pump questions

We've started digging! Pictures are posted here
http://home.comcast.net/~lyddie/picture.htm as we progress. There are only
2 pictures there so far under the "creating our water garden" section and
it's just an unfinished hole so nothing too interesting yet .

But we have liner and we're hoping for a dry night sometime when we get home
from work to finish digging and start lining. We'd like to have a small
waterfall - just a couple-three feet tall at the most so I'm pump shopping.
I think our pond is going to be about 450-500 gallons when we're completely
done.

What's the difference between a "waterfall pump" and a plain "pump" that
advertises being good for many things, including waterfalls?

Any opinions on good brands? I'm looking at pumps listed on
http://www.123ponds.com . I like the Pondmaster9.5 which has the following
specs:

-18' long 3 prong grounded cord
-950 GPH max flow
-120V with cord suitable for indoor or outdoor use
-can be operated submersible or in-line
-plastic finned pre-filter now included for greater flow through
-consumes max of 93 Watts
-14' shut off

At 2 ft. it pumps 900 gph, at 3 ft it pumps 850 gph, 4 ft. at 800 gph.


Is it doable/ok to get a pump that is rated for a little more than the
volume of a pond so that you have extra pumping power? Then get a Y
splitter type attachment of some sort with control valves (do they make such
a thing that would be useable or adaptable for a pond pump?). One branch of
the Y would be a tube to the waterfall and the other branch would be for a
small fountain spray.


Thanks,
Lydia

There is nothing wrong with that, I have a Sequence pump running my
waterfall and my turtle spitter. I believe the simpler the better.
"Lydia" wrote in message
...
We've started digging! Pictures are posted here
http://home.comcast.net/~lyddie/picture.htm as we progress. There are
only
2 pictures there so far under the "creating our water garden" section and
it's just an unfinished hole so nothing too interesting yet .

But we have liner and we're hoping for a dry night sometime when we get
home
from work to finish digging and start lining. We'd like to have a small
waterfall - just a couple-three feet tall at the most so I'm pump
shopping.
I think our pond is going to be about 450-500 gallons when we're
completely
done.

What's the difference between a "waterfall pump" and a plain "pump" that
advertises being good for many things, including waterfalls?

Any opinions on good brands? I'm looking at pumps listed on
http://www.123ponds.com . I like the Pondmaster9.5 which has the
following
specs:

-18' long 3 prong grounded cord
-950 GPH max flow
-120V with cord suitable for indoor or outdoor use
-can be operated submersible or in-line
-plastic finned pre-filter now included for greater flow through
-consumes max of 93 Watts
-14' shut off

At 2 ft. it pumps 900 gph, at 3 ft it pumps 850 gph, 4 ft. at 800 gph.


Is it doable/ok to get a pump that is rated for a little more than the
volume of a pond so that you have extra pumping power? Then get a Y
splitter type attachment of some sort with control valves (do they make
such
a thing that would be useable or adaptable for a pond pump?). One branch
of
the Y would be a tube to the waterfall and the other branch would be for a
small fountain spray.


Thanks,
Lydia