Although you want to clean your pond, you don't want to eradicate all the algae that covers the sides and bottom of the pond. You only want to remove the majority of it. Some algae should remain, as it is necessary for a healthy pond.
Things You'll Need
- Waders or rain boots
- Old clothes
- Pond pump with long tubing/hose
- Pond or fish net
- 2 Large buckets
- Holding tank
- Dechlorinator/Stress coat for fish
- Netting
- Nylon scrub brush
- Wet-dry vac
- Hose
Instructions
Decide where you will direct the dirty pond water; make sure your pump hose reaches that far. Lay out pump hose and connect to pump.
Skim surface of the pond with the net to get up all big debris such as leaves and sticks.
Remove any container pond plants. Place them in a shaded area. Most of the plants do not need special treatment and will be fine sitting out, except for lilies and submerged grasses. Submerge them in a bucket of water.
Place the fish holding tank in a shady area. Pump pond water into the fish holding tank until it is 1/2 full of pond water. Add a few drops of dechlorinator to the water if you have a municipal water source or, if you have a well water source, add a few drops of stress coat. Now, add about four gallons of fresh water. Adding the dechloronitor or stress coat helps acclimate your fish to the new pond water more quickly.
Using pond pump remove water from pond until only a few inches remain.
After the fish are out of the pond, step in and use the nylon scrubber to scrub the pond walls lightly. Remember -- do not scrub so hard you remove all the algae. Just take off some of the algae.
After the pond walls are clean, use the wet-vac to suction the bottom of the pond. After you complete one pass on the bottom of the pond with the wet-vac, rinse the bottom of the pond with the fresh water hose.
When the bottom of pond is clean, refill the pond with fresh water. Add dechlorinator or stress coat to the pond water. Replace plants and reintroduce fish.
If the pond is exceptionally large and cleaning will take over two hours, be prepared to spray the plants lightly with water every half an hour to prevent them from drying out.
Maneuver your net to capture fish and place them in the holding tank. Be gentle with your fish. Do not chase them around the pond. You must cover your holding tank with netting or the fish will jump out.
Vacuum the bottom again with the wet-dry vac. Remember to vacuum between the rocks in the pond wall and along the sides of the pond. The pond bottom does not have to be spotless; just remove a majority of the gunk.