Reddit reviews OASE 602401853010 Pondovac Classic Pond Vacuum Cleaner
We found 2 Reddit comments about OASE 602401853010 Pondovac Classic Pond Vacuum Cleaner. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Max. Suction depth: 6 ft.High-power suction to a depth of 59 inch.Maximum suction depth of 78 inchSuction hose length: 13 ftOperating voltage: 110-120 Volt / 60Hz. Power consumption: 1200-1400wPower cable length: 13 ftLimited Warranty: 2 years
I use a large Sear's wet dry because I had it already. It has a hose discharge so I don't have to empty it manually. I just vacuum up the bottom with long hose extensions. When the vacuum is full, I discharge the dirty pond water to my plants and bushes.
There are custom pond vacuums like this [OASE] (https://www.amazon.com/OASE-PondoVac-Classic-Vacuum-Cleaner/dp/B004HIHUTA) which are not expensive and works pretty much the same.
But you can build your own vacuum that works on the same theory as a fish tank one. You build it from PVC pipes and it uses suction from your garden hose to draw out the water. Ask on this [forum] (http://www.gardenpondforum.com). I either saw it there or someone there invented it.
The pond looks lovely!
I'm not a landscaping professional but an environmental engineer and what you basically want to do here is dredging so I feel I can offer you some advice.
If you want to do this more or less for free you'll need a rake and a some sort of boat. You can scoop the leaves out. It will take a lot of man hours, especially if this hasn't happened in the last 30 years. You can use the decaying leaves, by making a compost pile and letting them compost for a while longer before use in your garden. I wouldn't worry about wildlife here too much. Species that life in these types of highly organic, low in oxygen sediments aren't threatened and really don't do much good for the ecological balance in a pond like this. You can leave the leaves at the banks for a couple of days if you want to save the frog population, they'll get out and back into the water.
Alternatively you can buy a pond vacuum cleaner (something like this http://www.amazon.com/OASE-PondoVac-Classic-Vacuum-Cleaner/dp/B004HIHUTA). It will cost you about 200 bucks and you'll still need a boat and plenty of man hours. Your pond is quite large.
And a third alternative: you can hire a company to do it for you. They'll bring professional equipment and get the job done quickly. That will be 500 bucks or more though, depending on where you live.
After you've removed the sediments you're not done though. I'm suprised you mentioned not having algae problems. Have you seen the pond during warm weather yet? In a pond with a big amount of leaves I'd expect some algal blooms or duckweed covers during summer. If you do experience troubles with that you might want to consider putting a layer of 20 cm or so of clean sand to cover up the current sediment. The quality of that sediment won't be very good for aquatic live (very eutrophic with a high oxygen demand). A layer of clean sand will soften the effects.
Also, in the future you do need to prevent a new leave build up. You can prevent the majority of leaves from getting in by putting a net over it in autumn/winter or by cutting down trees close to the pond (a 10 meter perimeter will do).
Would you like to leave the pond as it is or would you like to use it for swimming or for fish? If you'd like to keep fish or clean enough water for humans to swim, you'll need some additional work like trying to develop a healthy vegetation (helps to keep the water clear and oxygenated).