Photos of water garden pond cleaning?

[Auntiesue]

Some of you have posted photos of cleaning out a water garden. I am writing an article for our newsletter on this topic, comparing it to maintenance of a well designed Koi pond. If you would share some of those photos with me for publication in our newsletter, I would sure appreciate it very much. Credit given of course.

PM me and I'll send my email address.

Sue

[CarolinaGirl]

Funny you should Sue....I was just cleaning my creek yesterday. I decided to make th bottom pool of the creek large enough to growout small koi. Keep in mind....this is just a small creek and it gets cleaned once a year....but man was that nasty. Here's a few pics. Need them high resolution? PM me your address and I'll get them to you.

[PapaBear]

There were some REALLY NASTY ones over at KP last summer... I can't remember who posted them, but they gave a pretty good testimonial as to why they will NEVER EVER put the rocks back in the pond

[CarolinaGirl]

Ken Wallace has some wonderful pictures too. I think Meg does as well....she just cleaned her water garden recently.

[The Pond Digger]

Here is a Grande Waterfall Filter that was cleaned 3 months earlier. The filter was running less than 50% of Suggested Max Capacity. Lava Rock and Pad waterfall filters often quote massive flow rates.

The filter is a suggested max flow rate of 20k gph. This was was recieving 7500gph. The skimmer prefilter was running close to it's maximum flow rate so was doing little to no pre-filtration. Mainly collecting leaf debris and pine needles. In all fairness the water clarity of the eco-system pond was clear with minimal to no algae problems. Of course clear water does not mean clean water.

These photos were taken two years ago while we were extracting the waterfall filter and replacing it with a Back Flushable Waterfall Filter. Now at least the filter can be easliy backflushed weekly, bi-monthly, monthly or annually depending on the ownership of the homeowner.

SInce that date we have played with a couple different types of media and found Matala Rounds to be our prefered choice in this applicaiton. Channeling is minimal. The early problem of Matala we found was they didn't clean really well because they were installed so tight in the filter that they couldn't be moved. Originally, we just pumped pond water over the top of the filter and let it flow out of the bottom drain in the filter. So, today we inject air below the Matala Rounds while we are pumping pond water into the top of the filter.

Have fun, but not too much.

Respectfully,

The Pond Digger

[Meg]

for some reason I can't get the photos to down load here today
But I will gladly send them to you by email Sue
Just pm me

[Auntiesue]

These are all just great!! Just what I'm looking for. Meg I'll PM you with my email addy!! Does anyone have any photos with actual people in the shots showing power washing? That would be one I'd like to include as well.

Sue

[PapaBear]

There was one about a year ago of a HUGE R&G cleanup over at KP. Three was so much sludge they had to use giant bladder filters (looked like a beached whale) to pump the bile through. Rocks from the bottom of the stream bed had colored layers of acid etching that marked the lines of sedimentation and bacterial activity that had been working on it. I'll try to find it for you if I can...

Got It!!!
http://www.*******.com/forums/showth...ighlight=Whale
You'll have to manually edit the addy for it to link up

[MCA]

Howdy Sue,

Should be an interersting comparison.

For a WG there is the pond itself that probably needs to be mucked out 2 times a year. And the filters in the skimmer cleaned once a week?

The notion of cleanning a koi pond is a strange one....unless there has been a major storm or other unusuall event. A koi pond that needs to be cleaned either has less than ideal design or maintence of the equipment. Koi ponds (not the filters) should not need any routine cleaning. And depending on the fitlers, they can be have relative simple and dry cleaning.

May watergardensers may be very surprised how easy it is to care for a well designed mature koi pond.

[KoiCop]

Quote: Originally Posted by MCA The notion of cleanning a koi pond is a strange one....

You got that right, Michael. With our ponds, cleanout means netting leaves after a storm.

Other than that, it's a switch here, a lever there, flush to waste and voila -- done. Never even get our hands wet.

Compare that to a Spring cleanout on an ADI style pond:

1. Test tap & pond water. Record values for reference.
2. Set up portable tank(s) for fish. 500 gallon is my standard tank.
3. Pump clean pond water, not from the bottom, into the tank(s) until full
4. Continue to discharge water from pond (into street) and install aeration on tank(s).
5. Pond is pumped out to less than 12" of water. Time to catch fish.
6. Use a koi sock only to transfer fish from pond to holding tank. Cover on tank must be installed at this point. DO NOT CHASE FISH. Pick them up gently.
7. Pump out remaining water, note lowest point in pond bottom.
8. Push aside gravel in lowest spot of bottom to expose bare liner, place discharge pump here, and put it on the lid of a bucket. This will keep liner from being drawn into the pump impeller.
9. A light power wash, intended to remove loose debris is next. Power washer should not exceed 1200 psi. It is possible to cut 45 ml rubber liner with a stronger jet of water. DO NOT REMOVE ALL THE PATINA OF ALGAE. This will keep a good amount of "the micro food web" alive (rotifers, copepods, nematodes).
10. Pump out dirty water as needed.
11. Rinse sides and shelves thoroughly with strong jet from the hose. Disturb gravel on shelves to insure you are getting it clean. Repeat as often as necessary.
12. Pump out dirty water as needed.
13. Form small piles with the gravel in the bottom. Rinse and pump out dirty water as you go. Take your time with this step. Most of the dirt and detritus is in the bottom now. Repeat until bottom is clean.
14. Remove any superfluous rock and gravel. Only enough rock and gravel is needed to hide liner. Gravel not to exceed a depth of 1 1/2 ".
15. Pond is clean, time to introduce fish.
16. Place discharge pump into tank, hose into the pond. Turn on pump momentarily, and siphon water from tank. This method will not stir up a cloud of particulate in the pond.
17. Siphon until water level in tank is less than 12". Remove pump.
18. With a koi sock only, gently pick up fish and transfer them to "home water" you reintroduced to pond. DO NOT CHASE FISH. A second net can be used to steer fish into the koi sock.
19. Transfer the rest of the water from tank to pond.
20. Install water meter on outside tap and top off pond. Use ST when applicable (for city water source). SPRAY WELL SOURCE WATER INTO THE AIR WHEN TOPPING OFF A FRESHLY CLEANED POND. There is almost no oxygen in well water. This is how you kill all your fish, add water with no O2 in it. Refer to initial water testing parameters. "Cook" source water with baking soda and /or Epsom salts if required to meet desired standard. This step is critical for substandard source water, well water.
21. Clean, rinse, and pump out bio-falls. Clean biomedia. Lava rock is not a desirable biomedia. Use something lighter...easier to clean on a monthly basis.
22. Add total from water meter and 500 gallons to get total pond volume. You will be surprised as to how little water is actually in the pond. Rock and gravel take up a lot of water volume. Adjust fish load to "real" gallons of water in the pond.

As you can see, this is a lot of work. I bring thousands of dollars worth of equipment to a job site to do a clean out. If you can't do a proper clean out...don't do it at all. Hire someone who can. Richard