PAL2100

Lightweight pump, but operated non stop for three years in my pond. Quiet and powerful! I live in northern Illinois and our winter weather is tough on pumps.

I’m really happy with this pump. This is year three of 24/7/365 use in a very heavily planted 3000 gallon pond with no skimmer. I have 12 large golds fish and 20-30 minnows. Although the pond is 3000 gallons, I’m only running the 2100 GPH. My goals was to get lots of slow moving water running down the rocks - mostly for aesthetics and some aeration- rather than heavy duty filtration. The pump outtake valve is maxed for 1.5” but I used an adapter to attach a 2” inch hose and haven’t had problems. Again, my desire was to increase flow and decrease pressure and this thing is a workhorse so a larger hose was needed. To create biofiltration, the water passes through an 18” x 22” sump pump basin filled with lava rock just behind the waterfall. The total hose length is about 12-14’ and the total water rise is about 4’. For a mechanical filter box to protect the pump I purchased a pond safe plastic tote about 16”x 10”x 12”. I drilled 10-15 holes (about 1/2”) on three sides, a 2” hole in the lid for the hose and a 3/4” whole in the lid for the power cord. After I placed the pump inside I lined the box with filter material so that the pump was well surrounded (including the top and around the hosing). This seems to work great and I just clean it out once in the spring. Overall I’m super happy with this pump. It’s an incredible value given given it’s durability so far. I’m purchasing a second one now to have as a back-up in case they raise the price (paid about $95) or discontinue it.

This pump is a powerhouse, putting out a real 3100GPH. Has more power than a typical sump pump and a little smaller in size. It is so powerful that I used a dimmer switch to make a variable control for it and it works great.* I use it to power a waterfall of about 8ft height and 25ft from the small pond (about 250gal) where it is submerged. This pump is as good as pumps twice the price. As with all outdoor pumps, be sure to use a bag filter with a thick media mesh inside. Most only have a top hole like the one I have, but I just cut an outlet hole on the side near the bottom so the pump can sit upright (intake on bottom). Also of course you need to take any pump out in the winter when the water can freeze as any residual water in it will also freeze and destroy it. I highly recommend this Alpine Cyclone pump. Calculating the Flow Rate you need for a Waterfall: To calculate the flow rate you need multiply the number of feet wide your waterfall is by 1500 and that will give you the gph (gallons/hour) flow rate you need. Then find a pump that has a similar flow rate at the height of your waterfall outlet (vertical distance between the pump and the waterfall outlet. For example, if you look at the chart I attached, you will see that this pump has a flow rate of 2251gph at 5' and 1390 at 10' and using the graph I made (under the chart), you will see that at 8' the flow rate is ~1800gph. While this is a little more than what I needed, it is better to be high than low as you can always decrease the flow rate by using a smaller tubing or by regulating the power to the pump.* Hope this has helped! *I'm sure you can by a variable speed control somewhere but I just took a light dimmer switch and spliced it into a 3-prong outdoor extension cord so I can plug it into the outlet and then plug the pump into the other end. Just make sure that the switch can handle the watts. Most light dimmers have a 600W or1000W max rating but your pump's watts should be less than 75% of the dimmer's rating. For instance, looking at the attached chart you will see that this pump uses 2.3A at 120VAC which is 276W (W=VxA) so there is no problem using a 600w dimmer but if you had a PAL8000 which uses 540W, you would need to use a 1000W dimmer since it is over 75% of a 600W max dimmer (75% of 600W is 450W).

I am using this as the submerged pump in my backyard "lost river". The rise from the pump to the top of the fountain is about 3.5 feet and I am running it through 1 1/4" tubing. It's actually a little strong for this purpose as you can see by the video so if I had to do it again, I would probably run 1". Works silently so long as it is compleletly submerged which is what I was hoping for.

I hv two of these Alpine pumps n they’ve bn running since arriving which speaks highly for their quality n lifespan. One in a tiny pond n the other in my sunroom in a 350 gallon holding tank. They’re not variable speed which would hv bn a big plus but so far I hvnt had the need to dial the flow rate down. It’s just a simple configuration of in the pond then tubed to a biofilter tub of lava rocks w/plants n waterfall back into the pond. In the holding tank It’s in a tall skimmer PVC connected to a 50 gallon rain barrel above filled with lava rocks n returns. Haven’t had any issues so far. Even when the hose to my bio fall kinked it still had pressure to push thru it. It never burnt out which is amazing to me. I cut the kink out n sleeved it w/a bamboo tube so it won’t kink again. With a root filled bio fall this year, the water flow is at what I consider comfortable, but still strong, flowing rate of where I want it to be. Come summer, I’ll be digging the pond deeper n may redo my bio fall filter. Most likely using the same Alpine pump!

I've purchased numerous pond pumps for over 20 years, including 14 from Amazon. Vivosun and Aqua Pulse are the worst, stopped working within months. Pumps from Home Depot and Lowe's work for about 1 year. Alpine is, by far, the best, with beautiful blue frame and last a long time. Alpine 3100 purchased in June 2020 stopped in 2024. Alpine 10000 purchased in June 2020 still works, but only half as strong as when new so I keep it as a backup. The two Alpine 8000 purchased in July 2021 are still working flawlessly. Note: Sometimes, Alpine stops working so I unplugged and cleaned out whatever clogged them, waited for about 10 minutes and plugged back in. Usually, they'd restart immediately but sometimes, I'd walk away and when I come back 30 minutes later, I'd discover that they're working flawlessly again for up to a year without issues.

Has lasted a few seasons in fish pond through all seasons and frozen winter

***Update*** Shortly after posting my original review (below) Alpine Customer Service reached out to me stating they would just send me the new pump under warranty, and waived $30.00 shipping and handling fee. Thank you Alpine corporation, I changed my 1 star to a 5 star rating. ***Original post*** Pump failed after two summer seasons of use even with frequent maintainance on the pump per thier website recommendations. Submitted for the warranty and Alpine charges a $30.00 shipping and handling fee to recieve a new replacement pump. I paid $110.00 for this pump. Poor longevity and not worth paying the $30.00 to warranty this pump. 1 star review.