In a small to medium sized fish pond which does not have the advantage of a bottom drain there will be a gradual build up of organic matter and solid fish waste over a period of time. The problem with organic matter and solid fish waste is that is starts to decompose. As you can see it is important to keep the bottom of your water garden fish pond as clean as you possibly can.
Fall or Autumn is the preferred time of year to carry out routine pond cleaning.
- You will need to get your hands on a container that is capable of holding about 100 gallons (US) or bigger if possible. Ideally a container capable of holding half of your pond volume is ideal.
- The next step involves connecting a piece of tubing to a pond pump and pumping out the pond water into the container. Do not suck up pond water from near the bottom of the pond; instead place the end of the tube just below the water surface. Keep as much of the 'old' pond water as you can.
- Time for the fun job of catching your pond fish and placing them into the retained pond water in the container.
- Use a net to remove any leaves and get rid of them, along with any other muck that you can get out also. If you prefer, instead of a partial pond clean you can carry out a full pond clean. To do this pump out the rest of the pond water and then use a pond vacuum cleaner (pond vac) to suck up any remaining sludge.
- Start to fill your fish pond back up to the level it was at before you removed the pond water; add a chlorine remover and adjust the pond pH to match that in the holding tankYou can now start to pump new water from the pond into your holding tub, and then pumping the mixture back into the pond. Do this for 15-20 minutes until the new water mixture matches that in the pond. Pump the remaining water back into your pond while netting your fish back in as well.
The full article can be read at http://www.garden-pond-filters.com/garden-pond-fallcleaning.html ...
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