Even though I had a net over my pond there are still quite a few leaves on the bottom. I do not want to drain it to clean them out because of the good bacteria. So I have a couple of questions:
1. What if I left them there, the volume is about 12,000 gallons?
2. The water is tea colored now but has decent clarity. I suppose when the weather gets consistently warm that could change as the leaves begin to decompose. If I drained 1/2 of the water removed most of the leaves then refilled would the water eventually become clear?
3. Anyone ever use one of those pool vacuums that you hook up to a waterhose or is that only for surface debri?
I have a 8 x 10 area that is aprox. 12" deep that is connected to the pond. It serves as the overflow and I put peat in it last September thinking my Japanese iris would like it. However since then I have heard this is not good because of ph levels and it will make the water tea-colored. Any advise on how to use this area as a biological filter? Maybe gravel or sand and of course plant will be in it.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. It is a lot of questions and if you can answer one of them it would help.
Loretta
Spring cleanup & leaf removal
Loretta,
My pond gets Every leaf that falls from the near by oak tree. I use both the leaf net and the vac. the leaf net is the quickest to use. if you get a vac, then also get a hose that is dedicated to it; because hooking the hose up to the vac takes me more time than using it. Mine is over 10 years old; so maybe they've changed the hookup, but mine has only a few threads exposed for the hose to attach too, so it's really hard to keep it connected.
The water does turn tea like, so I drain down about 1/3 every two weeks until I get it back to the sparkling clearness to see my fishies. i also sink barley in the pond during the spring and summer to help w/clarity. My neighbor grows barley so I get it by the bale, I put about 5 lbs in my pond at a time (stuffed in panty hose). It works real well. A commercial source is DrsFosterSmith.com
Happy ponding,
Jo
Also, I bought some barley on ebay a few years ago from Wagner Farms. It is much much cheaper than the pond stores if you are willing to deal with stuffing it yourself.
http://www.bedford.net/lynanton/WagnerFP.htm
Thanks to you both. So the barley really does work well? When you ya'll add it? I live out in the boonies so finding barley by the bale should not be a problem.
As for the leaves I have a problem with water getting under the liner in one section so it has silted up underneath and it needs to be fixed. So I will be drainng the pond to do that and will clean the leaves then. I have well water and also plan to save a little muck to seed it for bacteria. I need to remove the peat out of the bog/filter/overflow area since apparently it was not one of my better ideas. lol
Jo, did you buy your vac at a pool supply store?
Loretta
I probably bought it at Walmart in their pool supplies section; but Drs.Foster carries them and looking in their new catalog it's $32 ; plus the telescopic pole for another $25. So not exactly cheap; but it's lasted many years, but did replace the bag once.
If you decide to add the barley do it mid spring when the water starts to warm up. Half a pound of barley treats 500 gallons. I stuff the barley in the top of the panty hose, cut off the legs, (tie them off of course!; ) add a couple of small rocks, tie off the top and drop it below the water fall. You'll need to replace everything in about 12 weeks. I also live in the country so getting a bale of barley no problem; in the catalog they sell it for $13 per 1/2 pound. How many bales is that!
**Jo
52.00 dollars is'nt bad considering all the time I will save and how lazy I can be. lol Thanks so much, dod you have any pictures of your pond?
Charlotte, you have any pictures of yours? I would love to see them.
Loretta
This weekend we drained the pond, removed tleaves and fixed the drainage problem, then installed 18 lights around it. It looks "Marvelous, Dahling". lol It took all weekend to refill so it is not something we want to do frequently so I bought a vac like the one at Dr Foster's for 18.00 dollars at Lowe' s and a long leaf net. Divided all the lotus and waterlilies and repotted with a 3" layer of sand on top to keep the dirt from the water, then placed them around the pond before filling. . Afterwards I added some of the dark, dark purple dye to the water. The water looked like glass with the lights reflecting off it.
We are ready for the season! Bring it on! WOOHOO!