow the flow to the filter to be within the limits required.

Oh man! What a good idea!
And it says my pond is 6700 gallons but I really need to get a better measurement of the various depths. My water bill says I used roughly 5000 gallons more than the month prior, so I'm guessing 3000-4000 gallons as a safe estimate.

That T connection sure would stir the water up and cycle all the algae up, which would get it al into the filter better...

I won't take it all back just yet. You've given me hope that this might work.

I took it back and got another deal on a 560GPH pump with filter box and fountain attachment. I know it's less than what I should be running but at least I've gotten something to start with.
I plan on getting the right setup eventually but for right now the frustration was making it difficult enough to want to continue with it. Having a smaller, more manageable pump and built-in filter / aeration system helped save my sanity a bit. For now.