I purchased the oase pondovac3 last summer from ebay (unfortunately I don't remember which vendor). I have been very pleased. It does a great job of drawing water continuously. Only occasionally do I have to stop (usually because i have a rock stuck in the hose...yes I have a rock bottom pond...jury is still out on that one) Most people on this forum seem very ANTI-ROCK bottom...so taking their advice to heart, i live in fear of the dreaded "gas pockets". However, I like the looks of my rock bottom so I'm hoping by keeping my pond vacuumed I will eliminate the problem. At first it took me a little while to get the hang of it...but now I rarely even have to stop to dislodge a rock. Anyway, I didn't want to worry about having to modify a shopvac or to empty an un-modifed version every "10 seconds"..lol. It has a silt bag/net type thing that attaches to the end of the discharge hose to catch all the debris. I did my research and decided even though it was a bit pricey I would give it a try. I have not been disappointed. Good Luck!

I love- love -love this vacuum. I did lots of research and found a good price on one. It was a splurge and I am glad I bought it. I had spent quite a bit on building the pond and really hesitated before my purchase.

It has dual chambers so it continuously runs without having to empty anything. I needed to drain my pond to replace a skimmer and used it to help drain the pond faster and it worked great.

It sucks up muck and gravel well.

I use it too, for emptying my fountain in the winter.

The only negative is that my pond is 4.5 feet deep in the middle and the more extension poles you add ,the less suction it has so I end up with my waders on - in the deep
end vacuuming. LOL ( as long as the unit itself is on dry ground it is O.K.)
With just one or two poles added, it works great.

The oase 3 works best with smaller single leaves. It will not suck up big magnolia leaves. What I do it let the vacuum grab the bigger leaves and then I bring the pole towards me and grab the leaves by hand.

It is great at removing string algae, too.

i have done a ton of research on the vac's everyone is talking about (pondovac3) i've also used one from the local nursery several times trying to decide weather to purchace one or not.
the vac only seemed to perform well enough at very shallow water levels, 1 to 1.5ft. (please keep in mind i expect large volumes of debris to be removed while vacuuming)
i also talked to a pond maintenance guy, and he told me he's also used these vacuums, and would never use another, none of them work well enough.

i believe your on the right track using your shopvac, having to stop every so often to let the water drain is the real problem....right?

i too started using my shopvac, and found the same problem as you have.
so i build my own vac, using the shopvac motor, and increasing the size of the tank (35gal, with a submersible pump removing the water)

i also researched all the wet/dry vacs available, and found that the shopvac brand offers the most vertical lift (in the price range i'm willing to pay)

the shopvac i'm using now has 59" of vertical lift, and works very well @ 3.5' (but still not good enough)

the max vertical lift your able to find in a shopvac brand(affodable) is about 67", and belive it or not.....they sell this unit at walmart (check the model# and spec. sheet first)

now after i seen how well the vac i built works, i've decided to go the distance and purchase a commercial vacuum motor, the vertical lift on this vac is 148" and run about $120.

i think i have about $15 into the vac i built, and after i make the new motor upgrade i expect to have only $150 into it.

although i have a small pond (4300gal) i to have plenty of debris (catalpa tree, and i think i would rather have a willow)

it's actually fun to vacuum now!

That is very useful information Kirk mi, thank you. I would love to see some pictures of how you built your pond vac. With all the prices as high as they are and going up we can all use some do-it=yourself projects, especially if they work so much better than the expensive stuff.
Michelle

Hello, I just saw this post this morning. I found a link to a DIY pond vacuum. You could probably use a smaller drum for the tank. Hope this helps.
Dianne

Here is a link that might be useful: Floyd's Pond Vacuum

I dont know where you live but when I have leaves I start with a crab net , large mesh , and then use a vacuum . Save yourself a lot of money and just go to Sears / Home depot and buy a large wet dry / vac. You can buy extra extensions for the hose . This is what I use and its great. Rick

Dianne, thanks for the link to that pond vac, it's awesome (able to come up with anymore?) and would surly work well. and very well with pond sludge.

but with the problem we are having with leaves and such, i think that floyd'd vac would have some plugging problems while in the discharge mode, or even with heavy solids.
i love the idea of this vac....the dude's a genius.

Your Welcome Kirk, I clipped Floyds link some time ago. I thought it was awesome & that I might need it one day. Have you tried searching this Forum for "Pond Vacuum" you might get some more ideas. You might also try Googling--DIY Pond Vacuum.
To get the very large leaves out of my pond, I use a child size leaf rake that I found at Walmart & a net I got in the section where they have fish hooks etc. Then I vacuum out the silt. My pond is also only about 250 gal. so not that much trouble.
Good Luck
Dianne

I kind of built a pond Vacuum myself... I bought a Intex Pool filter with pump for $39. Replace the filter with pond filter media double layer cut to fit tightly and attached a PVC pipe to the end of hose... I have to prime/fill with water the pipe and filter/pump to get it started but it vacuums all the debris out. I can clean the entire pond and only have to empty debris twice(pond is under 3 maple trees) Next step will be to put brushes at the end of pvc to clean off rocks etc. Pond is apprx 250-300 gallons

Hi Kirk, I found your write-up very interesting. I have 3 smaller ponds 10� x 8� which empty into a 22� x 42� pond (total 18,000 � 20,000 gals). The ponds are all rock lined. I have 3 150 gal bio filters and a skimmer. I would love to have a vac that I can have discharged into the bio-filter instead of a storage tank. Your write-up sounds like it might do the trick. Can you send me (cordodv@optonline.net) any pictures or other advise on this?
Much appreciated.
Vince

Love my Oase 3