How to keep your fish pond clean?

[PeteC]

A real problem for me and perhaps others. Relatively small pond about 2 x 3 meters and 2 1/2 ' deep. Have 3 Koi and 2 of the 3 are around half a meter long, and heavy. If I took them out, I have no place to put them while cleaning and for sure they would get injured

To date, and for the last several years, I've resorted to overflowing the pond for an hour or so and trying to sweep the gunk up and out with the overflow of water. It works, but not well. There is a pump, 2 small sumps and a filter between, but it does not take care of everything, especially the build up of waste deposits on the pond floor.

There are devices in the west you can buy to clean small ponds, but I'm hoping Terry or others have come up with a homemade solution that's practical for a small operation like mine. Thanks any advice. Pete

[hhfarang]

Pete, I had a pond about the same size as yours and had up to 30 fish (mostly Koi) at a time in it when they were small. Even when they grew bigger I kept between 15 and 20 in there with several over a foot long. I had a three stage filter and as long as I kept the waterfall running all the time it stayed pretty clear. We drained it down to a few inches (just enough for the fish to survive for a short time) cleaned the walls and filter then refilled it with clean water about every three months. As far as gunk on the bottom, we had several of those (good sized) cleaning fish. I forgot what they are called there but they looked prehistoric. We had the bottom covered with dollar sized smooth river rocks and those fish ate most of the visible gunk on and between the rocks.

[PeteC]

Thanks above. I had those tank cleaning fish at the beginning, but they all died. I chalked it up to the cement wasn't finished leaching chemicals yet and it got to them, as there was plenty of gunk even then for them to eat. Maybe I'll try them again. The filter system I have is primitive and part of the problem unfortunately. No way to solve that without a major rebuild. Once these fish pass, the whole thing may turn into a flower planter! Pete