The importance of keeping your submersible pump off the bottom

[poconojoe]

I would like to stress keeping your submersible pump off the bottom.

We've had this discussion many times, but I want to explain this to anyone new to the hobby.

It seems no matter how well you clean the bottom, debris still somehow collects on the bottom.

I keep my pump off the bottom by suspending it with a string. This pump feeds my bog filter.

I was getting a slow down of water returning from the bog to the pond. I thought my bog needed its manifolds flushed. I flushed them and it seemed good, but a few days later I had to do it again.

I thought to myself, the pump intake can't be clogged, I cleaned it in early Spring. I pulled the pump and there was a thick blanket of debris clogging the intake holes! Then I realized it had worked it's way to the bottom somehow.
I dropped the pump back in and made sure it was indeed suspended well above the bottom by tying the string securely to a sizable rock.

It's now been several days and the flow has not depleted.

 

[Mmathis]

Good point!

It also protects your fish in the event of an unexpected leak that depletes the pond quickly. If the pump is OFF the bottom, all of the water won’t be pumped out.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

My pump is in my skimmer & it still manages to get clogged up on a regular basis. We do have a particularly high debris load, though, living in the woods. A lot of the small stuff gets right through the skimmer basket holes.

 

[poconojoe]

Good point!

It also protects your fish in the event of an unexpected leak that depletes the pond quickly. If the pump is OFF the bottom, all of the water won’t be pumped out.

Another good point!

 

[poconojoe]

My pump is in my skimmer & it still manages to get clogged up on a regular basis. We do have a particularly high debris load, though, living in the woods. A lot of the small stuff gets right through the skimmer basket holes.

That is exactly why I no longer use a skimmer.
Albeit, my skimmer wasn't top of the line by any means, but small debris would get past the pads and constantly jamb up the pump's impeller on a daily basis.
We have a lot of trees too.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

That is exactly why I no longer use a skimmer.
Albeit, my skimmer wasn't top of the line by any means, but small debris would get past the pads and constantly jamb up the pump's impeller on a daily basis.
We have a lot of trees too.

I can't even imagine what my pond would look like withOUT a skimmer. Small debris is one thing, dealing without an outlet for ALL the TONS of forest debris without some mechanical removal boggles my mind. I think I'll just keep on keeping on with my current system. Once again lending credence to the mantra: Every pond is different & no two systems are the same.