SHMBO has declared that having a pump in the water of our small fountain (20 gals) is too much hassle. She wants one that sits outside the fountain so we won't have to clean of debris, occasionally. (BTW, I'm usually the one that does the cleaning and don't think it's much of a hassle.) I've been searching online for a small pump that sits out of a fountain, with no luck. Do they exist?

And yes, I raised the point that we'd still need some kind of filtering on the intake hose for such a pump, in the water, that would need occasional cleaning.

SHMBO = She who must be obeyed.

Good luck! We've had aquariums where the filters were outside the tank, so it seems like it should be possible for a fountain, but I don't know of any. My ponds and fountains all have the filters and pumps in the water.

Welcome crizal!

I was wondering what SHMBO meant until I got to the end of your post!

Unfortunately, I don't think they make external fountain pumps. I've only seen externals for ponds and one of those would certainly be overkill to the max for your 20 gallon fountain.

CRIZAL: Firstly, welcome to the form. Secondly, thank you for SHMBO, because I always stated: "the Woman who must be obeyed" which does not easily reduce down to an acronym! With respect to your question about external filters, there are tons of same available. They are usually referred to as "canister" filters. Google "canister" filters, and up will come a zillion, such as "Fluval", "PennPlax," "Marineland", and on and on! None of which are cheap, particularly for a 20 gallon water feature, BUT, ease of use is always important! Incidentally, in the external canister pump, which never makes direct contact with the water feature water, the Pump and the Filter, are both contained in the one external unit. Take it from me. Amongst my numerous Marketing adventures, many, many years ago, and with a regular job at the time, I opened up a "Pet Stuff" location, and then another, sold thousands of dollars worth of tropical/salt water fish and aquarium equipment. It was a whirl! Cheers!

@fwmosher I was thinking about cannister filters, but wouldn't they be too strong and "overkill" for a 20 gallon fountain? They are more geared to ponds of many, many more gallons.

Ehiem is another good brand for external pumps/filters