My main criteria for buying a pump for my pond waterfall was power consumption. I wanted something that uses low power. I settled on the Pondmaster 18 which is rated at 150 watts. It draws water from my pond skimmer which has a screen and a basket to catch debris. Problem is that I have string algae and it doesn't take much to clog the pump. I have to take it apart about every 2 weeks which is becoming tedious.

Question: should I be looing at a 'stronger' pump with more power that in theory would 'chomp' thru the debris, or is there a better pump that is less prone to clogging? (I'd still like to keep power low, but at this point, I'd be ok with sacrificing power conservation in exchange for less maintenance.

Any help is appreciated!

What is the GPH of the pump you are using now? What is the hp too?

Hello Cornbuzzer (not quite sure what your name means but then again I am a reforming city boy) and welcome to Pond Boss. You are in the hands of one of our resident experts so I'll stay out of the way and let you two work on the problem. I just wanted to say thanks for joining up and posting. OH and Hi Cary!

Hey Jeff,

Cornbuzzer....hmmm us from NC can think of runnin shine, isn't that stuff made from corn?

Thanks for the kind words.

You can reduce the clogging by drawing water from under a course gravel pile.....

Cary

It moves 1800 GPH. (I have a 500 gal pond). Not sure of the HP. It isn't listed.

Thanks

Dave

Ha - thanks! Umm, cornbuzzer is the name I picked up when I used to fly ultralights. I used to see how much corn tassle I could bring home in the landing gear!

Really! :-)

1HP is 750watt.
So your pump 150watts should then be 0,2HP