Run pump continuously or put it on a timer?

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The pump in my 1000 gallon pond runs 24/7. A pressure filter keeps the water clear, and a waterfall feature keeps the water aerated. The pond and my eight goldfish are happy.

That 4000 gph pump consumes power, (admittedly not a large amount) and it has a finite service life. It's also at the bottom of the pond, requiring me to reduce the water level and wade in to service it. I was thinking about putting it on a timer, turning it off for maybe eight or ten hours at night to save power and extend the life of the pump. I don't think that the lack of filtering and aeration during the off time would cause any problems.

Is it worth doing?
 
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Tie a thin rope to the pump for future retrieval. Anchor the end to something on the shore or around a heavy rock. And you probably should run it 24/7.
 

Mmathis

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Tie a thin rope to the pump for future retrieval. Anchor the end to something on the shore or around a heavy rock. And you probably should run it 24/7.
That’s exactly what I did — worked like a charm and kept me from tugging on the electric cord.
 
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Does no one else cover their pump with rocks or other stuff to hide it? That's what I did.
Naw, it just sits there. I need to retrieve it once in a while because junk can clog the little holes in the pump housing. Yeah, you can see it and the 1-1/2" black flex PVC coming out of it, but it is what it is.
 

IPA

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Do you know what your pump is putting out at the head? 2 foot, 4 foot rise etc. Could you use 2 smaller pumps and put one on a daylight timer to go off at night if reducing power consumption is your goal and would one smaller be enough to sustain flow through the system?
 
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I'll add my two cents. Your pump needs to run all the time. You risk losing beneficial bacteria in your filter if you aren't running the water continuously. Also, pond pumps are designed to run continuously - I've read that it can actually be harder on a pump to turn it on and off than it is to keep it running.

As for servicing the pump - what kind of service does your pump need with that frequency?
 
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I was thinking that I might occasionally have to clean the intake of crud. I may be worrying about nothing. I put one of those mesh bags around it when I installed it. Other than that, I'll just have to replace it when it fails. I bought a good pump. Should be good for several years. I was wondering if starting it up every day might be harder on it than just letting it run. I'm new to this. The pond was in the back yard when I bought the house.

Sounds like the consensus is to just let it run and replace it when it fails.

Here's my pond.

pond.jpg
 
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Does no one else cover their pump with rocks or other stuff to hide it? That's what I did.
If you water is clear enough to see your pump that well, you're winning the fight! I'd be proud of that. Mine has a T splitter so it has a fountain on top of it, which is what I use as a handle, but my pond is small. I did, however, have to weight my prefilter down with a rock. I pull and clean my pre-filter every other week. It's attached to the pump, so the whole thing comes out twice a month for a good hosing. I like to replace the activated carbon in my pre-filter box monthly to keep the water clear (as opposed to tinged green or brown depending on what season it is and the color of the leaves/buds/pollen falling in it). That being said, that does mean my pump is shut off (and restarted) at least twice a month (more if the GFI outlet trips or the breaker is thrown). So far it's holding up fine. It ran all winter too (without interruption once it got too cold to be dicking with water outside). But in general, you want the pump to run all the time. If you live in a place that freezes, you can choose to remove the pump and switch to aerators/breathers/heaters in the winter. If you plan to do that, you'll appreciate not having to wade in and move a lot of rocks to retrieve the pump in 40-50 degree water.
 
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Lovely pond. Our house had a pond the when we bought it too....we eventually had a bigger pond built. My filter pump is inside the skimmer. My other two pumps are plumbed with hard PVC and hang over into the pond. I don't want a pump on the bottom of my pond in case something goes wrong, it could drain the pond.
 

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