Best way to clean pond?

What is the best way to clean out the muck and leaves from one's pond?
Doing it by hand is not very efficient. My pond is just under 1000 gallons.

Mike

What is the best way to clean out the muck and leaves from one's pond?
Doing it by hand is not very efficient. My pond is just under 1000 gallons.

Wet/dry shop vac.

Mike wrote What is the best way to clean out the muck and leaves from one's
pond?
Doing it by hand is not very efficient. My pond is just under 1000 gallons.

We grew up two teenage boys and equip them each with a net that has a flat
edge. Pizza, pop and girls (well, they are on their own for that) await the end
of pond cleaning day.

Our pond is 3,000 gallons and it doesn't take too long to scoop it out. After
draining. Fish go in a 150 gallon stock tank filled with pond water and netted
to keep the fish from jumping out. The nets are nice and large. DH bought them
at Sportsman's Warehouse. The flat edge is the key.

You don't want to get the pond squeaky clean. For fish health you want some of
the sludge left behind to get the next generation of zooplankton going.

Some folks use a wet vac and hopefully someone will come along and post their
technique.


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"Mike" wrote in message
...
What is the best way to clean out the muck and leaves from one's pond?
Doing it by hand is not very efficient. My pond is just under 1000
gallons.

As much as I like the idea of using my shop vac, I don't. It fills up fast
and more importantly I can't control who or what I suck up. I instead like
to drain some water down so I can stand in the pond rather comfortably, and
scoop by hand. I do it once a year in the spring. I dump the muck in a
bucket and plow through it when I am done to be sure I did not scoop anyone
up.

BV.

ok.. here is what the pros did to clean my 2 big UNNETTED ponds at my mothers.
1. they had a couple really large metal troughs. they filled this with pond water.
(suggestion for doityourselfers, get a cheap kiddie pool holds 600-800 gallons.)
2. they got 2 huge pumps with large diameter hose on them and started sucking the
water out. (get large diameter hoses and learn how to get the siphon going)
3. when the fish were nearly flopping on the bottom they netted everything
(including the tadpoles) out and into the big troughs and then put styro over the top
to shade and quiet the fish.
4. they "washed" the plants down with the pond water and removed them from the pond.

5. When the pumps were getting gunked up too fast the have these smooth plastic snow
shovels and they shoveled the muck into buckets .. 1 up to take the buckets and dump
them, the other in the hole to fill em. they use a broom to move the gunk to the low
point. they broomed the sides but didnt scrape them. At the end they used very
little fresh water to wash the sides of the pond down.
6. they start filling the pond and then put the fish in and pump the water from the
troughs back into the pond and they were done.
Ingrid


"Mike" wrote:

What is the best way to clean out the muck and leaves from one's pond?
Doing it by hand is not very efficient. My pond is just under 1000 gallons.

Mike




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What is the best way to clean out the muck and leaves from one's pond?
Doing it by hand is not very efficient. My pond is just under 1000 gallons.

Mike

Depending on how the bottom of your pond is shaped, a shop vac can really
pick up a lot in the few seconds it takes to fill up. I use a 12 gallon on
mine and usually only need to fill and drain the 12 gallon tank twice
(ponds similar in size to yours).

Never hurts to try it if you already have one. I was skeptical when I first
read on here about it, now I consider it a necessary piece of pond
equipment. So if you have one, try it and report back your results.
~ jan )

See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

We use a shop vac to clean the rocks in the 2 tiers of the waterfall. The pond
itself has a undergravel filter, and we have a valve that we hook a hose to,
stir up the water and open up the valve and let it rip.
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

Mike I would use a Muck Vac
Eliminates muck and fish waste without causing turbidity in pond water
or displacing fish or plants. System includes: Muck Vac power head,
vac head and brush, hose, and adapter. No moving parts for lasting
use. Requires 50 psi minimal gardenhose pressure.

You can find this wholesale to the public at
www.backyard-lifestyle.com

I hope you find this useful,
Norman

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 23:14:17 -0400, "Mike"
wrote:

What is the best way to clean out the muck and leaves from one's pond?
Doing it by hand is not very efficient. My pond is just under 1000 gallons.

Mike