Pond cleaning

[cas]

Very pretty pond @420benz .

My pond is just a little bigger than yours. When I built my pond in 2004, the pond store recommended that I empty and clean it each spring. At that time they were my only source of information and even though I didn't completely empty the pond each spring, I would use a pond-vac and vacuum the bottom of the pond, exchanging maybe 1/3 of the water.

Then I joined this forum and read all the information here. I decided that I would try only vacuuming the bottom of the pond if there was debris. And since I started netting my pond because of the heron that would show up in the winter, I had no leaves getting into the pond. Now each spring I use the pond-vac to go over the bottom once, not because it needs it, but because old habits are hard to break. Fish are doing fine, and I have 15 and 16 year old goldfish. I just wanted to share my story so you can see that there are many ways to maintain a pond and we just have to find out what works for us.

 

[poconojoe]

My "liquid gold" has been in there for years!
Same water for many years. Nature tops off my water level when it rains.
I use a net on a long pole to very slowly scoop debris off the bottom in the Spring and in the Fall.

 

[Mmathis]

@Lizabeth Harris We got slightly off track here, addressing another member, but the information given in these last few posts is premium advice.

 

[420benz]

OK you guys made your point.I will not empty the pond this year and clean as much as I can.I usually power wash the pumps and add fertilizer to the Lilly's. I don't have a Vac that will allow the water to go through it goes into a 5 Gal tank that needs to be emptied every 5 minutes.But I will give it a shot.

 

[poconojoe]

OK you guys made your point.I will not empty the pond this year and clean as much as I can.I usually power wash the pumps and add fertilizer to the Lilly's. I don't have a Vac that will allow the water to go through it goes into a 5 Gal tank that needs to be emptied every 5 minutes.But I will give it a shot.

Just wondering: when doing your extensive cleaning, was any of the existing pond water saved to be reused or was it all replaced with fresh new water?

 

[Mmathis]

Just wondering: when doing your extensive cleaning, was any of the existing pond water saved to be reused or was it all replaced with fresh new water?

May be why those fish were lost earlier in the year…..

 

[420benz]

all replaced with fresh water. Never had a fish die.

 

[Turtlehead]

I have raised tropical fish for years and did partial water changes with no deleterious effects. Before I moved down here to Florida I had a 90 gallon planted tank with two gorgeous blue discus. Discus need extremely clean water so I did a 50% water change every week. It was well water and I added nutrients for the plants. The discus were very healthy and grew to full size. (If you don’t do the water changes the discus do not grow well and usually die.) Here in Florida I have been ponding for five years or so. First with a 90 gallon preformed pond, then a 140 gallon, then this past year and a half a 1000 gallon liner pond. I do some occasional vacuuming, but most water that is lost is due to evaporation plus a large water loss when diverting dirty water out of pond from the canister filter when I am cleaning it. I would say around a 150+ gallon loss. (150 gallons out of 1000 gallons is only a 15% water change.) I use water treatment and refill the pond up once a week. If I never took water out and just replaced the evaporated I would think the concentration of chemicals and minerals would just increase over time. I would assume water changes are good for the fish. Natural ponds lose water through the sides and bottom (they have no liner) and often a small river may feed the pond new fresh water. Just my thoughts.

 

[420benz]

May be why those fish were lost earlier in the year…..

Your right I did lose all my fish and never found the reason.A total empty of the pond may have been the cause.??

 

[Lisak1]

@Turtlehead - we are usually careful to mention that tiny ponds (like aquariums) probably do need some level of water change on a regular basis. I keep a small patio pond (about 45 gallons) during the summer and I generally pull 4-6 gallons out every week or so (use that to water my flowers!) and replace it with water from the big pond. Smaller volumes of water are just generally harder to keep in balance like a larger volume of water. Indoor tanks are a whole different story - you get zero interaction from nature, no natural "fill ups" from rain, no bugs and critters and other help from nature. I've always been of the opinion that the "we must do water changes in our ponds" proponents came straight from the aquarium hobby and brought all their understanding and practices over. As time has gone on, we've learned a lot about how to construct a pond so it's more self-sufficient. The hobby continues to progress!

