If you are struggling with leaves, muck and debris building up on the bottom of your pond, then you need a pond vacuum. Pond vacuums work like a pool vacuum: they can remove the both floating and sunken debris from your water garden pond. They come with a motor, a tube and a wand/nozzle.
Once you have used a pond vacuum, you will wonder how you survived without one. It is important to keep your pond clean of all the fallen leaves and debris that make their way into the pond. Otherwise this natural manure will start releasing phosphates that will poison your water garden plants. This in turn will allow algae to start growing, greatly affecting the ecosystem inside the pond.
Most people start out with a skimmer and a filter to keep their water garden clean. This is fine if you are really vigilant and if you have a relatively small pond. A skimmer will help to remove floating materials but it will not remove sunken debris. Once the matter sinks to the bottom of the pond, you really have your work cut out for you. You have 2 choices, drain the pond and clean it out, or get a pond vacuum.
The pond vacuum will clean the lowest part of the pond, including accumulated dead foliage mass and mud.
When you use your pond vacuum, it is best to move the wand slowly. This will ensure that the debris is removed before being broken up further into the pond water. Care should also be taken so that any fish are not trapped.
Some high-end pond vacuums are even capable of removing string algae. This is often hard to remove because it sits between stones and as the name suggests is the width of string. Most pond vacuums come with different fitting nozzles that help clean the entire pond. You can get nozzles for the surface, nozzles for algae, and nozzles for between stones and plants.
No matter what pond vacuum you choose, if you use it in conjunction with your pond skimmer and filter, your pond will remain a healthy and clean ecosystem. Just remember to follow your pond vacuum’s cleaning instructions, because your vacuum needs cleaning just like your pond does.
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