Cheap/effective way to suck sediment from textured bottom of 18" deep 60gal preformed pond?

[Phaewryn]

My aquarium siphon doesn't work because the intake needs to be well below the discharge and the tubing is way too short to manage that and lacks the lift I need. I know there are pond vacuums, but well outside my price range. I just need to get a little bit of sediment (sand/dirt) off the bottom. What can I buy that will do the job and be cheap? Do these things work? https://smile.amazon.com/NICREW-Automatic-Electric-Aquarium-Extractor/dp/B07GBT525Z/ref=pd_cp_199_1
The pond is 60 gallons preformed, and less than 2 feet deep. I can take a photo tomorrow of the type of junk I want to suck out if helpful. I had some pea gravel in there, which was a bad idea and which I have removed, but I can't get the silt because the bottom of the liner has a pebble texture which I have since learned is a PITA. Ideas/suggestions?

 

[Stephen Noble]

Does your yard have a slope? If so, just use a garden hose and siphon the bottom silt. Is the sediment getting stirred up and clouding the water? If not, you could leave it and just do a spring cleaning next season.

 

[Nevermore44]

I saw one of these guys at HD.... could be an option. Because of the texture it might work nicely since you could probably get a strong uptake at a time...

VPC Pump A Way Manual Non-Submersible Hand Pump 9136 - The Home Depot

Pump A Way is a durable and efficient hand pump for numerous applications inside and outside the home. The pump is manufactured of high quality impact and chemical resistant materials. Use for your entire

www.homedepot.com

 

[Phaewryn]

Does your yard have a slope? If so, just use a garden hose and siphon the bottom silt. Is the sediment getting stirred up and clouding the water? If not, you could leave it and just do a spring cleaning next season.

It does, but my current aquarium siphon hose isn't long enough to be below the level of the bottom of the pond. I suppose I really just need a longer hose if I can figure out a way to attach my siphon bulb thingie to one. Having nearly drowned more than once, I'm not willing to suck on the end of a hose attached to a body of water - my anxiety would go through the roof (plus, every time I have watched someone do this, they have ended up choking). Surely someone makes a pond size siphon hose (like 12 feet) that doesn't require one sucking on the hose to get the siphon started?

 

[Nevermore44]

A siphon system with long hose won’t have much power, so i wouldn’t think it will lift the much that well and might drain the 60g well before cleaning the bottom.

 

[Ronfire]

The siphon will have lots of suction if the end is well below the water level of the pond. I am on a hill so I can get 10-20' of height difference if I want. You can start a long hose to siphon by connecting it to the tap and start to fill the pond. When all the air is out of the hose crimp or fold the hose, disconnect it from the tap and move the end to your low spot. The water will flow as long as you did not let air back into the hose and the drain end is lower than than water level of the pond, I does not mater if the hose has to go uphill first as long as the drain end is lower than the pond water level it will work.

 

[Nevermore44]

I just remember using the large aquarium siphon in my 55g tank back in the day and not being able to clean all the gravel by the time a third of the water was gone and I would have to stop. I don’t miss cleaning aquariums. Pain in the back side.

 

[Lisak1]

What if you just stirred up the bottom and let your filter handle it? Or just leave it be... a little silt won't hurt anything. And there's nothing wrong with a layer of gravel in the bottom of the pond - it's a good place for your beneficial bacteria to colonize.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

When I had a smaller preform pond I used a shop vacuum to clean the bottom. Had to change out most all the water but at least all the junk at the bottom of the pond got cleaned up.

I was always amazed how much crud built up. I suppose having a big tree over the pond didn't help either.

 

[Phaewryn]

The siphon will have lots of suction if the end is well below the water level of the pond. I am on a hill so I can get 10-20' of height difference if I want. You can start a long hose to siphon by connecting it to the tap and start to fill the pond. When all the air is out of the hose crimp or fold the hose, disconnect it from the tap and move the end to your low spot. The water will flow as long as you did not let air back into the hose and the drain end is lower than than water level of the pond, I does not mater if the hose has to go uphill first as long as the drain end is lower than the pond water level it will work.

Oooh! Brilliant! I'll give this a go. It's inside a 4' tall retaining wall, so it's an easy 2' below the bottom of the pond if I just have a longer hose. If I use my 50' hose, I can run it down the front steps too, for about 6' of drop. My spigot is actually right beside those steps, so this might end up being very easy! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Phaewryn]

What if you just stirred up the bottom and let your filter handle it? Or just leave it be... a little silt won't hurt anything. And there's nothing wrong with a layer of gravel in the bottom of the pond - it's a good place for your beneficial bacteria to colonize.

I have tried that but the box filter won't pull it in before it settles all around it. The box filter only covers about 1/2 of the bottom of the pond and it's square and the pond is rounded so it's not possible to fit it snugly against any one side to scoop into it effectively. It gets some of it, but it's about half an inch of silt/sand, so it's asking a lot. If I had more patience, maybe, but I sat there for an hour stirring it up with a kayak paddle trying to do it that way last week and made very little progress. Also, when I lift the box filter, a lot of it just pours right back out of it before I can get it all the way out because the pump hose (between the pump and the filter) is only 1' and so it's hard to lift them both at the same time and keep the filter level.