tl; dr: pleased with pump, came with metal 6-valve air tap, only 15 watts when connected to air stones, *much* quieter with long hose connected to air *inlet* to move sound away from pump.

We just set up a small garden pond and after a week or so green moss started forming on the rocks and the water got cloudy. Aeration was a common cure so we ordered this pump, some tubing, and air stones. I had never used an air pump or done a pond, and was concerned this would be noisy, but didn't want to get a smaller type of pump because I wanted a lot of aeration and didn't want to do regular diaphragm replacement as the smaller ones require.

Plugging it in for the first time inside, with nothing connected, my heart sunk as it was very loud. It also measured around 25 watts on my Kill-A-Watt meter, even though it's advertised as only 18 watts. It turns out that this is the wrong way to evaluate it. With hoses and air stones connected it only uses 15 watts, and is quieter. I placed it outside next to the pond and it filled it with bubbles, and caused lots of circulation as well. It came with a nice metal 6-valve tap, and I was only using three of them (two air stones, and one bare air tube with its valve turned down).

The pump was still somewhat noisy though. I noticed the air inlet and read about the noise coming from that, so I connected it to an old garden hose (no water in it) so that it drew air from the end of the hose that was far away, and the pump became almost silent! I was pleased that this last nagging issue had been solved, and my concern over the noise put to rest.

Unfortunately it didn't make any change in our pond's green moss growth situation, but definitely not because the pump has any shortcomings. This is one reason I got a powerful pump, so that if the moss didn't reduce, I would know for sure that it wasn't due to a lack of aeration.

We only ran this for a few weeks (24 hours a day in Texas summer) so I can't say much about its long-term reliability. Zero problems during our use of it.

Works great for what it's needed for

The product is very powerful, it works very, very, well. There are two issues, one it runs so hot the metal air hose distributor with all of the rubber hoses attached to it gets so hot you can burn your hand. Not the unit itself, the metal splitter that attaches with the hose. The second issue is that the hose needs to be clamped to the unit and to the metal distributor/splitter, otherwise the air blast is so strong it just keeps coming off at the splitter end. I bought plumbing clamps at the local hardware store and now having attached them the hose does not come off. I guess the final issue is that it is not waterproof. I have it outdoors for a 750 gallon fish pond (It is way to much pump for this size pond, but that is what I wanted) and I have to put something over it to keep the rain off but not completely over it because it runs so hot. I actually have the splitter up off the ground on a metal flowerpot turned sideways because I am concerned about vegetation catching fire. I am going to get a cement paver to put everything on so that won't be an issue. I definitely like the pump, it seems very well made and is a beast pushing out air, you just have to know a couple of things before you buy it.

misleading information, written on box it states: output is 793 gph, psi 2.9, current:0.25A, imput 120V. model:728450

that means comsumption in watts is 30 not the 18 they are stating on their descrption. If you are energy concious this matters. BEWARE.

One year latter, I just checked the wattage consumption and it is around 18 watts. I read in one of the reviews that this is because the real output is not 793 GPH but about 350 GPH. If that is the case, it works well for me. But the information is not correct from the manufacturer on the GPH output.

Didn't receive the air converter with the pump. Made connecting it very difficult. It is my fault for not building the system for more than 1.5 years after i bought it though : D