Any Tips/techniques for cleaning bottom of a pond?

[Gordo33]

thx all, many people gave very nice ideas, yes for long term i am thinking next year to install airlift from the botom just as u said .

what type of pump u are using for this? how many gph , i dont mind some mud and leaves at the bottom it does have some benefits some insects organisams for food but it builds in a year alot that it consumes most of oxygen and taking few inches of volume .

The pump I use is a 2600 gph water fall pump made by pond master. I agree about benifit of some muck on the bottom for the reasons you mentioned. I do manually pull leaves from the pond using a " grabber /reacher " that has rubber tips every so often to prevent them from piling up. My pond is only 8x12 so it's easy to access with the granber

 

[Gordo33]

Neat idea!

Thanks but I can't take the credit for the design. When I built my pond 4 summers ago I belonged to another pond site . There was a member who gave me the design.
if your are interested he built an incredible pond that includes a water Lilly pond, turtle pond and gold fish pond all connected . Go to YouTube and search dperry428. . He uses a cement mixture he created and modified over the years.
OK that's his plug for helping me with the drain.

 

[Mmathis]

@Gordo33 Yes, pics would be nice. Unfortunately, my Skippy doesn't settle out the muck like I would like for it to. I'm probably going to look at building a secondary "mechanical" filter.

 

[linokes]

My pond was professionally installed in 1997. 3,000 gallon with 70' long stream. Has river gravel in bottom so cleaning out sludge is something of an issue! I quit using string algae killer and just rake out the algae (out of the stream) which helped cut down on sludge in the bottom of the pond. In 2014 I purchased a Pondovac 4 pond vacuum. It works great but you do need patience! I just stopped fretting about my water garden (after about 8 - 9 years), the fish are happy and so am I!

 

[Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls]

Here's a pond we just winterized today. It has been in for 4 years, has a waterfall filter and a bog filter. No sludge or algae and the pond has never been cleaned. Depth is 6 feet and the entire liner is covered with rock and gravel without a trace of sludge or muck. If you throw a dime in you will know what side is up that's how clear it has been since we installed it.

 

[morewater]

Aqua Art manufactures an aerated retrofit bottom drain that does a good job.

 

[Gordo33]

@Gordo33 Yes, pics would be nice. Unfortunately, my Skippy doesn't settle out the muck like I would like for it to. I'm probably going to look at building a secondary "mechanical" filter.

I pulled the above liner bottom drain today. Here are some pictures. I did have difficulty priming the pump this year. After multiple attempts it did work. I had a hard time purging the air from the line. I found some info on Koiphen and there was a retro set up with a check valve and air release in the tubing by the pump . I plan to add this next year to improve priming the pump to get things rolling. HTH

 

[Meyer Jordan]

This bottom drain configuration is connected directly to a pump. Am I reading this correctly. You are in effect pumping the smaller organic debris to your filter and in the process are chopping it into even smaller particles with the pump impeller (the larger debris is left in the pond to be removed manually, right?). So in effect you are actually increasing the TSS (Total Suspended Solids) in the water column since you do not indicate having a dedicated settlement chamber. Not only does this quickly clog a filter, it will also quickly clog a veggie filter creating 'channeling'.
How often have you been cleaning your veggie filter?

 

[Gordo33]

This bottom drain configuration is connected directly to a pump. Am I reading this correctly. You are in effect pumping the smaller organic debris to your filter and in the process are chopping it into even smaller particles with the pump impeller (the larger debris is left in the pond to be removed manually, right?). So in effect you are actually increasing the TSS (Total Suspended Solids) in the water column since you do not indicate having a dedicated settlement chamber. Not only does this quickly clog a filter, it will also quickly clog a veggie filter creating 'channeling'.
How often have you been cleaning your veggie filter?

