Recommendation on a pond vac

[Otter]

I've used the Pondovac 3 in a pond with small rocks. The first time I used it, a rock blew the little vacuum slider right off the tubing. I never saw where it went. It might still be in the pond. Also rocks often jammed the valves. There is an attachment with an adustable opening, but it's still hard to clean muck out of the gravel. And if you use the algae scraper on a large rock and get too close to the gravel, you've got stone rocketing into your vac with a LOT of force.

Since I took most of the small stones out of the pond, the Pondovac is a great tool, but it's a hassle to use with a gravel bottom. OTOH, there really is no good way to clean a pond with a lot of small stones, so you might want to get rid of them anyway. Yes, they give more surface area, but with all that trapped muck, you're probably better off without the gravel anyway.

 

[koiguy1969]

I have a Muck Vac that runs by connecting it to a garden hose. I don't use it too often because it is kind of cumbersome. The extension hose that it comes with is not that long so after vacuuming for about 3 minutes you are walking around in a bunch of water.

I USE A MUCK VAC ALSO EXCEPT I REPLACED THE ORIGINAL HOSE WITH 25' OF POOL HOSE (cheap white nylon or plastic) this reaches far from the pond to different landscaping. and the hose is way lighter. you do it on days when you do youir water changes and have to drain some water anyways.

 

[Trix]

Hello, I am a new member and also pretty new to ponds & koi fish. I built my pond last year, 6'X8'X3' ( about). Even though I put a net over pond before leaves started to fall, I still have a bunch of stuff on the bottom ( leaves and such) that I need to remove. I have been reading on the net about pond vacuums, they are quite costly! I started wondering why a shop vac wouldn't work? I see some of you are doing just that, so I guess that would work for me also(and save money). Here is a question I have for someone please.....I have several baby fish ( about 2" long as of this past summer), what keeps them from getting sucked up in the vacuum?? I would hate killing any of them. I would really appreciate any help anyone could offer me. Thanks everyone.
Trix

 

[koiguy1969]

Will it be any good on rocked bottom ponds?

is there anything that works on rock bottoms? most would advise "loose the rocks" or remove them once a year and clean, and vaccuum pond. debri will accumulate, and become toxic over time.

 

[DrDave]

Rocks on the pond bottom are not a good thing unless they are in a stream like location where the water is running fast over them.

 

[pondlady]

My pond vac would suck up rocks. Rocks look pretty but they make a simple pond in to a sewer fast. I have a muck buster to, I hate it! does not get the fine silt just messes up the water.

 

[DrDave]

How big is your vac? Rocks are Baseball size and larger. Anything smaller is considered pea gravel and sand.

 

[pondlady]

It is the smallest one ponvac makes. Rocks that big would be ok, . LOL.IT would sure suck up pea gravel sand is gone in a sec. Small gravel will sometomes plug up the hose, Easy to get clear. I has attachments for getting between rocks.

 

[Camper Man]

I have a Matala Pond Vac II ("Muck Buster") and have been happy with it. My pond is 2 1/2 feet deep and it works great at that depth.

At first, I had some problems with the seal shifting during use. The vacuum pressure would drop and then the auto-drain function would not work when the vacuum was full. I contacted Matala and they immediately sent a more robust seal that works fine.

 

[Trix]

Thank you all for your suggestions about pond vacuums. I have been on the net and I found Oase Pondvac 3 selling for 299.95 (have seen other places selling it for 379.00). This is quite a bit of money, but I really need something that will make it easy for me to clean the pond. I am thinking it will last me a good long time ( hopeful) I found it at Aquaticponds.com. Has anyone here ever heard good or bad about this pond vac?
Thanks again
Trix

 

[D&RW]

I bought a customer return that was guaranteed to be in completely functional condition. It wasn't. My pond is 32 to 42 inches deep and this unit couldn't handle it. In fact, what it did was cycle at an accelerating rate until it stopped vacuuming altogether. The place from which I bought it was reliable and refunded my money.

I'd really like to try another one, but the darn things are so expensive. I will say that a shop vac really doesn't cut it, particularly at any depth.

rw

 

[koiguy1969]

A $75.00 muck vac works real well for the money, just replace the heavy cumbersome hose with lightweight pool hose. it comes with a 13' heavy duty hose that weighs a ton.i use a 25' pool hose, and it's still lighter, and i can channel the water further away from the pond,

 

[koiguy1969]

oh, im sorry! i should also mention you need at least 50lbs water pressure to insure proper function. but it will pull sand, gravel ,and string algea. hooks to garden hose, ceates a venturi,vaccuum affect, quite strong.

 

[D&RW]

How deep is your pond? And how does one tell how much water pressure is in the garden hose?

rick

 

[DrDave]

Plumb a pressure gage into it and measure it.