Mid Summer Maintenance

CanadianCowboy© wrote:

Hello all,

can anybody give us their ritual of mid summer maintenance to the pond.
I have a bio filter but I'm not sure if I should clean it since it is
established with good "bio".

Also does anybody have a good method of cleaning the inside of water
pump tubes that get coated with "guck" during these hot days.

Fish are happy and water is clear but there is more "sludge" at the
bottom and sides of the pond than there was in early summer.
Hottest summer on record here in southern Ontario !

Thanks !!

Mid summer ritual. Start to circle the pond, sip the ice tea a bit,
pause, look back over where you just traversed, sigh, look closely at
every thing and marvel at all the live and drama taking place, saunter
on, make a mental note of things to improve on, remind yourself that if
the water quality is good (check with your test kit) leave well enough
alone, look at fish some more, keep sipping and sauntering. Eventually
make it back to your lounge under the umbrella, relax and think about
what you might do during the evening stroll. :-) :-) .

Seriously, though ...
I agree with Jim. Bottom drains are nice. Even the retro fitted vacuum
drain (I have two 2" bottom vacuum drains in my pond). And since some
ponders use settling tanks, getting rocks, leaves, and such stuck in the
impellers of the pump is a non issue for the most part. I use a 500 cu.
in. priming pot and nothing seems to get through the basket into the
pump. I will probably add a 55 gallon settling tank in front of the
priming pot for even better trapping of stuff from the pond and a place
for the occasional critter to live instead of being beat up in the
priming pot. Installing either, bottom drain or vacuum drain is a
little bit of work and well worth it in terms of maintenance.

As far as the guck in tubes, run a large bottle brush or sponge on a
string (nylon twine) through the pump tubes. Yes, you will need to
disconnect them but that is just part of it all I guess. I have never
had to clean mine during the season. Usually wait till I am about to
shut everything down.
Hope this is helpful. Have a great weekend!
W. Dale