Now where did the fish go? If the water is so cloudy that you can no longer see them, it is high time to remove mud from the garden pond. Here's how to do it.
What falls into the garden pond and seeps to the bottom all year round is very significant. Algae, dead plant matter, fish excretions and uneaten food that sink to the bottom do the rest. No wonder that over time a thick, slimy layer of sludge forms, which also makes the pond water cloudy. Then at the latest you have to act and desludge the garden pond. If you don't do this, you may end up with a stinking mud hole instead of a beautiful biotope in your garden.
When is the best time to desludge?
The best time to remove sludge is spring, before you put your fish back into the garden pond. So you don't have to catch them again later and put them in water tanks to remove mud from your garden pond, because you have to drain the entire pond water for this. This will save you and your fish a stressful ordeal.
Pond vacuum for low soiling
If the water in your garden pond is only slightly dirty, using a normal pond vacuum is sufficient. These 3 models are popular:
In the case of heavy silting, however, you should follow the instructions below.
Instructions for removing mud from a garden pond
➥ Step 1:
First of all, you need to remove all the water from the pond. This is particularly easy with powerful pumps. This also has the advantage that the aquatic plants are not exposed to the sun and the heat for too long.
➥ Step 2:
Once the pond water has been completely pumped out, you must then relocate and check all aquatic plants. For example, cut back aquatic plants that have grown too big and also cut off unsightly shoots.
➥ Step 3:
Now it's time for the real work: the sludge removal. You have two options for this. On the one hand, you can do this with a special specialist companyuse the mud vacuum that can be borrowed or work with a bucket and shovel. First of all, remove the layer of mud.
Important:
Be careful with this step! This is the only way to prevent the pond liner and the pond fleece behind it from being damaged.
Tip: Polygard.de offers pond liner directly from the manufacturer and therefore at an excellent price/performance ratio.
➥ Step 4:
Now a high-pressure jet should be used, as it is particularly effective at removing sludge and algae growth from the pond liner and stones.
Then pump out the resulting dirty water.
➥ Step 5:
If the pond is completely empty, you should also check the pond liner for damage and repair it if necessary.
➥ Step 6:
Once the pond is clean, you can refill it with fresh water and add your pond plants and fish.
Sludge Reduction Tips
There are a number of things you can do to prevent a thick layer of mud from forming on the bottom of your garden pond in the first place. Just follow the tips below and you'll save yourself the trouble of regularly removing mud in the spring.
Tip 1 - Put aquatic plants in the pond:
In order to prevent algae from forming in the first place, aquatic plants are a must in a garden. These remove the nutrients from the algae. If you also cut back the aquatic plants regularly, they bind even more nutrients as they grow, which means that the algae practically starve to death.
Tip 2 - stretch a leaf net over the pond:
Especially in autumn, it makes sense to stretch a net over your garden pond so that the autumn leaves don't fall into the water. This can then not rot in the pond and therefore also not contribute to the formation of a layer of sludge.
Tip 3 - Fish off algae:
It is also important that you fish out algae regularly so that they do not spread explosively in summer. Fishing reduces the nutrients in the water, which in turn also prevents algae from multiplying. These 2 algae nets are popular:
Tip 4 - use ecological pond sludge remover:
If you use an ecological pond sludge remover, the sludge layer won't get that thick in the first place. This product breaks down the pond sludge with the help of oxygen-producing bacteria, which encourage the formation of algae(Reading tip: How algae are formed in the garden pond) in check. Just a few hours after using the ecological pond sludge remover, the pond water becomes wonderfully clear again.