Topic: pond vacuum recommendation

[grawrc]

I have 2 ponds and they are getting a bit silted up. It's not really practical to drain them to clean out the silt, so I'm considering buying a pond vacuum. I've been looking online and the Oase Pondovac 4 seems to be head and shoulders above the rest, but it is pricey and also possibly more powerful than I really need.

So I was wondering if anyone has a pond vacuum that they would recommend or, indeed, any views on the Oase Pondovacs?

[PhilBen]

It really depends on the size of your pond,pump and filter. Most of the smaller vacs don't work very well. One option is that some aquatic shops hire out pond vacs. That might be a better way and cheaper

[macmac]

We've got 3,000 galls and bought a Oase pondovac.
Our pond 's got an Oasis easiflow filter system and the OH uses it all the time as the blanket weed is a problem.He vacs out the the bottom of the filter (it's like a huge dustbin) an only occasionally vacs the actual pond.Ours is just a "box of water" with no plants and I was amazed the first time we did it that it didn't spook the koi ,they just swam gently out of the way a bit like the OH raising his feet while I vac round his chair  :)
ps we were fortunate to buy ours 2nd hand 'tho little used from a chap who had just moved to a house without a pond so we picked it up quite cheaply.

[blackkitty2]

Our Pondvac has been going for at least 10 years so it was a worthwhile investment. My other half deals with aquatic products so I did a bit of prodding for his advice.

A Pondvac Classic (new version of our relic pond vacuum) costs about £130 and the Pondvac 4 (top of the range) £240 or thereabouts. He said that he would not recommend a Pond Monster as they had many returns and compared to the other its performance was not as good. We have found that our old Pondvac can cope with silt and all manner of evilness quite easily.

We have a koi pond and the Pondvac has been a valuable asset. It has also made cleaning my late ma's messy goldfish pond an easy task and we get asked to help out friends with grubby ponds all the time. I am sure that anyone could make a nice little earner cleaing out ponds with a small initial investment although it might be quiet, not to mention cold, in the winter. Come March and April I think people would be gagging for help.

The new generation of pond vac's are much faster than our knackered (but still very usable) old relic so I would definately recommend one. Our experience has been very good and even though the initial cost seems high it has been worth it. Also an ideal prezzy for anyone with a pond.

[grawrc]

Thanks for all the tips. I can't find anywhere local that rents pond vacuums - maybe a gap in the market there!!

My ponds are not huge - one is about 500 gallons and the other a bit over 1000 gallons. Both are 3 feet deep at their deepest. The little one is purely ornamental and has a very effective pump/filtration/ fountain which generally keeps the water fresh and clear. The larger one is a wildlife pond with no additional help such as filters etc. It has done very nicely for almost 20 years now but it has definitely lost quite a bit of depth and this year, for the first time ever, I've had blanket weed.

I've started using pond sludge treatment on a regular basis and installed a solar oxygenator but I still need to get rid of the silt.

I have read up about the various vacuums available and am pretty sure that I'll end up opting for one of the oase pondovacs - I'm just not sure which. 3 and 4 are clearly faster since they have double tanks but maybe the single tank Oase Start would be adequate for my needs at just over half the price.

Ah tough decisions!! ::)