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How to clean out and keep a natural pond clean

Gwennie01Gwennie01 Posts: 11
in Problem solving
I have a small pond which is covered with blanket weed and sludge at the bottom.

I have  a number of healthy plants growing in the pond:

I only have four fish in it at present, and I would like to keep the water as clear as possible.
Any help gratefully received.




Posts

  • MarranMarran Posts: 195
    sounds like an ad?
  • gardenerglovesiVrUZ6YvgardenerglovesiVrUZ6Yv Posts: 2
    I just tried to be helpful. And on the other hand, when you doing this kind of jobs is always recommended to wear gloves. I don't see nothing wrong in this.

  • Singing GardenerSinging Gardener Posts: 1,237
    I'm a bit confused as to why the post by @Marran was flagged rather than the one above which is obviously an ad because it has a link to a site selling gardening gloves.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    No idea but the gloves person is definitely advertising and that's against the rules.

    As for pond cleaning, you need to get a stick or a rake or some such and dip it in the blanket weed and then twizzle till it's all gathered up.  Leave the resulting piles on the edge of the pond to dry out for a few days and to allow any trapped critters to escape back into the water.   It can then be composted.

    You can do this whenever you see blanket weed forming but you also need to thing about oxygenating the water to keep the weed down and/or adding a product made from barley straw which will keep blanket weed at bay.  You should find this in a good aquatic garden store.

    Another trick to try is a black pond dye which makes the water so dark that weeds (but also oxygenating plants) can't photosynthesise but I expect you won't see your fish either.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    labradouble8JL2Dqht5 said:
    I have a small pond which is covered with blanket weed and sludge at the bottom.

    I have  a number of healthy plants growing in the pond:

    I only have four fish in it at present, and I would like to keep the water as clear as possible.
    Any help gratefully received.




    The title suggests you are referring to a "natural" pond - the sludge at the bottom will no doubt contain larva and the blanket weed can be reduced by using plants which will cover a good part of the surface and cut out the light which helps algae to grow.
    A bit of judicious twiddling will help to remove the blanket weed in the first year or two. It is not really possible to have a pristine pond outside - nature tends to drop all sorts of things in there. I doubt your fish are too worried  :)
  • Gwennie01Gwennie01 Posts: 11
    Many thanks for all your advice. 
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