Pond vacuum??

[Hummingbird2]

Hey all! So the previous owners of my house had a big pond (1200 gallons I think) put in about 20 years ago and I've been keeping it up pretty well. They put the pond under 4 pine trees and a crab apple tree though, and it gets SOO full of CRAP!! TONS of pine needles and deciduous leaves and pine cones and other general yard junk are constantly falling in.

I am planning on getting a cute pergola or something to go over the pond which should reduce the amount of organic material that gets in, but I'm also wondering if pond/pool vacuums work well? On Amazon it looks like they're at least $200 - was hoping not to spend that much, though. I just need something to suck crap out of a body of water.

There is currently at least 1-2" of this rotting organic debris on the bottom of this pond. How on Earth am I supposed to get all of that mega algae food out of there? Is my only other option to drain the pond most of the way and climb in and hand scoop it all out? I know it's not good to actually spray the rocks on the bottom of the pond because it gets rid of the GOOD bacteria biofilm, but I feel like I need to scoop or suck the layers of rotting leaves/needs/grass out of the bottom to help control the algae. Help!?

Cynthia

 

[mrsclem]

Hello Hummingbird2- Get a pool net and little by little scoop the stuff off the pond bottom. You don't want to drain the pond and clean it as you will be starting all over with getting the water balanced.

 

[Nevermore44]

I was able to snag a pond vac on Craigslist for s good price.... but after using it in my 1000+ g pond.... I would pay full price for it. It’s with it.

Yes you can scoop out a lot of the muck with a fine net... but the fine stuff will just be disturbed and then you will need to filter it out. Also netting will it will potentially release bad stuff into the pond that is currently settled at the bottom.

I used to just net my pond but now the pond vac takes care of it all and so worth the cost in my mind.

 

[mgmine]

Before you use the vacuum you'll have to clean the junk out otherwise the vacuum will clog up very quickly. If you have rocks on the bottom then forget the vacuum it just won't work, rocks may look nice but they limit the amount of cleaning that you can do there is no way that you can use a net. If you really have 2" of gunk on the bottom then you'd be better off draining it removing the gunk and the rocks and refill it. Don't worry about the " good bacteria' it does you no good if the pond is so filthy you can't enjoy it. Do you have a skimmer? If not it would better to invest in a good skimmer than a vacuum.

 

[poconojoe]

I use a pool net. The bag type, not the flat screen type. I scoop VERY SLOWLY trying not to cause a big disturbance and not to scoop up any fish. There's always going to be excess particles floating afterward, but the filter takes care of that. The next day everything is clear again.
I methodically scoop back and forth from different sides of the pond.
Every scoop gets laid out and prodded through to make sure something good is not being removed. I've picked out snails, plants and even tiny fish fry on many occasions.
When you see you're coming up with an empty net, then you're done.
I already have and need the net for scooping out floating debris, so no complicated contraptions or added expenses there.

 

[dustboy]

+2 on adding a skimmer, easier to catch the debris before it sinks.

 

[mgmine]

I use a pool net. The bag type, not the flat screen type. I scoop VERY SLOWLY trying not to cause a big disturbance and not to scoop up any fish. There's always going to be excess particles floating afterward, but the filter takes care of that. The next day everything is clear again.
I methodically scoop back and forth from different sides of the pond.
Every scoop gets laid out and prodded through to make sure something good is not being removed. I've picked out snails, plants and even tiny fish fry on many occasions.
When you see you're coming up with an empty net, then you're done.
I already have and need the net for scooping out floating debris, so no complicated contraptions or added expenses there.

With rocks in the pond the net won't work, for that matter, the vacuum won't work. I use the net myself and even without rocks it's not the easiest process but needs to be done before I vacuum the pond. Here is a review I did on a pond vacuum talking about cleaning before vacuuming.

 

[Dewey]

I love my pond vacuum. It really changed how I clean my pond. However, big stuff, especially pine needles don't do well in the vacuum. They either can't be sucked up well or get clogged. I used a pool net for anything large and them vacuum muck. It don't matter how thick the much is for vacuuming, just that it can pass through a hose.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Draining the pond and cleaning the muck from the bottom is fine. You won't have any problems with the nitrogen cycle as long as the filter is mature (don't clean the filter the same time as you drain the pond) and you don't scrub the sides and bottom of pond.

The only problem with a complete water change can be if the ph in the new water is a lot lower than the ph in the current pond water. So it would be a good idea to check that prior to draining the pond. Fish don't tend to do well if they are in a higher ph and then suddenly dropped to a much lower ph.

 

[brc]

I built a venturi type pond vac a few years back that's great at sucking all kinds of stuff up from the bottom. There is a thread about it on here somewhere. It works for me because there's a drain next to the pond, so the water / sludge / whatever just dumps in there as I go. There's nothing to empty.

Leaves will kind of clog it, but I can jerk the vacuum line a couple times and force that stuff through with a kind of water hammer effect. The only thing that will occasionally need more intervention than that, is when it sucks up a stick.

Edit - here was the thread:

My DIY Venturi Pond Vac

I was searching online for this recently, expecting that everybody must be building these things... only to find almost nothing of the sort. My guess is, it's something that all kinds of people would be using, if there was a design out there that actually did the job. So, with some trial and...

www.gardenpondforum.com

 

[Nevermore44]

I’m using the oase pond vac which is just the large shop vac that toggles between chambers. For me the only time it’s stopped is then it pulls up small rocks that my boy has tossed to the pond which then block one of the flats that open and close. I want these stones out so I don’t mind.

Leaves don’t clog in it. Longer twigs might if you get those. It handles slug muck just fine. A friend of mine pumped out his old filter barrel which had more the two inches of muck.

The other thing with this type is that you can put in different heads and then also control the vacuum pressure ( letting air into the line at the handle) so it will leave rocks and stones on the bottom and just pulls the muck and more buoyant material. The same friend has a rock pebble bottomed pond and uses it to clean the leaves out every year.

 

[poconojoe]

With rocks in the pond the net won't work, for that matter, the vacuum won't work. I use the net myself and even without rocks it's not the easiest process but needs to be done before I vacuum the pond. Here is a review I did on a pond vacuum talking about cleaning before vacuuming.

Looking at the muck discharged out onto your lawn is quite impressive. It may have convinced me that vacuums are far superior over a net and might just be worth it.

 

[Gemma]

I’m using the oase pond vac which is just the large shop vac that toggles between chambers. For me the only time it’s stopped is then it pulls up small rocks that my boy has tossed to the pond which then block one of the flats that open and close. I want these stones out so I don’t mind.

Leaves don’t clog in it. Longer twigs might if you get those. It handles slug muck just fine. A friend of mine pumped out his old filter barrel which had more the two inches of muck.

The other thing with this type is that you can put in different heads and then also control the vacuum pressure ( letting air into the line at the handle) so it will leave rocks and stones on the bottom and just pulls the muck and more buoyant material. The same friend has a rock pebble bottomed pond and uses it to clean the leaves out every year.

I had the same experience with my Oase 5! I cleaned 2 ponds (9200gl) and I never had to stop to empty the debris.

 

[poconojoe]

So, how do these vacuums work? Are they basically a shop vac with added features? If so, what is the difference? Do you end up sucking a lot of pond water out? Basically a partial water change?

 

[420benz]

I love my pond vacuum. It really changed how I clean my pond. However, big stuff, especially pine needles don't do well in the vacuum. They either can't be sucked up well or get clogged. I used a pool net for anything large and them vacuum muck. It don't matter how thick the much is for vacuuming, just that it can pass through a hose.

What kind of Vac do you have?