Asked By: Maggie of Amherst, OH
A: An annual spring cleanout is an important chore when you own a backyard pond. It’s an ideal time to remove all the decaying organics that collected over the winter, trim back dead foliage, kick on your filtration and aeration systems, and generally spruce things up around your water garden wonderland.
But what if your pond was well-sheltered and protected from leaves and debris, or you live in a temperate climate where a total pond shutdown was unnecessary? Or maybe you don’t have time to dedicate to all that cleaning and maintenance this year.
Well, we have some shortcuts for you.
How to Clean Pond Water Quickly
Though it is better to do a thorough cleanout at the start of the season, these five tips will reduce the time it takes to do your spring chores.
- Do a Partial Water Change: To help remove some floating and suspended debris, do a partial water change. Drain 10 to 20 percent of the water from the pond, then refill it with fresh water and add Stress Reducer Plus to remove heavy metals and prevent your fish from getting too stressed.
- Polish Away Pond Scum: Oxy-Lift Defense will quickly shine up your waterfalls and shoreline rocks. It’s simple to use: As you do your partial water change, sprinkle Oxy-Lift Defense on scum-covered stones and liners before refilling your pond. In just 24 hours, you’ll see the gunk break free without scrubbing!
- Remove Debris: Use your ClearVac Pond Vacuum Cleaner to easily suck up gunk, sludge, and decaying organics on the pond bottom. It has four different attachments—gravel, string algae, narrow, and wide—plus extension tubes to vacuum almost any surface. The continuous-duty solids pump lets you clean without waiting on discharge cycles. For debris larger than 3/8 inch, scoop it out with a Collapsible Debris Skimmer.
- Add Beneficial Bacteria: To break down debris your pond vacuum missed, add Seasonal Defense beneficial pond bacteria to the water. The microorganisms are designed to work in cooler temperatures to digest leaves and sediment that accumulate over the winter. It also kick-starts your pond's biological filtration system, priming it for summer.
- Rinse Your Filter Media: Finally, remove your filter media and give it a quick rinse with your garden hose to break up and wash away pond gunk. There’s no need to scrub since the bacteria living in the pads or BioBalls will revive once temperatures rise.
We still recommend a complete spring pond cleaning for an immaculate and balanced pond, but this quick fix will get the debris out of your pond, giving it a facelift for spring soirees.
More Spring Pond Cleaning Tips
How you clean out your pond in spring is up to you, and we can help you with professional tips and tricks every step of the way. Contact us online or by phone at 866-POND-HELP today for expert advice.
Keep reading these koi pond spring cleaning articles for more information:
How to Drain a Pond
Cleaning a Pondless Feature
Why Pond Water Changes Are Important?
Benefits of the DefensePAC
How Does a Pond Vacuum Work?