You will have to clean your pond. Cleaning ponds is probably the task that pond owners dread the most, but it is also the most necessary task to keep your pond in its healthiest state. When cleaning ponds, you can do a periodic cleaning of skimming out the debris, but you also need to do a thorough cleaning once a year. This requires a very physical scrubbing of the entire pond. By following the tips suggested here, the process of cleaning ponds will become a little bit easier.
It is best to do your annual cleaning either in the spring or the fall to get the most out of your pond. It is too cold to clean during the winter, and in the summer, your plants and fish should be at their most vibrant and natural best. You don’t want to disturb this equilibrium by cleaning the pond at that time.
When cleaning ponds, you need to remove the fish and plants. To remove the fish and do as little harm as possible to them, take a large container such as a child’s swimming pool or a large, plastic storage container and fill with half pond water and half clean water. Make sure that you add a de-chlorinating tablet to the water. Using a net, catch the fish and gently place them in their new container in a shady spot.
Next, you will want to drain as much water as possible from the pond. Then scrape out the mud and debris that has attached itself to the walls of the pond. The silt and debris from the pond can be placed directly into your garden as it makes a very good fertilizer. Next, you will want to use a scrub brush or sponge to get off the rest of the algae and other materials that cling to the walls. Detergents are not recommended as they might contain toxins that are harmful to your fish and plants. Plain water will work best.
After cleaning the pond, you will want to put back some of the old water into the pond and fill the rest up with new, cleaner water. The old water contains bacteria and nutrients that are necessary for the health of your fish and plants, so you don’t want to throw it all away. Use a de-chlorinating tablet and make sure that the temperature of the water in the pond is the same as the temperature in the plastic containers. This will keep the fish from going into shock when you reintroduce them to the pond.
You can help keep your pond clean during the year by using natural and chemical additives, good filters and pumps, and a periodic cleaning of the debris that floats on the top of the pond. To get the debris off the surface, you can use purchased skimming nets, or old pantyhose and wire hangers will also do the trick. Cleaning ponds still might be the most unpleasant task of having a pond, but with a little help and advice from the experts, you will be able to do it quickly and thoroughly.