Turn Pond Water Pump Off At Night?

Posted by Pond Keeper

Is it a good idea to turn my pond water pump off at night and back on during the day to lower my electricity bill?

Kenny,

Pumps run 24 hours a day and are the chief piece of equipment responsible for keeping your pond healthy.

One of the most important things that you can do when setting up a new pond is to get the proper equipment installed. The pump you install should move at least 1/2 of the total pond volume for a water garden. The term “water garden” is assumed to be a pond with lots of plants and some fish. A koi pond usually has few plants and large fish requiring more filtration than a water garden. This type of pond is better off moving at least the full volume of the pond each hour.

Besides moving the water you also want to filter the water. The pump should move water through a filter that is sized for your pond. Biological filtration takes several weeks or months to mature to the point that it makes a major improvement on your water quality. The filter needs to run 24 hours a day 7 days a week to work.

Posted in: pond water pump Comments(9) September 2009


9 Responses to “Turn Pond Water Pump Off At Night?”

  1. >jen< Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    You could do that. Actually a pretty good idea.
    References :

  2. the bellepepper Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    I seriously doubt that your pump uses more that a couple of bucks a month, running full time. I never turn mine off and in fact, think that it would upset the environment of the pond to do so. I’m not an expert on this, but keep the pump running. We open our bedroom window at night just to hear the soothing sound of it. Worth a lot more than the cost of a latte at Starbucks.
    References :

  3. lady Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 4:57 pm

    The question is…..Do you have fish in this pond? If your answer is yes…you should have the pump running at all times. The water will be depleted in oxygen if the pump is not working and your fish will suffer for it. The good bacteria and algae will also die off in non oxygenated water. Also mosquito’s breed in non circulating water.
    References :

  4. bailie28 Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

    we only turned our pond pump on when we were outside to enjoy the pond…that way if our pump got knocked over we were there to keep the water from being pumped out of the pond…which did actually happen due to wind alot..lol…my goldfish in the pond…have lived thru two winters and a summer just this way…they dont need the pump to survive the wind keeps enough oxygen in the pond with ripples that its fine…as for the mosquito’s…they form in any standing water..they form in normal ground ponds..they will form in your pond whether you have the pump running or not…we have had our pond 8 years now..and the first year we ran it all the time…we still had mosquito’s and that was the only water source around…frogs started coming to the pond after we turned the pond off..which was actually cool..part of the summer we had tadpoles and the fish of course ate some of them…
    References :

  5. yo Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 5:36 pm

    LEAVE IT ON 24/7
    References :

  6. Spectre Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    If your pump is rated to run 24/7 you can leave it running.
    To save electricity you could get a simple timer and set it to run for 30 mins 2 or 3 times at night and run all day. Or you could have it coming on/off at various times thru day & night. This should keep water oxygenated enough
    References :
    I use a timer and this works for us , however we dont have fish
    Landscaper/Nurseryman
    Pond Builder

  7. Christian Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 6:34 pm

    If you don’t have fish that’s an excellent plan. If you have fish you could probably get away with it but it would depend on many factors like temperature, type of fish, cleanliness of the pond, etc.

    Christian
    http://allyoudoisfeedthefish.net/index.html
    References :

  8. T Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 7:21 pm

    lady is correct. Assuming you have both plants and fish in you pond, the pump is more important to be on at night rather than the day. At night plants consume O2 and produce CO2; therefore, O2 and pH drops. In the day, the opposite takes place.
    References :

  9. David W Says:
    September 10th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

    Kenny,

    Pumps run 24 hours a day and are the chief piece of equipment responsible for keeping your pond healthy.

    One of the most important things that you can do when setting up a new pond is to get the proper equipment installed. The pump you install should move at least 1/2 of the total pond volume for a water garden. The term “water garden” is assumed to be a pond with lots of plants and some fish. A koi pond usually has few plants and large fish requiring more filtration than a water garden. This type of pond is better off moving at least the full volume of the pond each hour.

    Besides moving the water you also want to filter the water. The pump should move water through a filter that is sized for your pond. Biological filtration takes several weeks or months to mature to the point that it makes a major improvement on your water quality. The filter needs to run 24 hours a day 7 days a week to work.
    References :
    http://ponds.gardenhows.com