Waterfeature Clean-up

Spring has finally arrived in the Midwest and many water features are in need of a good spring clean-up. The Key word being "good". Depending on the location and amount of unavoidable debris that may have accumulated at the bottom of your water feature, you may be in need of a thorough cleaning. Now is the time to get this job done, before your ecosystem gets up and running and you have to disturb it.





Start by removing any fish and frogs that you can get to with a full pond. (pondless owners can skip this step) Place fish in a large container of pond water such as a garbage can lined with a trash bag or an old wash tub or get a cheap kid pool for this task. Begin draining your water by siphoning the water out with a garden hose, use an extra pump or disconnect your pump from the backflow and attach it to an extra coupler and pump the water out.





As you pump the water out look for additional fish and frogs etc. Be careful handling your fish and avoid over aggressive grabbing of the fish and scraping them against rocks. By taking your time you will find them huddling quietly at the bottom where you should be able to get them in a fine net and release them into your holding pool. Once all of the fish are removed, continue removing the water but continue to look for fish that may be hiding and overlooked.





Power wash the water fall rocks down and remove the old algae. Wash the bulk of the heavy debris off into the pond. Wash the pond rocks and clean the edges. Remove the extra water in the bottom of the pond from the cleaning with a pump, bucket, cup or sponges. A wet / dry vacuum works well to get the bottom of the pond clean and to remove the heavy sludge from the bottom. Wash the base area several times till the water stops turning brown. Try to agitate the gravel to get decayed leaves up but don't worry about getting every little bit of dirt.





Remove the filters from the skimmer and the bio-falls and spray them down and remove the dirt from them. Vacuum the boxes out removing any sediment on the bottom. Wash the lava rocks thoroughly and let them drain. Replace the filters and the lava rocks and reconnect the pump to the check valve.





Begin filling the pond as soon as your done. if you have a good water supply this should take a few hours. If you have a well or a slow supply, consider buying water from a delivery service that will bring a truck out and pump it right into the pond for you. If you use chlorinated water, remove the chlorine by adding a de-chlorine product at this time.





It is not necessary to remove your plants or water lillies during this process. Fertilizer tablets can easily be added to you plants at this time. Take the time to replace any pond lights and adjust them prior to filling the pond. Once the water fills enough to keep the skimmer full, begin running the waterfall to get the pond circulation going.





Now, you can add the fish back into the water. If there is a great difference in temperature, you can add some of the pond water to your holding talk to bring the temperatures closer so the fish aren't shock when released. Carefully place the fish back into the pond. Monitor the fish for signs of infection from scrapes or stress from the cleaning. A .30% salt solution can help protect the fish as well as a parasite or bacterial treatment if signs are observed.

Videos of Our Ponds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp3g4PTpRHk&feature=plcp





Add pond bacteria at this time directly into the skimmer so it dissolved and is introduced into the pond via the falls.

Good luck and happy water gardening!


Walter Falls


Call The Falls Group For an estimate on your pond or water feature clean-up today.

1-877-Mr Falls

1-877-673-2557

1-440-543-1990

1-216-210-5024

http://www.thefallsgroup.com/
www.mrfallstree.com
www.mrfalls.org