Best time of year to clean a pond?

[JRB]

Hello all,

Can anyone help?

When is the best time to clean my small pond (I live in the UK and it's
winter here)? It is around 250 gallons and contains around 15 goldfish
but the water is very murky and contains plenty of leaves from the
recent autumn. I'm also aiming to install a UV combi filter at the same
time.

I know the fish have bred in the past so I don't want to upset their
mating season so do I do it now before they get too frisky or wait
until summer/autumn?

Many thanks,

John.

[[email protected]]

any time their water is 55oF or better for at least 8 days is fine. their immunity
if functional. of course, fall is the best time before the water cools too far.
Ingrid

"JRB" > wrote:

>Hello all,
>
>Can anyone help?
>
>When is the best time to clean my small pond (I live in the UK and it's
>winter here)? It is around 250 gallons and contains around 15 goldfish
>but the water is very murky and contains plenty of leaves from the
>recent autumn. I'm also aiming to install a UV combi filter at the same
>time.
>
>I know the fish have bred in the past so I don't want to upset their
>mating season so do I do it now before they get too frisky or wait
>until summer/autumn?
>
>Many thanks,
>
>John.



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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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any of the recommendations I make.
AND I DID NOT AUTHORIZE ADS AT THE OLD PUREGOLD SITE

[[email protected]]

On a small pond, pollution can be quite volatile in a short space of
time. Leaves can take months and years to decompose in cool waters, you
can take your time fetching those out, what you want to keep an eye on
is aquatic plants that turn to mush, the build up of silt and sediment
low in a pond, reducing that gunk will improve water quality. A few
leaves make for useful Winter cover for hibernating frogs fish and
critters...

If you get a sturdy net and a bucket, gently remove one or two buckets
of debris at a time, that routine will steadily clear the pond of
debris over a period of time.

Pond debris and sediment are usuallly benign in a pond, unless
something a bit nasty has gone in to pollute it, for example dead
frogs, large fish spawning, excess fish food. Fish will 'cope' with a
minor dredging, no need to remove them, they will be enjoying the tid
bits it stirs up, a few bugs like crustaceans, aquatic worms to find
here and there

A simple routine to maintain would be to take a bucket or two of gunk
out per week until there isn't enough to fill a bucket when the ponds
foliage fades in late Summer, so by the time prolonged frosts arrive,
there is very little stuff to pollute the water beneath the ice

If you reliably vent the ice through freezes, it's not too crucial if
there is some leaf litter about, that in itself is useful cover for
Wintering critters

What might really bump off the fish is if they have been feeding
heavily over Summer, combined with a lot of foliage dumped in the
water, that can be a quite lethal concoction when ice seals the pond
over for more than a few days

Don't fret too much about the fish breeding, they will 'go at it'
whenever the mood takes them, a gentle clean out will stir up plenty of
extra tasty tidbits that will perk them up through the warmer months

Regards, andy
http://www.members.aol.com/abdavisnc/swglist.html
-----------------------------oo----------------------------
>
> When is the best time to clean my small pond (I live in the UK and it's
> winter here)? It is around 250 gallons and contains around 15 goldfish
> but the water is very murky and contains plenty of leaves from the
> recent autumn.

[Derek]

wrote:

> any time their water is 55oF or better for at least 8 days is fine. their
> immunity is functional.

But you don't want it too warm, when there may be oxygenation problems. If
the fish are already using most of the available oxygen, and you stir up a
lot of half-rotted mulm, you could end up with a serious O2 shortage. It's
probably best to do it while the temperature is under 65F, and certainly
under 75F.
--
derek

[Gail Futoran]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> On a small pond, pollution can be quite volatile in a short space of
> time. Leaves can take months and years to decompose in cool waters, you
> can take your time fetching those out, what you want to keep an eye on
> is aquatic plants that turn to mush, the build up of silt and sediment
> low in a pond, reducing that gunk will improve water quality. A few
> leaves make for useful Winter cover for hibernating frogs fish and
> critters...
>
> If you get a sturdy net and a bucket, gently remove one or two buckets
> of debris at a time, that routine will steadily clear the pond of
> debris over a period of time.
>
> Pond debris and sediment are usuallly benign in a pond, unless
> something a bit nasty has gone in to pollute it, for example dead
> frogs, large fish spawning, excess fish food. Fish will 'cope' with a
> minor dredging, no need to remove them, they will be enjoying the tid
> bits it stirs up, a few bugs like crustaceans, aquatic worms to find
> here and there
>
> A simple routine to maintain would be to take a bucket or two of gunk
> out per week until there isn't enough to fill a bucket when the ponds
> foliage fades in late Summer, so by the time prolonged frosts arrive,
> there is very little stuff to pollute the water beneath the ice
[snip]

I like this advice! The last time I cleaned my
in-ground pond, maybe 3 years ago, I used a
shop vac. Since then considerably more wildlife
has migrated to the pond and I'm afraid to suck
up frogs, etc. The net and bucket method
is slow and easy, just my speed, and I can still
rescue any wildlife scooped up. Thanks!

Gail
near San Antonio TX

[[email protected]]

in a 250 gallon pond with aeration that shouldnt be a problem. but it is always
better to suck the water out, remove the fish, clean the pond, put the water back in,
put the fish back in. best is to clean the pond when the pond water is SAME temp as
the water out of the spigot. Ingrid

Derek > wrote:

wrote:
>
>> any time their water is 55oF or better for at least 8 days is fine. their
>> immunity is functional.
>
>But you don't want it too warm, when there may be oxygenation problems. If
>the fish are already using most of the available oxygen, and you stir up a
>lot of half-rotted mulm, you could end up with a serious O2 shortage. It's
>probably best to do it while the temperature is under 65F, and certainly
>under 75F.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?hl=en&q=puregold&qt_s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for
any of the recommendations I make.
AND I DID NOT AUTHORIZE ADS AT THE OLD PUREGOLD SITE

[Derek]

wrote:

> in a 250 gallon pond with aeration that shouldnt be a problem.

He didn't actually mention aeration...

> but it is
> always better to suck the water out, remove the fish, clean the pond, put
> the water back in,
> put the fish back in. best is to clean the pond when the pond water is
> SAME temp as
> the water out of the spigot. Ingrid

Yeah, that too :-)

Whether lack of oxygen will be a problem in any pond is related to
temperature and just how filthy you let it get in the first place.
Ideally, Andy's idea of continual cleaning is the least stressful to the
fish.
--
derek

[Koi-lo]

"JRB" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hello all,
>
> Can anyone help?
>
> When is the best time to clean my small pond (I live in the UK and it's
> winter here)? ......
============================
We have two ponds plus smaller fish pools and a 600 gallon above-ground
pool. We almost always clean them in the spring or early fall. They'd stay
in the holding pool for 24 hours if there was a large difference in water
temperature. This also gave the water a chance to degass (saves on sodium
thiosulfate). It works for us. :-)
--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
NEW PAGE: Aquariums:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy/Aquarium-Page4.html
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
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