Pond Vac or No Pond Vac?

[MitchM]

I have a Pondovac4, and I'm pretty sure I won't be using it.
It's too bad you don't live closer.
There is nothing wrong with the vacuum itself. It works very well.
I just can't bring myself to vacuum up the ecosystem inhabiting the bottom of my pond.
I'll probably keep the vacuum for emergencies.

 

[Mmathis]

I plan on getting one in the very near future. I've read varying reports on forums, but I went to Amazon and read through the reviews and questions posted there -- for the Oase Pond-o-Vac, not sure which one -- and they were all good reports. I asked a question or 2 from people who purchased them, and the answers were great! When I hear that someone has had a problem with a product or they don't like it, I want to know WHY they don't like it, not just, "this is a piece of crap," or "it didn't work so I sent it back" Not very helpful, but the Amazon reviews sounded more reliable.

This past w/end I tried using the Shop Vac...... Well, let's just say that it made me really, really want to get an Oase! Great to be able to suck stuff up, but the pits emptying it every couple of minutes.

@Jersey_Marine just curious but why empty and clean the pond every spring? Doesn't that get rid of the benefical algae and stuff? I've heard of people doing that, but don't understand why -- not picking, just curious.

 

[Mmathis]

Off subject: I particularly liked certain comments that the author made concerning 'Muck". It isn't the 'Boogey Man' that some would want you to believe.

I'm starting to turn more in this direction.....slowly, but turning. I do sometimes over feed so there's the extra poop, plus the oak trees in the yard, and pine needles and cone parts from neighboring trees..... It gets pretty nasty down there!

 

[Mmathis]

I just net the bottom, a vac would mess with the tads, snails, dragon fly babies. If they made one that did not hurt the critters I would use one

I questioned users of the Oase Pond-o-vac on Amazon and they said it's never an issue. Most fish will stay away, and anything that gets sucked up isn't harmed. Plus there is a suction control so you can vary that, which I can't do with the Shop Vac. I used the SV over the w/end and did suck up about a dozen snails. Just fished them out and threw them back in the pond.

 

[Lisak1]

We don't have a pond vac and have never felt the need to get one. We net the debris that falls in and don't worry about the stuff that's too fine to net. We've never had more than a fine layer of silt on the bottom of the pond, so it's never been a concern. However, you are looking for results that mimic a complete clean out. You won't get that with a net.

 

[tbendl]

but why empty and clean the pond every spring? Doesn't that get rid of the benefical algae and stuff? I've heard of people doing that, but don't understand why -- not picking, just curious.

I had to do mine this spring. I had turned off the pump and had basically a pool of green slimy sludge, it was awful! This winter I will keep the pump running and don't anticipate an issue. Fingers crossed.

 

[Jersey_Marine]

Well I have concluded my reasearch and after reviewing a bunch of pond vacs on the market, the idea of using a shop-vac and making something homemade Im going to get the Oase Pondovac 4. Im going to spring for the $350. Im going to take the advice of most on here and not do a complet water change in the spring. Im going to vac the pond right before winter and vac it again upon opening. The guy whi cleaned my pond this last spring charged me $350 so now I will never have to pay him again and that money will go hopefully for years of doing my own maintenance...I learned about sodium percarbonate today. Id like to do some more research and ensure its okay for my fish. If its okay Ill hit the pond with some of that upon opening to get a head start on the string algae that grew. Then Ill vac it out real good

 

[RobAmy]

You will like it, I use the Oase 3. Agree with the above comments about the little creatures in the pond. I actually get in the pond when I do my cleaning and use my feet slowly so things tend to go away from my feet. I only vac the very bottom area of my pond. I have lots of dragonflies, frogs etc. So I do not think the eco damage is to bad. Where I like it the most is cleaning out stream in the deeper pockets I have. I move the gravel and suck out all the fish poop in those areas. I also clean my waterfall filter for the winter because I do not have a bottom drain on that one due to the design, it holds around 30 gallons if I remember right. My skimmer and net still do the heavy lifting so to speak. I only use the vac twice a year. Once when I open things up and before I close things down.

 

[EricV]

On Amazon and Ebay there are "Patriot Clean Sweep" vacuums that seem to be exactly the same as the Oase but at 2/3 the cost. Same images even. Anyone know anything about this?

 

[mgmine]

I just bought the Pond Monsta because I couldn't get a layer of muck off the bottom any other way. I didn't want to go with any vac that kept turning on and off or a vac that was basically a shop vac. What I found was that it doesn't take out the string algae on the sides but it does suck up all the nasty stuff including gravel that has fallen out of the lilly containers. I also found that with wheels it does not easily roll across the wrinkled liner. I only plan on using it once a year and I still plan on scooping out the leaves and other things with a skimmer and leaf net. I got mine off of ebay.

 

[lachancesare]

I decided to buy one a couple years ago. It works but not as easily and simply as advertised. My major problem using it was that in order to get a good suction, the vac had to be higher than ground level (I have a two level pond, which meant I had to put the vac on a piece of lawn furniture.
We ended using the vac the first year about 4 times and we really were able to get everything up (including rocks used to tie down elodea!)
At the end of that season, I was introduced to the treatment that breaks down dead algae and pond detritus and really have not had the problem of any buildup this season.
I would suggest, if you can, that you either try to borrow or rent one to see whether you think it was worth it. I can't say it was but I can't say it wasn't...and the next time I need to use it, I now know how to maximize its effectiveness.

 

[peter hillman]

I have and have used the kind you hook too the hose and has a catch net. For my smaller pond it worked well and any fish that do go in are unharmed (so long as you dig them out of the debris before you toss it). I haven't used it in a while tho.
http://www.amazon.com/Pool-Jacuzzi-...=1441728588&sr=8-2&keywords=small+pool+vacuum

 

[morewater]

Oase PondVac 4 is the latest system, which has one great improvement over the previous generations of Oase PondVacs in that it's continual operation. You don't have to turn it off to drain it, it drains itself and continues running.

 

[cajunmeme]

It is now March 2016, basically a year since this thread started. What are the pros and cons on the Oase Pondovac 4? I am thinking of purchasing one.