Think this will work when cleaning for spring?

[pond new1]

Well it's still winter here in Eastern Mass ( everywhere else too)

but with the warmer temps this winter there is a lot of algae on the sides of the pond and all my plant pots waiting for warmer weather. As a result I am thinking of March as a time to put the pump back in and get the water circulating. I am also thinking of emptying out about 2/3 of the water in my 2200 gal pond in March which will require protecting the fish. ( 3 big Koi over 12" long and a bunch of gold fish). So here is the plan:

Place a new plastic trash barrel in the pond and fill it with the water that is there in the pond now. Once filled I'll just stand it up in the pond. Without removing the barrel I'll begin to empty the pond and when the water is shallow enough I'll collect the fish and place in the barrel and keep the barrel covered with netting. I'll clean the algae off the sides by hand rubbing/scrubbing it off and vacuum the bottom etc.. I'll use my home water (MWRA) and once the pond is filled I'll just knock over the rubber barrel (after an hour or two to equalize the temp) and set the fish back into the pond without changing the water in the barrel.
I have a working formula for water additives etc when I clean.

So a couple of questions: Is March too early in Mass to do this? The water will still be cold ...will this be too much for the fish? Any other concerns more experienced ponders have are certainly welcomed...so blow holes in my plan if you think appropriate. Thanks

 

[sissy]

why do you want to kill all the beneficial stuff growing on your liner .You are not really supposed to see the black liner .It gets covered with good stuff that helps keep your water clear and clean and helps your fish stay healthy just like a bio filter does.

 

[Koised]

Sounds like you hav a pretty good plan. You may not want to fill the container all the way to prevent jumping against the netting as koi can be pretty frisky. If it is very warm out at all you may want to bubble thier water too. I usually have no problem opening the pond in March even up here in Michigan,but be very careful not to scrape or rough up the fish because they have a hard time healing in cool water. Biggest worry may be stripping and cleaning your pond in cold wheather makes it tougher for the natural bacteria to grow back very fast causing longer windows for problems with amonia and nitrite.

 

[koiguy1969]

IMO if your gonna clean your pond, earliest spring is a fairly good time to do it, but fall is better. when the waters are cold theres already a minimal amount of bacterial activity. but as suggested earlier.. the fishes immune systems are down as well, so injuries can be substantially more dangerous for them...so being carefull catching, netting and transfering the fish is more important than ever. removing the debris from the pond will remove one source of toxins to the pond. and short of bleaching the liner you wont get the liner clean enough to stop or even really slow new beneficial bacrteria from colonizing the surfaces again anyways. i would however save the ponds current water to refill the pond atleast 1 /2 way, return fish, add dechlorinator if needed, and then finish with fresh water at a slow fill rate....refilling with fresh water fully can also shock fish due to chemical makeup as well as temperature change.

 

[pond new1]

Great points all around. I really should wait until the fish will take the upheavel best.

I'm not too concerned about the algae on the liner just want to keep ahead of it. I will hook up the pump and filter early as opposed to later but I can wait until the end of April to ensure the fish stay healthy. I've been real lucky with them and really only had one gold fish go belly up in the 4 to 5 years I had the pond.

Much appreciated.

 

[DrCase]

Your ahead of it already just by thinking of what you need to do next
Once you get the pump running every thing will balance out
If you have any leaves in the pond scoop them out