Pond cleaning

[Laura]

I've struggled with wanting to get the sediment our of the bottom of the pond, but not wanting to devote a day to catching all the fish, emptying it, hose it down and losing all the beneficial bacteria.
I was considering a pond vacuum this year, but instead tried a shop vac with the filter removed. It works reasonably well, a good choice for a smaller pond.

I'm sure that it would not be a good fit for a larger pond, but mine is 600 gallons and it seemed to do the trick. Hopefully my string algae issue will be better this year.

[Dxpert]

Good tip. I cleaned a pond this year, drained the water, removed all of the organic and inorganic material, power washed, scrubbed, patched etc. It's a huge project. Saved a few buckets of water to hopefully keep some of the bacteria. Note: no fish.

[Laura]

Yes, it's the big job I'm hoping to avoid, my fish and the babies would also be tricky to catch. The shop vac will just take a couple of hour long sessions, so not too bad, and cheaper than a vacuum.

I'd there a reason you don't have fish, or do you over-winter them inside?

[limmer]

I use a swimming pool cleaning net to scoop most of the solids out of my pond.
Seems to work for me.

[hoseki]

I've struggled with wanting to get the sediment our of the bottom of the pond, but not wanting to devote a day to catching all the fish, emptying it, hose it down and losing all the beneficial bacteria.
I was considering a pond vacuum this year, but instead tried a shop vac with the filter removed. It works reasonably well, a good choice for a smaller pond.

I'm sure that it would not be a good fit for a larger pond, but mine is 600 gallons and it seemed to do the trick. Hopefully my string algae issue will be better this year.

Actually, the best time to do clean up is in end Apr or early May. Throughout the winter, all the beneficial bacteria are basically dead unless you put in winter bacteria. It makes no difference if you are draining the whole pond and completely cleaning it up. It is best if you can completely clean up your pond after the winter.
For long string algae, you can dose in Nualgi Ponds once every week and it works very well. 1ml for every 1000 gal water. Best to dose it in in late afternoon or in the evening. It's a natural product and does not affect anything except the algae.

[Laura]

Thanks for the tip! Will check out Nualgii!