Spring Cleaning the Pond.

A job that has been put off for years was finally accomplished yesterday. I thought I had been doing a pretty good job of keeping the bottom of the pond clean. I used the net to scoop it out, and did partial water changes a couple of times of year. But, I knew I needed to drain the water out and really get some of the sludge out of the bottom. I also knew that meant getting in the pond, something I had been making many excuses not to do.
The weather ended up being perfect to do the pond clean up, so everyone pitched in and we got to work.

I used the pump to pump the water out, as well as using many buckets to water plants all over the backyard. Here the water was down about half way. This is when I got in to see what I would find.

What I found was very surprising. The entire bottom of the pond was covered 6 inches deep in these matted roots of Elodea. This plant was added many years ago because I read that it was a great oxygenator for fish. It had gone kind of crazy over the years, but my husband and I would pull out handfuls of the plants, sure we had it under control. I would highly recommend never planting this in your pond. I'm sure it's fine in a aquarium where it is contained, but I would not put it anywhere you can not completely monitor it. The mats were so heavy my husband had to cut through them to get them up. I just hope no roots were left behind, but if I see any sign of it again I'll be in the pond getting it out.

Sweet Pea insisted on getting in the pond. We were filthy when we got finished.

The water is still clearing, but the pond already looks better. I repotted one water lily, the other two will have to wait for another day. We found at least two completely empty pots buried in the bottom. Wonder what had been in them?

Even though it was one of the worst jobs I've done in awhile I'm so glad we did it. We took out the fish that had survived the Heron fishing from several months ago and they swam in a wading pool while we cleaned. Now they are back and seem to be doing fine.

Once the water was added back in we added a dechlorinator and a natural bacteria enzyme that helps to decompose any sludge left at the bottom of the pond. We noticed that the mosquitoes are active on the pond surface so I put in a Dunk, which is a natural way to kill mosquito larva.
The best part though is that we're now ready to add some new fish in a few weeks!