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I am having a problem with the sponge attached to my Tetra 750gph pump clogging up very frequently. It seems to need cleaning once a week. Is that too often?
Here's some more info:
My pond:
550g (approx.) outdoor in-ground converted hot tub.
Filter:
Tetra 750gph pump with attached pre-filtering sponge and attached fountain.
Livestock:
3 small to medium koi, 2 medium fancy goldfish, 3 livebearers
Plants:
lots of water hyacinth, 1 water lily, 1 umbrella plant, 1 horsetail, 2 taro, 1 canna

I do get leaves dropping from an overhanging tree (I'm planning on installing a net soon to remedy that), but most of them get fished out before they can sink to the bottom. And they're pretty large, so I don't think they're really contributing much to the sponge clogging. When I clean the sponge, most of the debris seems to be brown sludge (poop? or algae?) and lots of tiny hairs from the water hyacinth roots.

Is there a way I can avoid having to wade into the pond every weekend to remove and thoroughly clean the sponge? I cannot add an in-ground skimmer (the pond is completely surrounded by a brick patio). Could I remove the sponge and just let all the gunk go to the filter? None of the gunk seems large enough that it would clog the impeller.

Please help!
Thanks in advance

you can do a DIY larger intake sponge to reduce the frequency of cleanings, or even a two step sponge setup. Your terms are confusing me a little.

Is the intake sponge protecting the pump? or is it a form of pre-filtration before the filter? You have worded it both ways

It kinda changes the answer naturally.\


Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

The sponge protects the pump. The pump is a Tetra GP750, which has a pump, with a cage sort of surrounding it, which contains a sponge (the sponge fits over and around the intake hole of the pump).

You know you can always take the sponge off of the pump and make a sponge to go around the cage you'll be cleaning a lot less often that way.

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Sounds like you've got the sponge pre-filter blues. Beckett makes a "tee" adapter to mount 2 pre-filters on their smaller pumps. Tetra may have a similar accesory. This could cut down on clean-ups. Another thought is to have a spare sponge you can use to swap out. This way you wade in only once. Another thing to try is tying a cord to the pump so you can pull it out without having to go in after it.
That sludge you're cleaning up is a combination of pond waste and bacteria eating the waste. I clean the pre-filter in my 100g pond once a week. Fortunately, I can reach it without having to put on the swim trunks.

I ordered two sponge replacements for the GP750 pump. Funny thing is, there is a hole running completely through the sponge for the intake of the pump! No sponge material actually covers the intake hole itself, only the area around it. It looks as if the debris will pass through the intake hole of the sponge, and completely bypass the sponge altogether! That makes no sense to me. What's the point of even having the sponge there?
I may try to rig up a much larger intake sponge, or to buy another pump, and use one for fountain only and one for filter only.