gettin' the dirt out...

[Jerry In Maine]

i have some sand and silt on the bottom of the pond that i'd like to remove. bought one of the cheapo pond vacs that hook up to the water hose and captures crud in a mesh bag. it work ok as far as picking up leaves and other stuff that falls in and sinks, but the sand passes right through the mesh bag.

any ideas as to how i can get the sand and finer stuff out?

 

[Waterbug]

Depends on the size of the pond. Very small a scoop works. Small pond with good access a wet/dry shop vac. There are some pond companies selling wet/dry vacs as "pond vacuums" for only twice as much as a reg shop vac.

A larger pond requires a vacuum that pumps water out of the pond. There are only a couple of these available. Here's my DIY on how to make one. Or here's another DIY that would work.

 

[guitarman023]

I actually use a garden hose with a long stick as a siphon, works pretty well if you have a sloped area nearby. I run the hose down the hill, then take the output from my pump and run it through the hose until i see water come out the other end, then just move the hose around the bottom. But for big ponds it would take awhile to clean with that.

 

[Jerry In Maine]

I actually use a garden hose with a long stick as a siphon, works pretty well if you have a sloped area nearby. I run the hose down the hill, then take the output from my pump and run it through the hose until i see water come out the other end, then just move the hose around the bottom. But for big ponds it would take awhile to clean with that.

i'm heading outside to do that now. our house is on a hill (visitors in winter need 4WD to get up outr drive) - in fact i had to bring dirt in to mound up the low side of the pond. tried and tried but couldn't get the water to stay on a slant. besides that all the fish would slide down to the low end :cheerful:

i do think i'll scrounge up a pump and make a cleaner along the lines of what waterbugs reference suggest.