you need at least two tubs. one pretty large for the fish. start by pumping water
into the tubs. drop an airstone into the one where the fish will be held. put a bird
net or something over the fish tub to make sure they dont jump.
start draining the rest of the pond. carefully remove plant containers. rinse those
off, trim them and set into the tubs. dont stir up the bottom of the pond or muck up
the water.
there is simply no point in chasing fish thru a dirty pond. they just get stressed
and the stirred up crap in the pond usually has all kinds of anaerobic gases. if you
can get your hands on some PP
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/d....htm#POTASSIUM
that is even better cause it neutralizes toxic gases.
once you can see the fish are nearly on their sides start picking them up by slipping
a plastic bag over them... they usually cannot see something clear coming. move the
fish into the tubs. then look for the tadpoles and frogs, move those into the other
tub, make sure there is something for the frogs to sit on.
continue removing whatever you find alive in the pond.
when the water is gone or the pump clogs continually, whichever comes first, use a
PLASTIC snow shovel to start shoveling the muck out of the pond. now this stuff is
pretty right in fertilizer so it can be poured onto plant gardens or veggies.
rinse the sides of the pond, but DONT SCRUB to remove the last of the muck.
Now start refilling the pond. try to match the temperature of the new water to the
old, be sure to have the dechlor in the pond when you start refiling it. rather than
just running the water into the pond it aerates it by shooting it up in the air and
let it fall into the pond. when the pond is half way filled start putting the plants
and tads and frogs back in. last move the fish back in.
If the water temp of the new water is too cold it will shock the fish. better to
only partially refill the pond with warmer water and put the water on a very slow
dribble for the next couple days. be sure to keep adding dechlor to the pond to
neutralize chlorine/chloramine if you arent on well water. Ingrid

"Dave" wrote:
We recently moved into this house and "inherited" what could be a nice
little pond. Trouble is, the previous owner hasn't cleaned it out or done
anything to it since about July last year and it's a right mess of dead
plants and blanketweed, but also now getting new growth on plants as well.

It really needs a good cleanout but the fish all seem healthy and happy and
there are also frogs and tadpoles living in there as well - in fact, I think
it's because the tadpoles have found some great places to hide that they are
still alive and we don't want to disturb them.

What's the best option - clean up and disturb the wildlife, hoping they'll
settle down again or just leave well alone?

Some photo's here (each about 1Mb in size so anyone on dial-up rather than
broadband, beware):

www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1190.JPG (a frog popped it's head up for this
shot)
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1191.JPG
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1192.JPG
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1193.JPG
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1194.JPG
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1195.JPG
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1196.JPG
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1197.JPG
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1198.JPG
www.prestoncwu.co.uk/dvd/IMGP1199.JPG

Thanks,

Dave.




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