Fresh water isn't "good" for the fish unless there's something wrong with the current water to begin with. The fact that you have to add water treatment kind of reveals that - there's things in that fresh water (in this case chlorine I would guess) that aren't great for fish at all. Your pond will continually lose water through splashing, evaporation, your filter cleaning, and uptake from plants - you'll need to top it off plenty which should address your concern about concentration of harmful chemicals in the water.

It really doesn't matter to me if people want to do weekly water changes. For me it's just one more chore that would eventually cause me to dread pond keeping. I just think it's important for people to have a place to read that it's OK if you never ever ever EVER change your pond water... ever!

 

[sissy]

hint I put abs pipe on the bottom of the pond with holes and slits cut in it and it is hooked up to one of the pump hoses and push's the stuff off the bottom of the pond to the filters . I have 2 laguna pumps running so extra sump pump hose goes to the pvc pipes and the abs pipes ,. The more air and the more water moving keeps my pond clean . You can see my spitters and my hoses in my pond build . I have learned to see things differently

 

[brokensword]

@Turtlehead - we are usually careful to mention that tiny ponds (like aquariums) probably do need some level of water change on a regular basis. I keep a small patio pond (about 45 gallons) during the summer and I generally pull 4-6 gallons out every week or so (use that to water my flowers!) and replace it with water from the big pond. Smaller volumes of water are just generally harder to keep in balance like a larger volume of water. Indoor tanks are a whole different story - you get zero interaction from nature, no natural "fill ups" from rain, no bugs and critters and other help from nature. I've always been of the opinion that the "we must do water changes in our ponds" proponents came straight from the aquarium hobby and brought all their understanding and practices over. As time has gone on, we've learned a lot about how to construct a pond so it's more self-sufficient. The hobby continues to progress!

Fresh water isn't "good" for the fish unless there's something wrong with the current water to begin with. The fact that you have to add water treatment kind of reveals that - there's things in that fresh water (in this case chlorine I would guess) that aren't great for fish at all. Your pond will continually lose water through splashing, evaporation, your filter cleaning, and uptake from plants - you'll need to top it off plenty which should address your concern about concentration of harmful chemicals in the water.

It really doesn't matter to me if people want to do weekly water changes. For me it's just one more chore that would eventually cause me to dread pond keeping. I just think it's important for people to have a place to read that it's OK if you never ever ever EVER change your pond water... ever!

not to mention that all the 'impurities' that 'accumulate' over time are generally used by the plants, fish, waterlife as part of their metabolism. Very few things, including heavy metals, don't get consumed in some way. Why do you think our water can have an iron deficiency? Because the plants are using it. I agree; water changes aren't necessary, esp with nature acting on it all the time. But I also agree that water changes aren't going to hurt if you don't change a large amount at one time, you take care of the chlorine issue, and nothing in your source water is toxic to the fish. As you note, rain all by itself 'changes' the water, putting whatever is in the air into your water, changing it that way too.

Makes you wonder how the static ponds in nature even exist, when you listen to those espousing regular water changes for their pond. Sure, our ponds are smaller, the fish density more, but the amount of decaying organics is a LOT higher in natural ponds, much more so than I bet any of our ponds. And gee, no water changes other than rain. Surprised the fish survive at all, ya know? And of course, some don't, just like in our ponds.

 

[420benz]

hint I put abs pipe on the bottom of the pond with holes and slits cut in it and it is hooked up to one of the pump hoses and push's the stuff off the bottom of the pond to the filters . I have 2 laguna pumps running so extra sump pump hose goes to the pvc pipes and the abs pipes ,. The more air and the more water moving keeps my pond clean . You can see my spitters and my hoses in my pond build . I have learned to see things differently

That was a thought i had last year but for some reason i didn’t do it but i will this year.

 

[420benz]

My biggest problem let year was string algae.It was so bad that i couldn’t see my fish. It is easy to remove but it keeps coming back .

 

[sissy]

that is why water movement and oxygen helps it stop spring this year at my pond and this is with all the rain we got