what's your process for opening the pond

[darkmuse]

for me, it usually involves raking what little got in over the winter after I cleaned with a net last fall. Not a lot but it's easier when the fish aren't as active. I go slow, as I've seen suggested here. The water is cold so I'm not much into getting into the water. I work from the side. Which reminds me, I need to get a new net as there's some tears developing in the one I got. After that, make sure the pump is working and the bog flowing. Nothing much happening yet as the temps are still in the forties. But soon. I like to make sure the rocks on the sides are not sagging or leaning and I sometimes scrub the waterfall rocks of any leftover algae from last season. But other than that, I do most of my cleaning in the fall. What is your process?

And mine is about a half day of messing around with the pond getting it ready for the season. Can't wait to begin!

[j.w]

I missed this post somehow.
Anyways I allow my pond to run the waterfall and pot edge filter all year long. I take out the prefilter in Fall that is attached to a pump. I do leave that pump running tho flowing water into the pond through a tube onto a silver floating ball that turns as the water hits it round and round. So in Spring I reattach the prefilter and let it get to the business of cleaning up the gunk. When it gets full I take it out and hose it off and put back in. I do a netting out of gunk on the bottom too. Not usually really much there tho. I turn on the powerful volcanic looking aerator and I sometimes do a slow water in and slow water out to give the pond a refresh of well water. I also clean the pot edge filter when it gets full and starts to over flow at the top.

Prefilter





Silver Ball to the right that spins by the water force from tube



Long handled net for scooping the bottom



Powerful aerator



AP-40 Danner aerator pump



I have the aerator pump covered all year like this

f

I have this Matala diffuser w/9" air disk attached to the aerator tubing in the water



Pot edge filter
Water comes in through a hose at the top and flows out slowly through Matala media out the bottom hole of pot back into the pond

[Gemma]

I clean out the bog and the plant pool in the Fall, so the only thing I do in Spring is removing and cleaning all the pads in my bio-fall and suck up a bit of debris, there is really not much that falls in my pond

[brokensword]

I clean out the bog and the plant pool in the Fall, so the only thing I do in Spring is removing and cleaning all the pads in my bio-fall and suck up a bit of debris, there is really not much that falls in my pond

I think that's the best way to do it; hardly anything to do come spring except tweak and enjoy. I always have done fall cleanups as generally, the plants are still hale and can be managed. In spring? mushy, slimy, rotting carcasses and whatnot...uh, no way, jose! Geez, got my rhymin' hat on this evening!

[j.w]

I clean out the bog and the plant pool in the Fall, so the only thing I do in Spring is removing and cleaning all the pads in my bio-fall and suck up a bit of debris, there is really not much that falls in my pond

I think that's the best way to do it; hardly anything to do come spring except tweak and enjoy. I always have done fall cleanups as generally, the plants are still hale and can be managed. In spring? mushy, slimy, rotting carcasses and whatnot...uh, no way, jose! Geez, got my rhymin' hat on this evening!

Hmmmmmmmmmm, maybe if I do a really good cleaning in the Fall I won't get the fish deaths in the Spring? Hard tho to get out there as cold is cold and always say I need a better day to do it when it is not raining etc.

[poconojoe]

I also do a slow thorough netting along the bottom.
I do that in the Fall and Spring.

I keep the pond and bog covered with a leaf net all winter, but I still get some accumulated muck on the bottom of the pond come Springtime.

No filter pads to clean here. I filter with a bog. The bog runs 24/7/365.
I do have to use the two clean-out stacks more often in the Spring until the beneficial bacteria and plants wake up.

[j.w]

This Fall I will be putting a bird netting in one area over the wide weave net I have on my pond as there is a Japanese Maple on one corner that shed leaves right into it. That will really help as that is the only tree nearby that loses it's leaves. I know all about the wonderful bogs but I can't have one at my pond unless someone wants to come and do it for me and figures out where it can fit that doesn't look weird.
I'm gonna start doing bottom muck outs Fall and Spring too @poconojoe as I think it will help w/stopping fish deaths.