How do you clean out the MUCK?!

[fishykisses]

Hey Pond people, i have a big pre-form pond and I'm getting it ready now. My neighbors are filling in their pool so they had a massive pool motor to empty it. I thought, since it may not be around much longer, i'd ask to borrow it to empty my pond and have it sparkling clean, I thought it was looking pretty good since i dumped in a bunch of pond chemicals to bunch up the algae to scoop it out. It worked but left a foam on top that was difficult to get rid of.
Anyway... I got the pond mostly empty but the whole bottom is about 4 inches of thick SLUDGE!
I don't want to wreck the motor that isn't mine so I'm contemplating now how to get it all out.
How do you guys do it?

[OldMan]

If you are working with an in-ground pond, I have no idea. My summer tub gets cleaned by first emptying the tub then tilting it to almost 90 degrees and hose it out well. I did get a fair build-up last year but it only took me about an hour to get it clean enough to turn it upside down and store it empty against the back yard fence.

[fishykisses]

yeah it's in ground. I ended up doing the get in there and scrub it and use a little bucket to scoop it out.
It looks great now though!

[CACAdmin]

yeah it's in ground. I ended up doing the get in there and scrub it and use a little bucket to scoop it out.

Yuck... I'll bet you were hoping for a less messy solution. Glad you got it done though. Happy ponding! ::D:

[Pamelajo]

yeah it's in ground. I ended up doing the get in there and scrub it and use a little bucket to scoop it out.
It looks great now though!
Hope you had rubber boots!!! Not a nice job. Being able to dump mine at the end of season sounds so much more appealing.

It would be interesting how others with inground ponds clean theirs.

[fishykisses]

i definately was looking for a better solution. It was incredibly disgusting but it went quite quickly once i got into the swing of it.

[CACAdmin]

Hopefully, some others with inground ponds will let us know how they handle it each year. That way you might have a better (less messy) solution next year.

[fishykisses]

here's the pictures of the pond and fish - i got a couple more fish today while i was out getting more plants.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/fishykisses/DSCF5297.jpg
The tree behind the hibiscus and above the waterfall is the one i butchered so it's gonna go.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/fishykisses/DSCF5299.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/fishykisses/DSCF5303.jpg
the white fish with the orange spots on the head and black spots down the body was one i got today. They told me i didn't want him cause he only had one eye, so i got him for $4 instead cause i really liked his markings.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/fishykisses/DSCF5304.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/fishykisses/DSCF5311.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/fishykisses/DSCF5312.jpg

[CACAdmin]

The pond looks great! The fish sure look like they're enjoying being out there. Great pics!

[brnttoast]

there are 3 ways i know of to clean a pond
1, drain completely then sray/scrub and wet vac out the yuck
2, drain most then get a more expensive shop vac with built in drain pump(this way you can start to fill, vac bottom at same time, however the vac w/pump is expensive and it has a recovery time between when the vac fills and the pump empties the canister)
3, pressure washer attachment called a pond-o-vac, the pressure from the washer fills a bag that can be emptied
for us canadians, i saw one of these at princess auto this season
hth

btw, new here so sorry in advance to the moderators if i am not allowed to mention store name, pls lemme know if i did bad there