Spring cleanup- The Pond– March 2010

This is our Aquascapes pond about 10 years in after construction in year 2000.

For those who have ponds it is the time for the yearly big filter clean in the biofall- the mats and rocks in the waterfall tub.

It is a big job for us and I had my daughter, Carolyn, helping me with this gooey chore.

We scooped out floating algae, brushed off the boulders in the pond, cleaned the mats in the biofall and skimmer and added some fresh water to even out the pH. To clean the mats and bag of lava rocks I set them in the garden in different spots and use the jet spray of the hose to rinse out the excess of algae and goo. This waters and feeds the plants too.

I had a fish die off one year in spring due to a pH spike so I am now careful to do the pond clean-up before the heat of the late spring sets in.

As you can see the pond is large and full of plants so I usually thin out the plants in the pond a bit too. This allows flow to the pond skimmer and gives room for our waterlilies. My favorite!

Don’t forget to add the good bacteria back in with Aquaclearer or Mircrobiotics so that the rocks and mats will be replenished with these helpers.

Enjoy the cool water and say hi to the fish for me!

To see the Aquascape Website and get more information on ponds click on this link:

Update on this blog- After having my beautiful pond for 12 years I noticed that it was slowly but surely filling itself in with the build up of roots, gunk from algae and detritus from leaves, dust etc…. A friend who builds pond also let me know that the rubber liners used for Aquascape ponds breaks down over time. Amazingly, the pump still worked great. This just a note to alert pond owners that an overhaul may be needed involving installing a new liner and replanting the lilies and pond plants. I had installed the pond to enjoy it but also to learn more about the care and maintenance of them. It truly has been a learning experience.