Help wanted with a garden pond problem

[parcher 10]

I need a bit of help. I have a fairly large garden pond which has been colonised by a fair variety of wildlife as well as the obligatory goldfish. It has a pump which powers a small fountain and feeds water into an external filter. The problem I have is this: I appear to be a newt murderer! The poor little things are getting caught in the pump. I have tried all sorts of devices, like sticking the pump in a stocking (got gunged up really quickly), siting the pump higher up in the water (caught a baby frog instead) and today, I have tied a couple of plant baskets round the pump. If I turn off the pump altogether, the fish start suffering. I did have a pump with a sponge thing inside it - I didn't murder newts with that one, I just killed tadpoles. Unfortunately the impeller broke and I haven't been able to get a new one, so it was replaced with this new one which has a sort of basket, but no foam.

 

Has anybody got any (sensible) suggestions?

[madowl 10]

Originally posted by parcher

I need a bit of help. I have a fairly large garden pond which has been colonised by a fair variety of wildlife as well as the obligatory goldfish. It has a pump which powers a small fountain and feeds water into an external filter. The problem I have is this: I appear to be a newt murderer! The poor little things are getting caught in the pump. I have tried all sorts of devices, like sticking the pump in a stocking (got gunged up really quickly), siting the pump higher up in the water (caught a baby frog instead) and today, I have tied a couple of plant baskets round the pump. If I turn off the pump altogether, the fish start suffering. I did have a pump with a sponge thing inside it - I didn't murder newts with that one, I just killed tadpoles. Unfortunately the impeller broke and I haven't been able to get a new one, so it was replaced with this new one which has a sort of basket, but no foam.

 

Has anybody got any (sensible) suggestions?

i have a pond, newts etc, and i use a large sponge with the middle cut out so the pumps etc sit in side the sponge the guy at the pond shop told me to try this 3 years ago and ive had no probs.. the sponge only cost £1, easy to clean. do you use natural bagged hay to help with the green slime??

[parcher 10]

Thanks, I will give the sponge a try. Funnily enough, I don't get that much slime, I have pretty good lily coverage so it doesn't get a grip. Biggest problem is duckweed. Amazing stuff that, you haul out shovelfuls and you get twice as much in the pond the following day!