Steps for a Full Spring Pond Cleanout and Water Change
1) Disconnect the Plumbing
Unplug pump and allow the pipe and components to drain.
2) Drain the Pond
In nearly all cases it is fine to use your main pump to drain the pond. Don't forget to fill a separate container with pond water
for the fish. The larger this temporary fish holding facility is the
better. We suggest using something like an inflatable kiddy-pool. Make
sure the fishes' temporary home is in a shady area to avoid excessive
water temperature changes.
3) Catch the Fish
Drain the pond to
roughly eight inches of water in order to catch fish easily and safely.
Place the fish in a container you filled with pond water in step 2. Be
sure to use water from the pond to avoid shock from rapid temperature
change, and cover the container with a screen or net
to prevent the fish from jumping out.
4) Remove Debris
All large debris, such as leaves and twigs, should be removed from the pond basin by hand. Take this time to trim those aquatic plants that have died back to encourage new growth. Scrape or scrub all the sludge from the bottom of the pond.
5) Wash the Pond
A 1,500 psi pressure
washer or a high pressure nozzle on a garden hose is good for pond
cleaning. Do NOT over clean your pond. Some algae on the rocks will
prove beneficial in developing your ecosystem. So avoid trying to scrub
all the algae away. Do NOT use soaps or detergents of ANY KIND.
6) Rinse the Pond
Rinsing down and
removing debris from the rocks and gravel will be the most time
consuming part of the cleanout. Use the water coming directly out of the
garden hose to wash the gravel. A power washer or high pressure nozzle
is unnecessary and may actually be counterproductive at this point.
Rinse the pond from top to bottom until the water begins to clear.
7) Clean the Filters
Pump out the water
in the skimmer and remove all lingering debris or sludge. Clean the
waterfall filter box by hosing it out and letting the water flow into
the skimmer. Then clean the skimmer box by hosing it out and pumping the
water out. Also, make sure to clean out the net and hose down the
filter mat. Clean the waterfall filter box filter mats, and bags of
whatever biological filter media that is being used before re-installing
them. Simply hose these down until the water from them runs clean. If
you are using a natural media, like lava rock, it may need replaced.
Lava rock is good for about two years before it needs to be replaced due
to clogging.
8) Refill the Pond
Begin refilling the pond. If you don't know how much water your
pond holds, now is the time to figure out your pond's water volume. The
simplest method is to use the water meter on your home. Ensure
that water is not being used for any other purpose during the time you
are filling the pond. Also, check your water bill to see if your meter
is in gallons or cubic feet, or some other unit (one cubic foot of water is 7.48 gallons).
9) De-Chlorinate the Water
Most city water contains chlorine and chloramines and should be treated with a dechlorinator
before fish are added. Dechlorinator works almost instantaneously so
you don't have to wait long before you can begin moving your pond
inhabitants back into their nice clean home.
10) Acclimate the Fish
A spring cleanout
can be stressful to fish. Proper acclimation is required to reduce
stress which can lead to fish health problems or even fish death. Once
the pond has 1" of water you can prepare to reintroduce the fish by
transferring them to smaller buckets of old pond water and floating the
buckets in the pond, allowing them to acclimate to the new pond water
temperature for approximately 15 minutes. A great way to help reduce the
stress on your fish is to add pond salt.
This helps them build and maintain a slime-coat that gets damaged by
repeat transfers of the fish between vessels. If you have city water,
it's imperative that you add a dechlorinator to neutralize the chlorine
in the water. Fish should not be left outside the pond in a holding
container for more than a few hours, or in the full sun.
11) Add Beneficial Bacteria
It is very important that you return to an initial dosage schedule of beneficial bacteria
in your pond because you just cleaned most of the bacterial colonies
out. Follow the directions on the beneficial bacteria product for
initial dosing information. It is also advisable to add other algae preventatives at this time such as barely straw or ClarityMax+.
