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What pump for an Aquapro 12L pond?

What pump is best to run an Aquapro 12L Medium Rock Look Twin Cascade? I also have the Aquapro rock look pond (I think it is the 100L one). Ideally I want something to side along the bottom not taking up too much pond space.

Any advice? What have people used?

the main feature I want is to run the waterfall...if it also filters the water even better. I don't want to spend a huge amount of money though.

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MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @cbeal. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about pond pumps.

When selecting a pump, you need to consider the max head height and flow rate. Presuming that your twin cascade is placed directly on the pond and not highly elevated, most of our medium and large pumps with be fine to use.

Our resident expert @Adam_W actually put a similar pond to yours together. I'll include the video below. It looks like he's used something like the AquaPro AP1050 Water Feature Pump. This unit is excellent as you can remove the tiny filter it comes with and install an Aquapro 300 x 120 x 120mm Medium Prefilter Sponge which is much more effective and easy to clean.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Adam_W

Hi @cbeal and welcome!
Running a cascade is a fantastic idea as it improves water quality by enhancing water circulation and aerating the water.

In that video I use an Aquapro 2400F and a 300L pond. That gave me really nice water flow for that pond size.

If you are using a 100L pond then @MitchellMc's suggestion of an AP1050 is spot-on for pump size.
What you need to look at is the 'head', this is the sliding scale of how much water a pump can move at given heights above pond water level. A smaller pump might be described as pumping to 50cm but the output will be inadequate to run a cascade.
If you check the 'head' guide for the AP1050 it outputs, coincidently, 1050l/hr at 50cm. That should be more than enough for your situation.
You'll find you can conceal the pump quite well by placing it out of view under the cascade lip (in the bottom of the pond of course).
I highly recommend, again, as Mitch said, adding an external sponge-block pre-filter. This massively improves the filtering of the water and also makes it easier for your pump to move more water as they clog less often than the inbuilt filter. Just connect it with flexible hose and position it at the far end of the pond away from the cascade. This way you are maximising water circulation and eliminating 'dead spots' in the water.
Hope this helps!

Dewald Brevis

For a 12L Aquapro pond, you only need a very small submersible pump something in the 150–300 litres per hour (LPH) range is usually more than enough.

Because the pond only holds 12 litres, the goal is gentle circulation, not strong flow. As a general rule, you want the water turning over about once per hour. Anything much stronger can create too much movement, splash water out, or stress small plants and fish (if you have any). Many small Pond Pumps come with adjustable flow, which is helpful so you can fine-tune it rather than running at full power.

Also check the “head height” rating on the pump. Even a small tabletop fountain can need 40–60cm of lift. If the pump’s max head is too low, you’ll get a weak trickle instead of a steady stream.

For example, if you’re just running a small fountain feature in the middle, a 200 LPH adjustable pump with at least 0.6m head height would be a safe choice. If it’s only for circulation without a fountain, you could even go smaller.

Takeaway: For a 12L pond, think small, adjustable, and gentle flow around 200 LPH with adequate head height is usually spot on.

JacobZ

Hi @Dewald Brevis,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is wonderful to have you with us.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience about pond pumps. I am sure many readers will find it useful in the future.

Jacob

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