12v pump for a large garden pond.

[morbihan]

We are in the throes of building a large garden pond to attract birds. Its about 8,000 US gallons
Ideally we are after using 12v to aerate the water.
Anyone been down this road or have any sparky wisdom that we could use?

[lissotriton]

No need for a pump in a wildlife pond. Just need enough oxygenating plants.

[MikeFromLFE]

Sorry if this sounds like the usual forum approach - but why 12V?

We've got a pond that must be about the same size and have a Hozelok Ciprio pump - they seem to last about 6-7 years in our experience, although the impeller design had changed when we bought the last one.

Whatever you go for I'd seriously recommend using it in conjunction with a coarse filter to prevent anything getting into the pump itself.

[rafletcher]

No need for a pump in a wildlife pond. Just need enough oxygenating plants.

This. Absolutely no need for pumped aeration.

[rogerzilla]

Jaded might have one left over after he upgraded his sex pond to "Roman orgy" size.

[T42]

Whatever you go for I'd seriously recommend using it in conjunction with a coarse filter to prevent anything getting into the pump itself.

Amen to that. When we had a pond in the 90's the pumps drank too much silt and died with dismal regularity.

@morbihan: Were you actually thinking of a submersed pump or just an air-pump on the side with bubbler(s)?

[morbihan]

Thanks for feedback.
Ref power, we have a fair few 12 volt  landscape lights around the grounds that are hooked up to transformers etc. We plan to tag onto this and use the light guy who did the install for the pond. We are keen not to start running high voltage all over the place.
Ideally we want running audible water as I understand that the migrant birds home in on the sound.
We are located on the Western edge of Bermuda and it's a major flight path for migrants. We get tons of them in the gardens, particularly after we started planting endemics and stopped using leaf blowers and chemicals that kill the insects.
We will put mosquito fish in and maybe, reading the views here, we don't need to aerate the whole pond with a pump system but perhaps just have some kind of  a small solar fountain to attract the birds. 
For those interested the property is here. There is a bird sanctuary just to our SW.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bermuda/@32.3061663,-64.8691025,161m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x8a2d139e8668b0a5:0x3cdffdc72c99b8bc!8m2!3d32.3078!4d-64.7505!16zL20vMDE2NWI?entry=ttu

[Jaded]

Jaded might have one left over after he upgraded his sex pond to "Roman orgy" size.

Glad you enjoyed your visit 

[aidan.f]

You may be very suprised just how much expensive copper is needed to supply a heavy load such as a pump any significant distance from a 12 volt supply. If you get it wrong erratic or non operation will result.
https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/voltage-drop-calculator.html

[morbihan]

You may be very suprised just how much expensive copper is needed to supply a heavy load such as a pump any significant distance from a 12 volt supply. If you get it wrong erratic or non operation will result.
https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/voltage-drop-calculator.html

Good point. The 12v landscape lights are scattered far and wide but I guess they have minimal draw. I'll look into solar powered pump systems ands see if there is a decent remote option that has enough grunt to move a fountain or something similar.

[aidan.f]

Solar panel is a very good idea . You will probably need small storage battery to deliver the pump startup current and avoid stop/start every time the sun goes behind a cloud, plus some automagical control to avoid battening the flattery every night...