Best $20.00 I have spent in a long time.....

[PondJoy]

So my pond is not big....and I needed something to get the leaves/stuff off the bottom.  I had been having someone do it for me but decided I didn't want to spend the money anymore.  I didn't want to buy a vacuum and have to store it either since the pond is not large.  So....I read on one of the forums that someone with a smaller pond bought one at Lowe's for $20.  Just for fun I went...and guess what?  They really had it....it's the kind that you attach to your hose.  Anyway, big skeptic that I am, I am impressed!  Someone had knocked over an iris pot FULL of ponding medium and it was on the bottom of the pond.  This thing got it all up.  It's very elementary and you have to empty the bag (which is very nice) often, but for my smaller pond I am thrilled!  I do small areas at a time so that I don't put too much water into the pond, but if I wanted to do the whole thing I would just use the de-chlor.  Anyway, just wanted to share.....I know the big vacuums work great, but if you want to save money and save yourself some work and you don't have a large pond, well, you might try it.

[Julles]

Thanks for posting that; I am passing it to a friend.  Just Saturday she was talking about goofy stuff, like draping a tu-tu netting in the bottom of her pond, and then hoping that she could lift it a couple of times a year to sift out the leaves and debris. 

I think the vacuum sounds like a much better idea.

[Esther]

Yup, I use one too. Two tips: put a hollow plastic ball in the bag to make it float and it keeps the bag out of the way a bit, and I use a couple layers of knee high nylons for my bag instead of the bag that came with it because it traps more fines. When you see the bag begin to go down, you know you've gotten a bunch of gunk and it needs emptying.

[marla]

Always thought about one of those, but DH always said that the water pressure we get from our well would not do a good enough job.

[Pa Nancy]

I had one of those. The silt would come right back out again. I hated it. Then I used a couple nylons on it. I STILL hated it. We've been doing some redding up around here, and I finally threw it away a few weeks ago.