As temperatures rise and snow and ice melt, spring returns to your pond. To keep your pond in optimum health, a complete pond clean up should be done annually.
It’s important to clean your pond before aquatic life completely returns from dormancy. Clean your pond before the water temperature reaches 13 C (55 F), and the beneficial bacteria in your pond is established. Once the bacteria have formed, a dramatic clean up could throw your ponds eco-system out of balance, producing unsightly amounts of hair algae and green water.
### How to Clean Your Pond
1. Keep pond clean ups to one day to prevent unnecessary stress to fish and other aquatic life.
2. Using a 2 submersible pump, remove water until your pond is at 1/4 of its original level.
3. Wearing hip waders, use a wet dry vacuum and remove organic debris such as leaves, sticks, nuts & dead pond plants. **Watch out for fish! The vacuum could cause them a great amount of trauma, stress, or kill them outright.**
4. Starting at the top shelves and working downward, power wash larger rocks and decorative stones to remove pond scum and algae. A power washer with a minimum 2800 PSI and **safety glasses** are required. If your pond has a waterfall feature, use caution while cleaning close joints between rocks as not to remove pond foam. This could cause leaks.
5. Clean out the upper spillway above your waterfall. If it is full of water it can be drained by disconnecting the check valve. Clean out the skimmer if you have one.
6. If your filters were not cleaned and put away in the fall, now is a good time to give them a thorough rinse.
7. Before filling the pond, replace any rocks and stones which may have moved and exposed the liner.
8. Reconnect your check valve and pump and begin filling your pond. If you are using city water, add conditioner to eliminate chlorine, chloramine and neutralize metals harmful to aquatic life
9. When your pond reaches the desired level, skim out any leaves or debris and turn on the pump.
*Post contributed by Chris Langendoen, Landscape Construction Crew Leader.*
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