Pond Cleaning
The Annual Clean
The annual clean means draining the pond, providing the chance to deal with all the underwater precautions required for maintaining a healthy environment for its inhabitants.
Timing
The best time of year for the annual clean is early spring, for two principal reasons:
- It gives the pond its best chance during the year, i.e. the summer to replenish its condition
- Generally, most issues with ponds occur during winter, so spring provides a timely chance to check and solve outstanding problems.
The Cleaning Process
The first step is to remove the fish from the pond. Large fish and fish with long or intricate fins are best moved in large buckets or other containers as nets can damage them. In these instances, nets should only be used to shepherd the fish into the containers. One should be alert for younger fish, fish fry and any new fish during this part of the process.
Water can then be removed. This also allows the removal of other waterborne life such as snails.
Plants should be cleaned and tidied. Any over-abundant vegetation can be split and repotted or disposed of.
The exercise provides the opportunity to remove and re-site any plants, rocks or other underwater items.
Equipment Checks
Pond equipment can be overhauled and cleaned. Biological filters may need re-seeding and pumps should be checked.
The pond liner should also be checked for damage if it is visible and repaired and sections or the whole liner replaced if necessary.
Cleaning the Pond Bed
One of the main purposes of the annual cleaning is to remove build-ups of sediment, which can be shovelled into buckets and used to provide a healthy refill for flower beds elsewhere in the garden. Cleaning is best accomplished by scrubbing in instances of well-embedded algae, etc.
Other debris should be cleared and everything washed down using dechlorinated water. Tap water that has been left to stand for a while is fine for this purpose. A hose can be used, with care. It may also be appropriate to vacuum the bottom of the pond to help dislodge debris.
Final Stages
The pond can now be refilled, adding any relevant biological conditioners or water additives as necessary. If fountains are present in the pond, they should be left to run for a short time at this point, though some monitoring of the water temperature may be required as fountains generally reduce the temperature.
The water should be allowed to settle and re-acclimatise before returning the fish and any surface plants to the pond. Mesh or any other overhead accessories can be reseated.
Fish should be allowed to resettle undisturbed after the annual cleaning.
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