"David Johnston" wrote in message
news:FN25d.17223$He1.14947@attbi_s01...
I have a Danner 1800 gal pump in my 500 gallon pond. It draws from a
skimmer and pushes out to a waterfall w/biofalls. The pump is forever
clogging up and it is getting old having to get the pump out of the pond and
remove the hoses every other week to clear it. (My 'barometer' that its
time to clean is when the waterfall slows to a trickle).

The skimmer has a cheesy basket in it which obviously allows too much debris
to pass. Any suggestions on what I can add - perhaps an inline filter - to
keep the pump clear?

Thanks!

Dave in Des Moines


You should put an inline pre-filter between your skimmer and the pump. I have a
five gallon Tetra brand pre-filter that works great for my purposes, but you can
build one that is cheaper and probably works better for your needs (my pond
holds about 1,500 gallons). You need inflow from your skimmer to the
pre-filter, then a course filter media, followed by biologic filtration, such as
lava rock in nylon netting. Then, of course, outflow from the pre-filter to
your pump. That should keep most debris out of your pump, and will allow the
microbes in the main filter to do their job more efficiently without getting
overwhelmed. Then once every 2-4 weeks, you just clean out the pre-filter (make
sure that you design it, or buy one that is designed to be easy to clean). I
have no skimmer in my pond, so I just use a coat hanger wire to grab the
pre-filter, and pull it to the surface, where I drain the crud out and rinse the
filter pad (I use pond water to rinse out the pad), then put it back together
and drop it back in the pond. It takes about five minutes, twice per month. I
opened my main filter for the first time this year, and after 18 months of near
continuous operation, it was essentially clean as a whistle, no serious grunge,
no sludge build up, and the gravel was not compacted at all. Water in the pond
is crystal clear all the way to the bottom (45").

An alternative would be to get buy a utility pump like I did. I have a flotec
utility pump that pumps about 1,400 gph. It will practically pump pure sand
with no damage or clogging of the pump. I've never had to clean my pump. Of
course, unless you retrofit your filtration system to be a suction type, this
kind of pump may not be what you need. But there are positive pressure pumps
out there that should work for you that aren't too susceptible to clogging.