Hello,

We have just moved into a house with an existing 300 g pond with fish.

The previous owners left us some info about taking care of the pond,
but I wanted to post the details here to make sure I'm about to do
this correctly. Any other hints or advice would be greatly
appreciated.

1. Fill a big tub with existing pond water. Put fish into this. (I'm
planning to use a big rubbermaid-type tub)
2. Drain the remainder of the pond.
3. Remove bottom rocks and clean.
4. Clean sides and bottom of pond, rinse and drain out dirty water.
5. Put rocks back
6. Fill pond with water.
7. Use appropriate amount of water conditioner (to remove chlorine,
etc)
8. float the tub with the fish in the new water for most of the day
or overnight to get them used to the temp
9. Put fish into new water.
Is that it? I do have a bottle of water conditioner. There is a
waterfall that is a water-trickle so I think we will need to clean the
pump/filter at the same time, and new plants need to be purchased and
put in soon.

If there is anything else that is recommended I would love to hear
about it. I am doing other research and checking out various pond
sites.
TIA,
Cathy

Hi Cathy,

I would net, or put something over, the fish storage tub so the fish won't jump
out.
I would not float the tub for hours or overnight.
Mix in a bit of pond water and cut the time down to a hour. Don't let the tub
sit in the sun, either out of the water or in the water.
Now is the time to cull fish. How many do you have and what are they. In a 300
gallon pond we suggest 15 goldfish max.

Get the plants asap. Put them in when the fish go back in. Clean your filter
media with de-chlored water.

Others will have more hints so stay tuned!



k30a

If you think in terms of rinsing the pond to clean; it rather than scrubbing
it, you'll be on the right track. Beneficial bacteria live in the filters,
rocks and pond walls. If there are existing plants put them in the shade and
cover with wet newspapers or something to keep them moist. Your fish in the
tub would also appreciate being shaded to keep the temperature from changing
too much. A half filled or covered tub will minimize the chances of freedom
loving fish going "over the wall".

Once the new water is treated in the pond and the tub is floating,
periodically add some water from the pond to the water in the tub. Anytime
the temp in the pond matches within a couple of degrees with the temp in the
tub you can release the fish, it shouldn't take more than an hour or two. A
few years back I moved some extra fish from the pond into a tub for
overnight storage until a friend could pick them up. The racoons enjoyed the
newly opened sushi bar.


"Cathy" wrote in message
om...
Hello,

We have just moved into a house with an existing 300 g pond with fish.

The previous owners left us some info about taking care of the pond,
but I wanted to post the details here to make sure I'm about to do
this correctly. Any other hints or advice would be greatly
appreciated.

1. Fill a big tub with existing pond water. Put fish into this. (I'm
planning to use a big rubbermaid-type tub)
2. Drain the remainder of the pond.
3. Remove bottom rocks and clean.
4. Clean sides and bottom of pond, rinse and drain out dirty water.
5. Put rocks back
6. Fill pond with water.
7. Use appropriate amount of water conditioner (to remove chlorine,
etc)
8. float the tub with the fish in the new water for most of the day
or overnight to get them used to the temp
9. Put fish into new water.
Is that it? I do have a bottle of water conditioner. There is a
waterfall that is a water-trickle so I think we will need to clean the
pump/filter at the same time, and new plants need to be purchased and
put in soon.

If there is anything else that is recommended I would love to hear
about it. I am doing other research and checking out various pond
sites.
TIA,
Cathy

i wouldn't put the rocks back in because you may find that a LOT of crud is
trapped in those rocks. think about how you will have to do this every year
if you put the rocks back in. what a pain!
mad
--
If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could
only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper?

From: (Cathy)
Organization: http://groups.google.com/
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
Date: 13 Jun 2003 08:44:32 -0700
Subject: Need advice for first-time pond cleaning

Hello,

We have just moved into a house with an existing 300 g pond with fish.

The previous owners left us some info about taking care of the pond,
but I wanted to post the details here to make sure I'm about to do
this correctly. Any other hints or advice would be greatly
appreciated.

1. Fill a big tub with existing pond water. Put fish into this. (I'm
planning to use a big rubbermaid-type tub)
2. Drain the remainder of the pond.
3. Remove bottom rocks and clean.
4. Clean sides and bottom of pond, rinse and drain out dirty water.
5. Put rocks back
6. Fill pond with water.
7. Use appropriate amount of water conditioner (to remove chlorine,
etc)
8. float the tub with the fish in the new water for most of the day
or overnight to get them used to the temp
9. Put fish into new water.
Is that it? I do have a bottle of water conditioner. There is a
waterfall that is a water-trickle so I think we will need to clean the
pump/filter at the same time, and new plants need to be purchased and
put in soon.

If there is anything else that is recommended I would love to hear
about it. I am doing other research and checking out various pond
sites.
TIA,
Cathy



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