HOW TO - Fully empty a pond

http://www.pondguru.co.uk Simple but effective. Put the pump in a large bucket with pipe leading out of pond and bail the pond water into the bucket - useful when the pond is nearly empty and the pump is starting to suck air. This method saves time carrying buckets from the pond, just make sure you have a solids handling pump or it will quickly block with sludge.

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[plantboy2221]

That water looks stagnant. My pond looked like that when I used a pressure media filter setup. Found out that it produced more waste which defeats the purpose. I unhooked the filter and ran only the pump, put only a hand full of plants in the water, and I have never had to clean it.

[pondguru]

I didn't have filters on my first pond as the water ran through a wildlife pond before getting back to the fish pond and it always stayed clear but most people don't have the space for that.

If a natural balance can be achieved, its always alot less work.

[RadierManor]

I've been struggling to do exactly this for ages and can't believe I didn't think of this...d'oh. most helpful, thanks.

[pondguru]

I can't believe I didn't think of it either and I had been doing ponds for years. It was a builder who showed me and I felt so stupid for carrying buckets of water out of the pond.

[RadierManor]

@pondguru Can you do a demo on building a cheap filtration system? I need to filter out a couple of small ponds but just need to do it with a pump in and gravity flow out. I'm thinking a couple of bins stacked on top of each other but not sure what to put in them. Obviously have to put holes at the bottom of each. Pump water in, passes through bins and gravity takes the water back in to the pond.

[pondguru]

If / when I get time I will. I used to mess about altering filters I brought back from jobs but don't get much time now so I have a collection of un-used filters which could be used for just such a video. I always install new filters and pumps so anything old just get stored for parts really.

[utupoe111]

Why are you emptying ponds?

EVAPORATION :D

[pondguru]

Thanks for that, man. Sounds good. I'm off to search for one on ebay.

[mygreenday69]

No PondGuru, A Siphon King looks like a 3 foot long tube which has either a 36" hose or a 72" hose attached to it. The cylinder has a pump handle & is only 2 inches in diameter. In one motion the Siphon King will pump 1 gallon of of water which is a lot more than what you can get with a shovel and you can do it sitting down if you have a bad back. It's not some large object that requires a warehouse. Comes in handy when you have to pump out the water in your fishing boat as well.

[pondguru]

You're in the US.

Dude, you have machines that take away the need for you to walk.

This is a method that can utilise the existing pond pump so is available to people who don't have a 3000 square foot garage to store stuff they might use once in 10 years.