JohnHuff
I know nothing.
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2012
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So I finally vacuumed the bottom of my pond in the last few days. After the winter, the bottom was full of detritus. Had planned to do it for a long time but different things kept popping up and my back isn't so good anymore so I have to wait until my son is free.
We didn't manage to do a good job this time because it was late afternoon and I couldn't see well into the water and we'd left it late so plants were already growing and we were sucking some plants into the vacuum. I'd also installed a shower filter in a shallow part of the pond and that was blocking part of it. So between all that and my back pain, I figure we did about 50% of what I used to do. The next day when I looked, the parts that were cleaned best was OK, I could see the bottom pretty clearly but not too sure about the deeper parts.
I used a large Sears wet vac, which I have always done. My original thought was that I could always use this as a regular vacuum if I needed to but in all these years, I've only used it for the pond because it's so big.
I tried to remedy the poor vacuuming by adding some kind of sludge buster. It's supposed to contain bacteria which "eats" up the sludge at the bottom. I'd stored this in the garage over winter and when I brought it out some kind of bio-reaction had happened because the sealed bucket was all sucked in. I couldn't even turn the bucket lid and I had to drill a small hole to equalize the low pressure inside before I opened it.
The sludge buster was 1 inch long sticks like kitty litter or wood chips. I threw a cup of the stuff into the pond. The next morning the sticks had broken up into tiny pieces. Don't know how well this stuff will work. I'm supposed to use it every week and I might was well, since this stuff has to be used up fairly soon after opening.
I'd lost a lot of fish last year after my trip to Calif. That fall, I bought a bunch of feeders which grew a lot during the cold weather. They can now eat the medium sized pellets which they couldn't before.
Recently, I bought two batches of inexpensive fish to brighten up the pond. I'm no longer buying koi because they've mostly vanished without a trace. Not sure if the culprit is an opportunistic animal, neighbor or just water quality issues. I plan to address that last one by adding two permanent filters this year. We have no fence in the backyard and we going to build a more substantial netting frame over the pond. And lastly, the guy I bought my koi from is no longer in business.
A few weeks ago I bought 4-5 white/silver feeders. They seem to be doing well apart from not eating with the rest of the fish. I guess they are surviving on algae.
Today, I bought two Shubunkins despite vowing not to anymore. Last year, I bought 2 and then 2 more from Petco and all 4 disappeared without a trace. But today at the store I saw two who were just too pretty to pass on. And I also bought 4 light gold colored feeders.
Really looking forward to them growing and thriving.
We didn't manage to do a good job this time because it was late afternoon and I couldn't see well into the water and we'd left it late so plants were already growing and we were sucking some plants into the vacuum. I'd also installed a shower filter in a shallow part of the pond and that was blocking part of it. So between all that and my back pain, I figure we did about 50% of what I used to do. The next day when I looked, the parts that were cleaned best was OK, I could see the bottom pretty clearly but not too sure about the deeper parts.
I used a large Sears wet vac, which I have always done. My original thought was that I could always use this as a regular vacuum if I needed to but in all these years, I've only used it for the pond because it's so big.
I tried to remedy the poor vacuuming by adding some kind of sludge buster. It's supposed to contain bacteria which "eats" up the sludge at the bottom. I'd stored this in the garage over winter and when I brought it out some kind of bio-reaction had happened because the sealed bucket was all sucked in. I couldn't even turn the bucket lid and I had to drill a small hole to equalize the low pressure inside before I opened it.
The sludge buster was 1 inch long sticks like kitty litter or wood chips. I threw a cup of the stuff into the pond. The next morning the sticks had broken up into tiny pieces. Don't know how well this stuff will work. I'm supposed to use it every week and I might was well, since this stuff has to be used up fairly soon after opening.
I'd lost a lot of fish last year after my trip to Calif. That fall, I bought a bunch of feeders which grew a lot during the cold weather. They can now eat the medium sized pellets which they couldn't before.
Recently, I bought two batches of inexpensive fish to brighten up the pond. I'm no longer buying koi because they've mostly vanished without a trace. Not sure if the culprit is an opportunistic animal, neighbor or just water quality issues. I plan to address that last one by adding two permanent filters this year. We have no fence in the backyard and we going to build a more substantial netting frame over the pond. And lastly, the guy I bought my koi from is no longer in business.
A few weeks ago I bought 4-5 white/silver feeders. They seem to be doing well apart from not eating with the rest of the fish. I guess they are surviving on algae.
Today, I bought two Shubunkins despite vowing not to anymore. Last year, I bought 2 and then 2 more from Petco and all 4 disappeared without a trace. But today at the store I saw two who were just too pretty to pass on. And I also bought 4 light gold colored feeders.
Really looking forward to them growing and thriving.
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