One of the easiest means of getting crystal clear water is with a veggie
filter. What you want to be careful of in any cleaning (back flushing,
replacing water, cleaning any filter, etc.) is that you do so with water
that does not have chlorine or the like in it, which will kill off the good
organisms that you need. I used the flow of the filter, when I had one, to
tell me when it needed flushed. When the flow decreased to a noticeable
degree I rinsed the filter medium in pond water. Initially this had to be
done often until the micro-organisms established themselves and then less so
but it was still too often for me. I followed a suggestion from here that
has work very well for me. I put my pump in a 5gal bucket and fill the
bucket with lava rock. This pump sits in the main pond. I clean the bucket
once a year with pond water. The water from the pump goes into an upper
'pond' that has heavy rooted plants (water hyacinths normally) and the water
from this falls back into the main pond. My pond is green early in the
season but once the plants grown and the micro-organisms multiply it is
clear.

Donna


"Peter Pan" wrote in message
...
I was wondering how often should I back flush my 3200 gal pond? And when
doing so, how much water should I take out.


Another water question: I know ponds are not usually clear like a fish
tank. My last pond was a plastic insert and the water was fairly clear.
Now that I have a liner, it's no where near clear; its murky at best.. Any
suggestions?


Thanks