pump protection

[Julius Leonid Maestral]

My pond was all cool and lively until I decided to add water hyacinths which covered 50% of the surface area of the pond. the problem started when my submersible pump started to break down due to clogging by the roots of the water hyacinths! At first the pump continued to function after some cleaning; but eventually it totally broke down! I was out of town when this happened, so ALL the koi suffocated I guess... What I want to know, is there any way to protect the submersible pump from being clogged by roots or any other debris?

 

[koiguy1969]

two cloices ...contain the roots or contatn the pump.
roots....http://www.tetra-fish.com/email/intoThePond/sep10/contest.html
pump..........build/buy a prefilter.. or a cage for the pump to prvent the roots from getting close enough to the pumps inlet to get sucked in.

 

[rdk]

A good pre-filter is worth everything. RDK