How can I clean my outdoor fish pond ?
My fish pond has dirt and leaves in it ! I have been looking at Vacs. but they are expensive ! Can someone give me tips on getting the gunk out of the bottom ! I have plants and fish and dont want to empty it ! It needs my help ! Thanks Lisa
February 5th, 2010 at 9:40 am
Lick it clean!!!!!!!!!
February 5th, 2010 at 10:12 am
You absolutely have to pump the water out, take the fish out, scrub it down, and re-fill it with fresh water. There simply is no other way. Sorry!
February 5th, 2010 at 10:44 am
get a pool skimmer and dig the crud out. i wouldnt do it all at once. your pond is a mini ecosystem and is balanced. you will remove good bacteria when you do this. if you do it in 4 sessions,24-48 hrs between them, the bacteria will repopulate. and i would actually leave some in, if in fact your fish are healthy. i keep fish, i dont have a pond but working at a local fish store has given me a good base of knowledge of fish care. DO NOT LISTEN TO KIMBO, YOU RUN A HIGH RISK OF FISH DEATH DUE TO RISING NITRATES, NITRATES AND AMMONIA WHILE YOUR SYSTEM IS CYCLING DUE TO A COMPLETE LOSS OF BACTERIA.
http://www.petco.com/caresheets/fish/NitrogenCycle.pdf
this explains the concept of cycling
February 5th, 2010 at 11:28 am
There are types of nets that you can use to take grime out of fish ponds or tanks. At night time or any time that you are not looking or enjoying watching your fish, you can get a type of cover like the kind that they have for swimming pools to block out any crap that might get in. If you have fish and plants in your pond, it is best not to get a vac because they can damage the plants and accidentally suck up little fish. If you have any problems with algae you can get an algae-eater fish that can really clear algae fast! You can get these fish at pet’s mart or petco. Good luck!!!
February 5th, 2010 at 11:56 am
the best thing to do is to empty the pond, clean and put back together but if you don’t want to do that, can you siphon off the bottom? also buy some large 12″ fish nets at the fish shop
(with fine mesh) and empty half of the pond scoop up the debris and sludge (put this on your flowerbeds) that should take care of alot of the stuff then refill your pond, should be good as new
and ignore all these people that tell you to worry about nitrates
and ammonia overload and cycling crap, just dechlorinate your water and you’ll be fine