Brush about every 2 weeks
Manual Vac as needed or use you auto cleaner brushing the debris that the cleaner cannot get to the floor so the cleaner can pick it up as often as your pool needs it( depends on your Environment).
You filter tells you when it need to be cleaned by the pressure gauge on top. when it increases 6 pounds its time to clean it. What type of filter do you have?
Most people run there pump during the day. The speed depends on your volume of water in your pool basicly you want to turn over or run the total volume of water through the filter 1 time per day. Also if it is a salt pool you may have to increase the percentage of production on the cell to match the run time on your pump.
Hope this helps Rusty

We have DE filter and we have it set to run during the day but thought it might be cheaper at night. Speed is set for I believe 2600 rpm.

I figured I would have to brush horizontal surfaces (steps) manually and then the pool vac could get the pool floor.

Running during is not a good idea. The Sun will burn off your free chlorine every day when the pool is in use and not replenish it.

Aim for a slower pump speed and longer filtering cycles to reduce energy costs.

Scott