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I typically have cleaned out my 3 yr old pond in the spring, fall and once in the summer. I no longer have any tree near my pond and haven't cleaned it out since spring. There does not appear to be a lot of debris in there other than the typical.  Does it really need to be cleaned out before winter? I cover it with a pool cover (leaving room for air to enter/exit) and heat it to keep it from freezing. I am just thinking that a natural pond never gets cleaned out and if mine looks fairly clean, is there a need. Yes, I am being lazy. I also don't like stressing my Koi which inveitably happens.

I typically have cleaned out my 3 yr old pond in the spring, fall and once in the summer. I no longer have any tree near my pond and haven't cleaned it out since spring. There does not appear to be a lot of debris in there other than the typical.  Does it really need to be cleaned out before winter? I cover it with a pool cover (leaving room for air to enter/exit) and heat it to keep it from freezing. I am just thinking that a natural pond never gets cleaned out and if mine looks fairly clean, is there a need. Yes, I am being lazy. I also don't like stressing my Koi which inveitably happens. Ahhh, but natural ponds also eventually fill in When you say cleaned out what do you do? Do you empty the pond and power wash everything or just power wash up the mulm from the bottom? I vacuum mine up. Do you have stones on the bottom of the pond? Bottom drain? San Diego Joe 4,000 - 5,000 Gallons. Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

I empty the water, remove fish and plants, and basically remove all debris. I use a broom on the bottom and sides. I don't remove every last trace of algae massively scrubbing it. I don't have a bottom drain.  I don't have stones (other than the ones the Koi knock out of my plant pots).

===<I typically have cleaned out my 3 yr old pond in the spring, fall and ===<once in the summer. I no longer have any tree near my pond and haven't ===<cleaned it out since spring. There does not appear to be a lot of ===<debris in there other than the typical.  Does it really need to be ===<cleaned out before winter? ===< ===<I cover it with a pool cover (leaving room for air to enter/exit) and ===<heat it to keep it from freezing. I am just thinking that a natural ===<pond never gets cleaned out and if mine looks fairly clean, is there a ===<need. Yes, I am being lazy. I also don't like stressing my Koi which ===<inveitably happens. ============================================== Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked! The original frugal ponder ~~~~ }<((((o ~~~~~~ }<{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }<(((((o

I typically have cleaned out my 3 yr old pond in the spring, fall and once in the summer. I no longer have any tree near my pond and haven't cleaned it out since spring. There does not appear to be a lot of debris in there other than the typical.  Does it really need to be cleaned out before winter? I cover it with a pool cover (leaving room for air to enter/exit) and heat it to keep it from freezing. I am just thinking that a natural pond never gets cleaned out and if mine looks fairly clean, is there a need. Yes, I am being lazy. I also don't like stressing my Koi which inveitably happens. Perhaps just suck any accumulated muck up with a shop vac? Fall is the best time, as your fish are strong and immune systems still up (if you haven't waited too long into the fall). ~ jan

===<On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 01:15:31 GMT, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (~Roy) ===<wrote: ===< ===<The way I clean mine or at least sanitize it to  get rid of a lot of ===<organic material like rotted leaves pine straw etc is to dose it 2x ===<back to back every spring and 1 time in late fall about mid November ===<with potassium permanganate. If not, come spring you are subject to ===<all kinds of nasty things happening.......Since I started doing the 3 ===<treatments with PP I have yet to get any fungal or bacterial problems ===<which is pretty common in most all ponds in the deep south especially ===<natural ones.........I took the advice of the University of FL in ===<prophylactic treating my pond and it been good. ===< ===<Sounds interesting.  I tried a Google search, but didn't find a ===<working University of Florida site.   (It may be down for changes.) ===<All I found was one from the UK urging caution with PP. ===<http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/treatments/potassium%20permanganate.htm ===< ===<I'd like to read about the PP treatment if you have a good URL, I'd ===<appreciate it. ===< ===<Thanks, ===< ===<Hal ============================================== Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked! The original frugal ponder ~~~~ }<((((o ~~~~~~ }<{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }<(((((o