how to do a MASSIVE pond clean out???

[fIsHy13]

urrgh, the time has come to clean my pond out for the spring....
because it has no fish in, its been neglected for god know's how many months, so i'm gonna hav to do a MASSIVE clean out.
So how do i go about this, in the quickest (and least messiest!) way possible?

 

[Riso-chan]

Well when you deal with water, your bound to get wet.

If it isn't already drained, you could start by vacuuming the bottom of debris. I'm assuming you're familiar with the plastic siphons that are used for this purpose. By doing this, you'll be vacuuming the debris and drain out the old water. You can have it either draing into a 5 gallon bucket if you have one, or into an empty spot in the yard if you want.

Once that is done, you might need to scoop out leftover debris with a cup or any non-sharp tool, if your pond is made with a liner. Then, if you have an outdoor hose and have one of the pressure control nozzels on it, you can pressure clean the bottom with a jetstream of water. I wouldn't do this until the pond over flows though, only until all the dirt and debris are cleared off the liner. Then you'd have the scoop that water out with a cup.

You might get a little dirty, but it will be worth the payoff of a nicer pond. There may be other suggestions out there on how to do this, but this is just what I myself would do. I'm glad if I could help, and I hope you have good luck starting your pond up again. ~Angela

 

[Dangerdoll]

Is there a bog off the side of it? Has a filter been running on this pond?

 

[fIsHy13]

no filter. please don't get angry with me about that but my garden makes it near impossible for us to have a filter connected to a power outlit. I am thinking of a solor powered filter though...

riso chan, or anyone else who knows, do you mean the plastic siphons used for aquariums? because if you do, they don't work. I tried it last year- the tube has to be high enough for the water to pass down. my pond is in the ground.

 

[Riso-chan]

Actually, my two tanks are on the floor of my bedroom, and I use the plastic tank siphons. It just takes alot of rapid pumping with the plastic tube end to get the water siphoning. You don't always need gravity to work with a siphon, I know it's hard, but it does work for me.

 

[Dangerdoll]

fishy, do you have a bog off to the side of your pond? you know, like a water run-off area for flooding control?

 

[fIsHy13]

no, but i can just empty it out onto the flowerbeds, can't i?

 

[Riso-chan]

Don't see a problem with that, considering I use siphoned apple snail water on our garden. As long as you don't completely saturate the ground it should be fine, and the plants will thiank you.~Angela

 

[fIsHy13]

hey i started draining the pond yesterday, but not with a siphoner, (cos it didn't work) with a bucket. When i am feeling better; got the flu at the moment, I will remove all the gunk at the bottom. How, i'm not sure. I'll figure out a way when i need too!