Hi all,

I live in the Los Angeles area with a 2,200 gal Koi and gold fish pond
(right now, only one Koi and about 20 gold fish). The pond has two Aquascape
Pro 3000 gal/hr pumps with about an 8 foot head to the bio filter which
feeds a 20 foot stream and waterfalls (each pump has about a 2K gal/hr flow
at 10ft head). I normally only run one pump at a time other than for
cleaning or treating.

My question for the group is do any of you cycle your pump off and on at
night? I have converted the house to photo voltaic (solar electric) and have
become very conscious of the electricity that I use. I currently am going to
be able to generate a small surplus yearly (i.e., I generate more
electricity than I use), but would not mind sending more back to the grid if
I am able to do so.

I read where the bacteria in the bio filter will die off if they do not
receive water changes within five hours. I have a timer that is programmable
hour by hour, and I was thinking that at night I could run the pump for an
hour and then have it off for an hour, on for the next hour and then off for
an hour, etc.

The Aquascape Pro 3000 uses about 280 watts per hour, and if I cycle it off
for four hours a day, it would save about 408 kWh a year; six hours a day
would save 613 kWh a year. Those quantities could be enough to power an
average house for a month.

I am thinking green here, but do not want to damage the health of my bio
filter or my fish. I think the pond probably is over-pumped and
over-filtered and I am just burning energy that could be sent elsewhere.



I would appreciate your experiences, advice and opinions on the nightly hour
on, hour off cycle proposition here.

Thank you,

doug