10,000GPH Pond Pump

Few questions:

1. What size tank/pond are you planning on running this on?

2. Did you see that the pump draws 1,000 Watts?

The manufacturer of the filter recommends using direct drive pumps, but I don't see why this pump would not work. It definitely looks powerful enough. They recommend using 3" plumbing for this beast with a minimum flow of 5,000GPH and the optimal (max) flow being 7,500GPH.

The pump would cost me almost $250/month to run (I pay $0.34 per KWhr). If you are closer to the national average of $0.11 per KWHr, that pump would cost you about $80/month.

Amazon doesn't provide the specs, but you can see them here: http://www.halfoffponds.com/patriotkoipondpumpkp1000010000gph.aspx

I can't imagine running a filtration system this large on anything that could fit in an apartment. The filter is designed to handle a koi pond of up to 10,000G. If you are wanting to use the filter even though you know it is oversized for your setup because you got a good deal on it, I would think twice; the monthly operating costs are going to be pretty brutal. Also, in order to backflush/wash the media, you will probably go through several hundred gallons of water. Would this be possible?

I don't mean to sound negative...just want to make sure you know what you are getting into with that monster pump.

Good points Alex. VLDesign is running an Ultima 6000 on his 2700 gallon tank with two Hammerhead/Barracuda pumps. How big is your tank/pond in your apartment that requires an Ultima 10,000?

One thing to keep in mind is that not all pumps are quiet. I've never read "quiet" in the description of any pond pump. Reeflo pumps are advertised as "quiet". Just thought I'd mention that in case noise factor is a concern to you....perhaps the Patriot pump is quiet. The pricing is certainly a lot less than a Reeflo pump of comparable specs.

I'm all about overkill on filtration, but this just wouldn't make any sense. The goal is to have filtration that can keep ammonia in check and maintain good clarity. You can do this with a smaller model Ultima which would require a much smaller pump. Even if your electric rates are low, you would just be throwing money out the window on this oversized system. Fully backwashing the 10,000 model is basically going to empty your entire tank; in my opinion, it just wouldn't work. But you can call a few koi shops and see what they would recommend. I just got a Pentair Intelliflo Variable Speed Pump installed on my pool and I have seen some pond setups that use these. They are awesome...you can set the RPMs to basically whatever you want so you can fine tune your setup to have exactly the amount of flow you want. Very cool pumps but they are expensive.

But if I were you, I would get the Ultima II 2,000 model and run a Reeflo Super Dart Gold on it. If you end up upgrading (buying a bigger tank or adding more tanks), it should still be sufficient.

I knoe your tank is big with good amount of large fish but this seems like some serious overkill and uneccessary imo. and sounds like electric costs are gonna be very high so dpesnt seem lile your best option no matter the deal you get on it

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The minimum flow that Aqua UV recommends for the Ultima II 10,000 is 5,000GPH @ 10' of head. The Hammerhead does 4,880GPH @ 9' of head so I'm guessing it'll be closer to 4,700GPH @ 10'. Might be close enough, but if the minimum flow truly has to be 5,000GPH, then the Hammerhead won't cut it.

I'm not following your comment on not being able to find the wattage of the Ultima 10,000. There are no eletrical components to the actual filter unit. The pump moves water through the unit, so the watts that the pump draws is all you would need to be concerned with. If you meant the wattage of the Hammerhead/Barracuda pump, @ 9' of head it draws 365 watts.

I had the Hammerhead Gold (which does less GPH than the standard Hammerhead or the hybrid Barracuda/Hammerhead model) and it was LOUD. There is no way I would want that noise in my living room. But regardless of the noise, it would be impractical because of the amount of water needed to fully backwash the filter. You would need several hundred gallons to fully clean out the filter media.

I honestly wouldn't try to set this filter up even if I got it for free because it is so enormous. In the long run, you will be better off with the Ultima II 2,000 model paired with the Reeflo Super Dart Gold (This pump runs very quietly relative to the Hammerhead).

I think the neighbors may complain about the noise, it is almost certainly going to be pretty loud.