Yes you read this correct the drain configuration does tie directly into the pump. A tee just before the connection at the pump allow water to be pulled into the skimmer as well. Twice a season I drain the 100 gal veggie filter tub and vacuum the best I can the muck that has accumulated along the sides and bottom. The yellow flag iris root mass has become so thick and heavy I no longer can pull out the shelf they are tied down to. I tried cutting the roots but was having a devil of a time. So if channeling is occurring how would I know?
I posted a thread titled Mechanical Filtration DIY and included pics of the water in a glass taken from the pond and the veggie tub. There was no evidence of settlement in the pond water but was in the veggie tub. In same thread I posted pics of the cartridge I made to filter the water before it leaves the tub. There is a dense Matala pad and quilt batting. I change the quilt batting weekly.
This morning I took a TDS reading and it was 162 ppm. My tap water is 230 ppm.
This has been a trial and error system learning on the fly. If you have any recommendations I would greatly appreciate them

 

[Mmathis]

This bottom drain configuration is connected directly to a pump. Am I reading this correctly. You are in effect pumping the smaller organic debris to your filter and in the process are chopping it into even smaller particles with the pump impeller (the larger debris is left in the pond to be removed manually, right?). So in effect you are actually increasing the TSS (Total Suspended Solids) in the water column since you do not indicate having a dedicated settlement chamber. Not only does this quickly clog a filter, it will also quickly clog a veggie filter creating 'channeling'.
How often have you been cleaning your veggie filter?

@Meyer Jordan In my own situation, I am doing exactly as you state above -- mine is a submerged pump. The only settlement chamber I have is the bottom of the Skippy, and not the greatest, but it really does capture a great deal of pumped in crud -- albeit, pulverized crud. But I have learned that I have to flush the darn thing frequently [every week to 2 weeks] or the crud does rise into the media area, keeping it in the water col. So far, the more frequent flushing is helping, but I still really do need a dedicated SC!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

but I still really do need a dedicated SC!

The only truly efficient means of removing TSS.

 

[Gordo33]

The only truly efficient means of removing TSS.

So my understanding is a SC allows solids with a greaterr density than water to settle so cleaner water at a higher level in the chamber is pumped thru a filter to eliminate the TSS before returning to the pond. The other key element with the SC is being gravity fed.
So with my current set up and the one discribed by @Mmathis how would you add a settling chamber that would be gravity fed ?
Does a TDS METER tell you the TSS and what is an acceptable number for TSS?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

TSS is determined visually. In natural bodies of water with a Secchi Disc. The only number associated with TSS is that a depth visibility of 18" or greater is acceptable. Visibility of less than 18" is problematic.
A settling chamber requires the following basic plumbing/flow configuration----Bottom drain to Settling chamber to pump.
Something similar to this.

 

[Gordo33]

TSS is determined visually. In natural bodies of water with a Secchi Disc. The only number associated with TSS is that a depth visibility of 18" or greater is acceptable. Visibility of less than 18" is problematic.

So if I can see the bottom of the pond and when I fill a glass with pond water there is minimal settlement does that indicate the filtering system is working?
In hind sight I would install a bottom drain.

A settling chamber requires the following basic plumbing/flow configuration----Bottom drain to Settling chamber to pump.
Something similar to this.
View attachment 95889

In the picture you attached how strong should the pump in the pond be. My ponds total volume is approximately 1300-1400 gallons. My current set up the input line to the pump is teed to allow water to be drawn into the skimmer in addition to thru the bottom drain(above liner). With the pictured set up could I run a line from the skimmer and use a tee to a drain and the pump. My thinking is it would be benifical to skim the surface water.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

So if I can see the bottom of the pond and when I fill a glass with pond water there is minimal settlement does that indicate the filtering system is working?

Yes, but the ideal arrangement is to keep as much TSS out of any bio-filtration as possible. This is the reason for having a SC.

In the picture you attached how strong should the pump in the pond be. My ponds total volume is approximately 1300-1400 gallons. My current set up the input line to the pump is teed to allow water to be drawn into the skimmer in addition to thru the bottom drain(above liner). With the pictured set up could I run a line from the skimmer and use a tee to a drain and the pump. My thinking is it would be benifical to skim the surface water.

Since bottom drains are usually either 3" or 4", flow rate ranges have been determined. In your case, with dual 2" DIY BDs manifolded to a 1 1/2" supply line, you will need to experiment. You want the flow to be fast enough that debris does not settle in the plumbing yet slow enough that the debris will have time to fall out of suspension in the SC. Not that it will really help but a 3" BD requires at least 1500 gph and a 4" BD requires a minimum of 2500 gph. Adjusting the size of the SC to 10% of the flow rate will complete the configuration.
Skimmers and BDs are often plumbed to the same intake line, but are not run in unison. Only the BD or the skimmer is in operation at any given time. Running both simultaneously only negates any benefits derived from either.