Timer to turn pond pump on at dawn and off at dusk?
 

All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is
there a timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?

"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:N1Oce.616$HD4.254@okepread02...
All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is there a
timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?

If you have fish and a biofilter, it is always best to leave the pump running.
Not doing so can risk killing off the beneficial bacteria in the filter, and
cause nutrient/toxin build up in the pond.

"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:N1Oce.616$HD4.254@okepread02...
All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is
there a timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?

Couldn't you just use one of those timers from Wal-Mart that turns on and
off based on the actual time itself?

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Gareee© wrote:
"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:N1Oce.616$HD4.254@okepread02...

All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is
there a timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?


Couldn't you just use one of those timers from Wal-Mart that turns on and
off based on the actual time itself?


Yea, I just thought it would be nice to have it come on and off at the
right time so I wouldn't have to adjust the timer.

George wrote:
"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:N1Oce.616$HD4.254@okepread02...

All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is there a
timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?


If you have fish and a biofilter, it is always best to leave the pump running.
Not doing so can risk killing off the beneficial bacteria in the filter, and
cause nutrient/toxin build up in the pond.



I don't have a biofilter but I have a veggie filter and stream. Is it
bad to turn the stream off?

http://members.cox.net/michaelshaffer/pond1.jpg
http://members.cox.net/michaelshaffer/pond2.jpg
http://members.cox.net/michaelshaffer/pond3.jpg

George wrote:
"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:N1Oce.616$HD4.254@okepread02...

All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is there a
timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?


If you have fish and a biofilter, it is always best to leave the pump running.
Not doing so can risk killing off the beneficial bacteria in the filter, and
cause nutrient/toxin build up in the pond.



The only reason I wanted to turn the pump off is it uses about 460 watts
of electricity, otherwise I would leave it on all the time.

Do you have fish in the pond, if so, how many,
what kind are they and how big are they?

Fish is your consideration if you can turn a
pump on and off.

Few fish, small fish and you can turn off the pump.
Large fish, lots of them you may end up with dead
fish in the morning.
Plants in the pond go from making oxygen in the
day to *using* oxygen at night.
Turning off the pump just adds to the oxygen debt
over the night hours.
Few small fish can deal with it.
Lots of large fish can not.
Hope that helps!

kathy :-)
www.blogfromthebog.com

kathy wrote:
Do you have fish in the pond, if so, how many,
what kind are they and how big are they?

Fish is your consideration if you can turn a
pump on and off.

Few fish, small fish and you can turn off the pump.
Large fish, lots of them you may end up with dead
fish in the morning.
Plants in the pond go from making oxygen in the
day to *using* oxygen at night.
Turning off the pump just adds to the oxygen debt
over the night hours.
Few small fish can deal with it.
Lots of large fish can not.
Hope that helps!

kathy :-)
www.blogfromthebog.com


3 Koi and 1 Comet. The Koi are 12",8" and 6". The Comet is 6". They
survived the whole winter without the pump running.

"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:BDOce.621$HD4.592@okepread02...
George wrote:
"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:N1Oce.616$HD4.254@okepread02...

All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is there
a timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?


If you have fish and a biofilter, it is always best to leave the pump
running. Not doing so can risk killing off the beneficial bacteria in the
filter, and cause nutrient/toxin build up in the pond.

I don't have a biofilter but I have a veggie filter and stream. Is it bad to
turn the stream off?

If you have an aerator to keep the water oxygenated, the fish will be ok.
However, you should always have water running through your veggie filter to keep
the plants fed and the nutrient load down. That is, after all, the purpose of
having the veggie filter in the first place. If your pump uses too much
electricity, perhaps you should look into buying a more efficient one.

http://members.cox.net/michaelshaffer/pond1.jpg
http://members.cox.net/michaelshaffer/pond2.jpg
http://members.cox.net/michaelshaffer/pond3.jpg

That's a nice pond, by the way.

"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:MEOce.622$HD4.311@okepread02...
George wrote:
"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
news:N1Oce.616$HD4.254@okepread02...

All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is there
a timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?


If you have fish and a biofilter, it is always best to leave the pump
running. Not doing so can risk killing off the beneficial bacteria in the
filter, and cause nutrient/toxin build up in the pond.

The only reason I wanted to turn the pump off is it uses about 460 watts of
electricity, otherwise I would leave it on all the time.

You might want to look into buying a cheaper one that uses much less electricity
and that you can keep on at night. That way, you can turn the bigger pump on
during the day, and then switch to the smaller pump at night.

Michael,
In the winter when you didn't have the pump running the water was
colder and therefore naturally held more oxygen and the fish
metabolisms were lower since they were colder. Since those are some
pretty big fish I wouldn't risk losing them by not having some form of
aeration. You could probably find something that would agitate the
water for less wattage at night.

James

You might try an aquarium pump to bubble at night. Less cost and good
oxygenation...Don't know how much air needed.

Jim


Michael Shaffer wrote:
All the photoelectric timers I've seen are opposite of what I need. Is
there a timer that turns the power on at daybreak and off at dusk?