Sludge

[Pond skipper]

Morning all, so I was pulling out all the decaying leaves that have been on the bottom of my ponds all winter and the sludge that is getting stirred up is ridiculous. Anyone have any great ideas about how to get rid of the sludge. I feel like there must be a quieter or an inch of it on the bottom. I mean other than making some elaborate vacuum, what are my options? I was thinking about storing it up every time it settles and letting the pumps take it into the filter can but I don’t think storing it up all the time can be too good for my goldfish. (Which survived the winter this year…for the first time ever

 

[JRS]

Stirring it up and letting the filters remove it is usually a long process with fine debris, although, I doubt it would actually harm the fish. Vacuuming or siphoning (if you have the topography) would probably be the tidiest and easiest. I use a sump pump in the spring to get the worst of the crud out but I have a smallish pond and pump it almost empty since I take the fish inside for the winter.

My new experience ...............a pond Vac Oase pondovac 5

I swore I would NEVER buy one. Well a partly neglected pond, I sort of quit netting the bottom x time ago. Let the hornwort and anacharis grow. That made a nice hiding spot for the snakes to hide and snack on fish. So I decided I needed to net the bottom, remove some of the growth, some of...

www.gardenpondforum.com

 

[Pond skipper]

Stirring it up and letting the filters remove it is usually a long process with fine debris, although, I doubt it would actually harm the fish. Vacuuming or siphoning (if you have the topography) would probably be the tidiest and easiest. I use a sump pump in the spring to get the worst of the crud out but I have a smallish pond and pump it almost empty since I take the fish inside for the winter.

My new experience ...............a pond Vac Oase pondovac 5

I swore I would NEVER buy one. Well a partly neglected pond, I sort of quit netting the bottom x time ago. Let the hornwort and anacharis grow. That made a nice hiding spot for the snakes to hide and snack on fish. So I decided I needed to net the bottom, remove some of the growth, some of...

www.gardenpondforum.com

Thanks for the reply. Ya I may have to reaper to a vacuum. I don’t think it is hurting the fish any when it’s settled and it gives the pond bottom a nice natural look. I may just leave it. I found some other threads where the general consensus seems to be the fish will be fine. I think the silt is mostly from decaying leaves that I didn’t get out before the pond froze over. Until now I’ve relied on the waterfall to aerate, but it falls into the bog garden and I’m not sure how much freshly aerated water makes it back to the main pond so I’ve added a small (think 50 gal aquarium sized) aerator stone to help combat the decaying leaves. What do you guys think, does leaving the sediment and adding the aerator seem to make sense?

 

[j.w]

Thanks for the reply. Ya I may have to reaper to a vacuum. I don’t think it is hurting the fish any when it’s settled and it gives the pond bottom a nice natural look. I may just leave it. I found some other threads where the general consensus seems to be the fish will be fine. I think the silt is mostly from decaying leaves that I didn’t get out before the pond froze over. Until now I’ve relied on the waterfall to aerate, but it falls into the bog garden and I’m not sure how much freshly aerated water makes it back to the main pond so I’ve added a small (think 50 gal aquarium sized) aerator stone to help combat the decaying leaves. What do you guys think, does leaving the sediment and adding the aerator seem to make sense?

If it were me I would remove the sediment if there is a lot as adding an aerator might just stir it all up and create a bad environment for the fish. When it is settled it might be ok but stirred up would be what I would be worried about. Just my 2 cents worth tho. I just use a long handled net to remove all the gunk. The fine stuff that is left could be removed by a fines filter using that white quilt batting in a plastic pot w/holes in it and a tube running from your filter laying on the bottom of the pond w/a hose laying on top of the bucket w/the batting back into your pond. The pot or bucket would sit on the edge of your pond allowing the strained water to run back into the pond. Works good but can take a long time of cleaning off the batting w/a hose laying it on the lawn or hanging it on a part of a wire fence like I did when it gets full of gunk often.

 

[Pond skipper]

That’sa great idea!! Thanks! I didn’t know about this quilt batting before looking here. The sediment settles pretty quickly.. like a couple of hours after it is disturbed and I have the small aerator in now and it isn’t storing it up but I still think I might try the sudden you suggest thanks a lot

 

[Pond skipper]

This quilt batting you’re talking about, is it the stuff you out inside comforters or pillows or if it something else? Also, where can I get some?

 

[Lisak1]

Any sewing, hobby or big box department store will carry it with their crafting supplies. You buy it in rolls.

The sediment really isn't an issue though, if it settles to the bottom. It will break down over time. We had an issue with floating fine debris that drove me crazy. Used the quilt batting method and it worked great. Eventually switched to a box filter - same results honesty, just not as janky.

 

[Pond skipper]

Thanks, I will take a wait and see approach I think. The silt did settle fairly quickly and the water is clear as long as I don’t go trying to get anymore leaves off the bottom. If it gets worse I will probably try the batting.

 

[JohnHuff]

I have a Sears wet dry vac and I just vac the bottom of the pond.

 

[Pond skipper]

Ya I’ve used my shop vac in the past but I was hoping to not have to suck up all the water. I know there’s fancy (expensive) rigs that suck the silt and crud off the bottom and the water stays in the pond, I was just wondering if anyone had any DIY ideas on making something like that. Thanks for the reply