What is the best type of vacuum?

[CLippincott28]

I bought a cheap pool vac that is supposed to hook up to a water hose and the water pressure "sucks" the debris into a net. Rather than hooking it to a water hose, I use a spare pump to run it on pond water so I don't have the chlorine/chloramine issue to worry about. It doesn't catch small particles, but it does a great job picking up any leaves that may have accumulated on the bottom. If you already have a spare pump and some basic adapters, you can get the vac at Walmart or Amazon for about $20.00.
I thought I'd better make an edit... My pond is under an Elm tree, so the leaves aren't very large. I don't know how well this will work if the leaves are large. It may clog up the intake.

Thanks

 

[Moni_Pond]

I sprung for the Oase PondoVac 5, and have zero regrets. Yes, it was very expensive, but like you I have a tremendous amount of trees surrounding my pond. So. Many. Trees. My yard is basically a small forest. My pond is approximately 10k gallons, and does not have a skimmer (I am the skimmer), and has a bog waterfall for filtration. I enjoy being outdoors and scooping debris from the pond, however in spring when trees are dropping lots of messy bits, it isn’t possible for me to keep up. I do what I can, but plenty ends up on the bottom of the pond. First I rented the PondoVac 4, from my local pond supply shop, and found that while it worked well, it was a bit cumbersome. The PondoVac 5, is continuously vacuuming, and has larger wheels, helping me navigate my hilly and bumpy terrain.

I will have to typically vacuum once or twice per week for a few weeks in spring to get the bottom sufficiently cleared - which truly is great because it also serves as a water change.

I don’t know if you have a bog or not, but the vacuum has been especially helpful for me with cleaning my bog here and there in late summer and early fall. There is an attachment that minimizes the gravel that it sucks up, however all gravel that does get sucked up is caught in a bag. I then gently rinse off the gravel with the pond water being vacuumed and put it back into the bog.

It was a huge financial investment for me, but really helps me. My pond water is never crystal clear like others because of all my trees and the tannins that come along with that. I consider my pond water color more of a tea!

 

[GBBUDD]

I have the matala cyclone but i do wish it had a little more power so it could suck in oak leaves easier as when they have first falled they do not like to bend and get pulled in. if i let them soak for the winter they are them more manageable

 

[BarbAZCA]

Not yet. Still pondering how to best do it without big investment. I enjoy the DIY method. Or maybe I’m cheap.

Thankfully my gardener has an industrial strength vac that he uses on the bottom of my pond annually to clear out settled debris and fish droppings. Works quickly and efficiently - Oase PondoVac 5.

 

[BarbAZCA]

I sprung for the Oase PondoVac 5, and have zero regrets. Yes, it was very expensive, but like you I have a tremendous amount of trees surrounding my pond. So. Many. Trees. My yard is basically a small forest. My pond is approximately 10k gallons, and does not have a skimmer (I am the skimmer), and has a bog waterfall for filtration. I enjoy being outdoors and scooping debris from the pond, however in spring when trees are dropping lots of messy bits, it isn’t possible for me to keep up. I do what I can, but plenty ends up on the bottom of the pond. First I rented the PondoVac 4, from my local pond supply shop, and found that while it worked well, it was a bit cumbersome. The PondoVac 5, is continuously vacuuming, and has larger wheels, helping me navigate my hilly and bumpy terrain.

I will have to typically vacuum once or twice per week for a few weeks in spring to get the bottom sufficiently cleared - which truly is great because it also serves as a water change.

I don’t know if you have a bog or not, but the vacuum has been especially helpful for me with cleaning my bog here and there in late summer and early fall. There is an attachment that minimizes the gravel that it sucks up, however all gravel that does get sucked up is caught in a bag. I then gently rinse off the gravel with the pond water being vacuumed and put it back into the bog.

It was a huge financial investment for me, but really helps me. My pond water is never crystal clear like others because of all my trees and the tannins that come along with that. I consider my pond water color more of a tea!

My pond water gets like tea also because of decomposing leaves. Once that happens my gardener vacuums debris from the bottom, top of waterfall, and filter box. Within one day the water is back to clear - and I think the pond plants help.

 

[CLippincott28]

Thank you for all feedback.

 

[billdolloff]

This is my first Spring with my pond/stream. I have a video I posted on here last year so you can see what my ponds look like. I plan to use the percarbonate tactic (that was just recently posted here by someone) and for the small debris I used my pool vac I bought last year, worked fine. It's on amazon, search for "Pool Vacuum for Above Ground Pool with a Telescopic Pole, Running time up to 1H, T403 Handheld Rechargeable Pool Cleaner with Powerful Suction up to 18.5 gallons/min, Ideal for Leaves, Debris"