Mike, I prefer oil-free pumps. To many bad stories of pumps losing oil and killing pond. I use Harbor Freight pumps which can be repaired at home by ordering replacement parts. They are also not as expensive. The new Aquascape products are not that good.

Oil is mineral oil. You can rub this on a babys bottom. No harm to fish & pond life it it leaks. Don't think harbor freight makes a large enough pump for my pond & their not as cheap to run. Fixed this at home except for the bearings. The pumps I've seen at haerbor freight are sump pumps. Not for a pond. Not built for constant 24 hour a day running. Good luck. Mike

Rose is correct oil cooled pumps, for pond use, are filled with mineral oil nowadays and that will not harm fish or plants if it the pump seals dry out,then crack and the oil escapes into the pond.
Should mineral oil (or any other type) leak from a pump,there will be an oily sheen on the water surface which can be easily run off, by over filling the pond to where the water runs out at a low spot or by floating sheets of paper towel on the surface to soak it up.
If you do have an oil cooled pump and you remove it from the pond over winter, be sure to store it in a bucket of water to keep the pump's seals from drying out.
Mag pumps, on the other hand, do not require to be kept in water if stored out of the pond over winter, they do not have the same type of seals.
Mineral oil is harmless anyway, you can even drink it to keep your digestive system lubricated!
"Horton"

Sorry Mike, I called you Rose!!!LOL
"Horton"

I'm sorry but obviously you did not put in the right words to do a search in Harbor Freight to find the waterfall pumps that I ordered for a friend that pumped 4000 GPH. IT WAS NOT A SUMP PUMP! My honest opinion is that Aquascape products are over-priced crap and I'd rather buy Chinese than that. I didn't realize that you were set on using Aquascape products or I would have not responded. Do what you want to do but there are other brands that are better than Aquascape but you're not interested. Honestly, I will never use an oil filled pump in a pond.

I'm not set on using the aquascape brand pumps. The pump I have is made by Tsurumi. Just made the point that I repaired it for $150.00 & didn't have to buy a new one for $550.00. I was going to by a Sequence external pump if this one couldn't be repaired. I'll check out at harbor frieght & see if I can find a larger pump. Mike

The Tsurumi that you have is from when Tsurumi was still making very good pumps. Personally I would not buy another Aquascape pump. I have brought and resold 6 aquascape pumps and only one made it through the warranty period and that one made it by two days. These pumps were so bad that I didn't even take them back to get a new pump. I figured why get a new piece of junk. That was a few years ago and maybe they are better now but I don't think so. I have had a lot of customers that want to buy a new Aquascape pump to replace their old one but I refuse to sell them that pump. I would rather not sell them a pump then to sell them a piece of junk. Yes I have lost some money because I wouldn't sell them that pump and they have gone else where. I would rather loose a little money than to have a customer that is unhappy with me. Most of them have come back and brought a good to replace the junk that they got when I wouldn't sell it to them.
Mike

Hope I can get another 7 years out of this pump. What kind do you install now? Sequence are good I know. Mike

Mike,
In a submersible pump I am using ShinMaywa pumps. They are still using the same motor assemblies that the old Tsurumi's used which means they should last like the old Tsurumi's did. Which should make this the best submersible pump on the market. I have been using these for three years now and haven't seen one failure yet which is what I use to see out of Tsurumi. On an external pump I use Performance Pro.
Mike

I couldn't start my Aquascape 3000 pump today. It kept humming but did not turn. Where can I get a ShinMaywa pump near Oakville Ontario Canada? Does it fit into a rectangular skimmer?

Thanks
Simon

Simon,
I do not know where you can get a ShinMaywa pump in Ontario Canada but if you email me I will email address of the sales manager for North America ShinMaywa. I am sure that he can put you in contact with someone that can sell to you. And yes it should fit your skimmer depending on who made your skimmer.
Mike

I have an aquascape 3000 pump that is still in warranty - do I send it back? Also, I have another 3000 aquascape pump that has quit running - can it be refurbished? Please advise.

I had an aquascape set up. I had to remove the rock's from the bottom and side's after about the second season, It was a smelly mess. My 3000 gal aquascape pump quit two days before the warranty was up. I called and they replaced the pump with no problem.That one lasted one year. Now I have mag drive 3200 gal.pump so far it is doing a great job. I hope it lasts a while. I only paid $199.99 on sale. I purchased it from 123 ponds. I am in love with my pond. My fish seem healthy and happy.

Since my old pump is likely to give up soon I am looking for a replacement so I checked out the ShinMaywa ads and the smallest is 3000 gallons per hour which is a bit large for my 1000 gallon pond. Do you have any recommendations for a smaller pond pump? If I could reduce the flow I would be willing to buy it since I was intending to enlarge the pond this year until the big oak came down and wrecked the yard and the neighbors ivy attacked. I figure it will take about two years to repair all the damage. Seems to me I might be better off to delay the Shin Maywa until the enlargement is underway and spend my time putting up the greenhouse while the ground is torn up. I could use two of my smaller pumps until then. What do you suggest?

Mike,

I see above that you have rebuilt a Tsurumi pump for $150. I have two homes, both with ponds and three Tsurumi pumps. I'm going broke replacing pumps. The documentation says you should rebuild them every two years. Where do you get parts? Is there a manual for rebuilding them available on-line?

Thanks,

John

I have an aquascape sfa4500 pump that the main bearing failed and want to rebuild it. What and where can I get the seals and how much mineral oil to I add to the pump?

Hi.

i stumbled upon this thread and just noticed it’s years old but wanted to add a few words about my Aquascape 4500.

I’ve had it for about 16 - 17 years now with no issues, but do take it out of the pond every winter so its only physically in the pond about 5 months a year, and we only run it maybe

once a week. so while its had longevity, it hasnt had a lot of use

it stopped working this year. Pulled it out of the pond and found a frog in the impeller area but he was floating freely and didn’t jamb the impeller.

i can rotate the impeller by hand, but when powered the impeller doesn’t rotate.

So I’ll be looking for a replacement and will look into the ShinMaywa hoping to avoid the $925 new pump cost of the Acquascape!