Recommendation on a pond vac

[koiguy1969]

call your water department they will tell you, we run 58lbs here at peak use we stay above 50, or so they say.

 

[DrDave]

Water pressure varies from day to night. We get upwards to over a 100 lbs at night. All homes require a regulator to protect your home plumbing. I just replaced mine 2 weeks ago because my pressure was measured at 75 lbs. The regulator was bad.
So the water company cannot tell you what yours is at your home, only what they are at the moment.

 

[koiguy1969]

water pressure varies from hour to hour, depending on the time of day 5am to 8am are peak hours..auto sprinklers,showers before work etc.. same from 5pm till 8 pm. i was assured our pressure seldom,if ever falls below 50(at our house). and that being said 50 AND UP is good for the muck vac.so if you call and explain what your doing they will let you know if it will work, free. the muck vac has a valve for controlling water flow if yours is stronger than wanted.

 

[D&RW]

I'm going to try the MucVac. Will go and get some pool hose though--thanks for the recommendation. My wife has a big garden sort of adjacent to the pond so she'll love me funneling the water to her plants.

Wonder if you could hook up a pressure washer, set it on low and get even better vacuuming?

 

[D&RW]

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.

How deep will it function Koiguy? Down to 4 ft you think?

 

[koiguy1969]

cant say, it works in 2' is all i know... but it should, the discharge hose is on the top of the handle(pole) you may have to stand in the pond though. at 2 feet you can stand at the edge.

 

[D&RW]

wrote the company. they said it'll work down to 5 ft with stated water pressure, but reminded me the pole is only 6 ft. long. might be awkward trying to sweep and suction with only 2 ft. of pole in the air. whattya think?

 

[koiguy1969]

like i said you might have to get in the pond... i do.

 

[Trix]

Hey Guys,
I see the subject here is pond vacs................I bought an Oase pondovac 3 from Aquatic Ponds back in Feb. of this year. Something was wrong with it, ( started smoking when I used it for 2nd time) I called and they were really great about replacing it. They are also very helpful with other pond questions. I got the new one and have used it several times ................I LOVE it !!!! When I bought it, it was on sale. For me it is well worth the money I spent on it.

 

[D&RW]

I ordered the muck vac. Foster & Smith have a sale on. I'm going to try it with just the garden hose and then put a 1400 GPH pump in line to increase pressure. As for getting in the pond, no problem if necessary.

water sure is clear these days. :icon_smile:

 

[D&RW]

Tried the MucVac. Didn't work. Foster & Smith thought it might be a defective unit and sent another. It worked a little better, but still has terribly weak suction, even with a 3000 gallon per hour pump providing the water.

I'd like to know the brand and model of the unit Pond Lady is using. I can't seem to find it.

thanks,

rw

 

[D&RW]

Found it. Pontec Pondmatic. My only question is will the little bits of gravel on the bottom hurt it. Some are up to 1/2 in in size. They were thrown there by the fish. Now I have rough granite like stones so they won't throw them, I hope.

 

[Otter]

I'm told what happened to mine was an anomaly, and that may be I may have had nothing to do with gravel anyway. However, vacuuming a gravel bottom pond is more or less impossible because the gravel will keep plugging up your tubes and attachments. A few stray rocks, however, aren't likely to hurt anything. If you get one stuck, pull it out and toss it out of the pond. I've been doing this with the remaining bits of gravel in my pond for three years, and though I sometimes find stones when I dump the bag, there's no sign of any damage inside the canister.

 

[D&RW]

Thanks Otter. I ordered one. Don't really have that much gravel and it's small. I'm hoping it'll get sucked up and that'll be that.

 

[Redwinger]

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.

I am assuming you mean this thing ?

http://www.muckvacdirect.com/?gclid=CNy_0PKc85oCFRufnAoddmjzeQ

Do you recommend it ? No way could I afford one of those shop vac looking pond vac.