My pond has developed sediment over the years. It’s mud that stirs up when the fish swim close to the bottom, which the do often. I’ve been scooping some of it up with a fine fish net. However, I am looking for another method that may be more effective. I see there are pond vacuums available. They are priced around $350.00 +/-. I’m not sure that I want to spend that much at the moment.

I built the pond about fifteen years ago with some EPDM rubber roofing. It’s about 25’ in length by about 10’ wide and 18" deep. It generally takes care of itself, but like I said, sediment has built up over time.

What, if anything, does anyone here with a pond use to clean the bottom ?

a small plastic shovel…

Dan,

I use a Pump Vac 6HP 16Gal. It’s a typical shop vac that pumps the water out of the tank as you vacuum. You can run the hose out into the garden and water/fertilize. The pump doesn’t quite keep up with the amount vacuumed. I just let it catch up and start vacuuming when the tank is low enough to continue. It’s important to not let sludge build up on the bottom of your pond. You can get toxic levels of Hydrogen Sulfide gas, that the rotten egg smell you can get when you pull the muck out. The muck can be controlled by using beneficial bacteria check out That Pet Place online. They have lots of info and solutions. Good luck.

As others mentioned using a plastic shovel will work…and there cheap!
Never tried a vacuum method, but seems kind of pricey for a once every 10-year situation.

I have had fish ponds for many years, my current one is going on 5-years old, I have yet to have to clean up the muck on the bottom as it is not that bad.
I use this product all the time:
http://www.petco.com/product/2706/API-PondCare-Pond-Zyme-with-Barley.aspx

It really helps cut down on fish waste and debris, if you have not used it you should probably look into it. It’s great for helping keep your pond clear, and it does help cut back on the maintenance of cleaning.

You may also want to cut back on your feeding, I find this to be the biggest issue that many people have. I struggle to keep my girlfriend from over feeding the fish daily! I keep telling her that fish are ALWAYS hungry, and they are stupid enough to eat themselves to death.
So make sure your only feeding them a small amount, and only once a day (or every other day). you will be surprised how much your pond will clear up just by the fish having to eat other stuff in the pond…plus it keeps there waste down.

Drain it in the spring, clean, refill … and decided not to have fish. But that is because we couldn’t find 1: 22.5 scale mountain trout.

Vincent said

“Never tried a vacuum method, but seems kind of pricey for a once every 10-year situation.”

The Pump Vac is a dual purpose tool, both a Shop Vac & Pump Vac.

Maybe you could rent one?

Thanks, all, for your suggestions. As for the plastic shovel method, I think that the silt is too light and would only slide right off the shovel while you were bringing it up out of the water. If it were mud-like I could see the shovel working.

I ordered a container of the pond sludge stuff. So I’ll give it a try when it gets here next week.

I experimented with my shop vac today, just to see if it would do anything. With a 1 1/4" hose it clogged with small stones and leaves.

So I went back to my fish net method and scooped alittle more sludge out.

OK, so I found this, quite by accident on Youtube. It looks promising.

http://youtu.be/nhxTqjnOWSw