Pond Pumps - what do you use?

rainbowcharmer

rainbowcharmer

AC Members
Jul 30, 2007
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East Coast, USA
So when I built my 1500+ gallon pond a couple of years ago, it was suggested that rather than spend $300 or so on a pump specifically called a "pond pump" that I get a dirty water pump from Harbor Freight. It was $60 and had a year warranty, and it pumped the volume I needed. So that's what I got. I went through about 3 of them the first year, and have been through a couple more since then. I thought that perhaps the reason I was burning through them so fast (they'd start faulting out my outdoor outlet within 3-6 months) was that I was running it 24 hours a day. At one point when we lost the pump over the winter last year, I was NOT interested in getting into the freezing cold water, so we bought a high-powered air pump and have two big air discs in the pond that run 24 hours now too. So I thought - water is moving, fish are happy, pump hasn't run in months... when we finally fished out the broken one and swapped it out, we put it on a timer to run 12 hours a day and had it off at night. That one died in a month. So apparently the 24 hours a day thing wasn't the issue. I'm beginning to think it's the quality of these Harbor Freight models. It wouldn't be such a big deal to keep swapping them out (basically at no charge other than the time and gasoline involved to do so), but now they don't make them with long enough cords... the last time we went to swap out, the models only have 10' cords instead of 18' and 10' does not reach my outlet... so we had to rig up a way to keep the connection from getting wet and used an extension cord to get to the outlet. This is not a long-term solution...

So... my question is... what models/brands of pumps have you had success with and which ones to avoid?? There are lots out there, and the prices are all over the board... but I'm hesitant to just dive into something without getting some opinions first.

Add to the fact that I can't just drive one of them back to a store since no local stores carry anything high-volume enough for what I need (i.e. Lowes sells pumps for 200 gallon "ponds"), so I'll have to get it online. And that makes returns a lot riskier.

Thanks in advance for any input!!
 
What was the model of the pump you bought?

I got this one:http://www.harborfreight.com/submersible-waterfall-pump-68418.html
After the first week, it quit on me. I pulled it out and it felt hot, almost too hot to hold. I went ahead and just let it sit for about a day, then plugged it back in and it has now been working for about three months. I suppose you could try this one, since it's MUCH cheaper than other "pond" pumps. If you're using it for a water feature, I would put a T-fitting with a valve in the output hose running to the feature to redirect some of the water; this pump has over 2000 gph, so it can be a little much for a waterfall.
 
The models I tried were all "dirty water pumps", meant more for sump pump use than for pond use. But they pushed 3000gph, which was what I was aiming for. This one may work. I'll do some research on it. Thanks for the input!
 
Just a note on the pump that I posted: that round, slitted casing can be removed, and underneath there is a fitting that you can attach pvc pipe to. The water is actually pulled through that single fitting. What I ended up doing was attaching two prefilters to that fitting so that I could draw water from both ends of the pond. Thought that might be important information.
 
Gosh the pumps that I use are free for the taking. Folks ask "can you use this, or would you like this". My replie is ofcourse I would be delighted to get your pump. Get some duds sometimes but have 4 of 6 working.
 
i use a pool pump, from the blow up pools they have super long cords and you can buy replacement filter cartridges for them its more of a canister filter style but saves you the time and energy of fishing it out of the pond
 
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