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How do you vacuum the bottom without sucking up fish?
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Posted by
ohioveggies (
My Page) on
Fri, Apr 6, 12 at 17:24
| I cant see the bottom of my pond and I need to clean out the bottom. I read here that people use the shop vac, which I can do but how do you know what your sucking up? I can move the fish to a smaller pond while I do this but I have to empty a bit of the water out first so I can even net them if that would be better. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How do you vacuum the bottom without sucking up fish?
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| I use a pond vac and in 4 years have never sucked up a fish and I have ponds from 175 gallons to 8500 gallons. They know and do get out of the way. I use a long extension and the attachment that hugs the bottom of the pond to maximise the removal of debris vs water. |
RE: How do you vacuum the bottom without sucking up fish?
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| Frogman, your fish are smarter than mine. Mine get so excited about bugs and worms that get uncovered that I have to use a net to shoo them away from the vacuum. If I couldn't see what I was doing, ohioveggies, I'd take the fish out. |
RE: How do you vacuum the bottom without sucking up fish?
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| I've been using a shop vac for 3 years now, and also have never sucked up a fish (ranging from 2 1/2" to 7"). Did my spring clean up today and the water was so murky I couldn't see 3 inches into it once I started stirring it up, but the fish stayed away. My hose is only ~2", so maybe not as much suction as some. Tiny fish may take a wild ride, but can be netted and put back into the pond. |
RE: How do you vacuum the bottom without sucking up fish?
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| Man i dont know!! I may just try and net them and put them in the small pond. I would hate to hurt them on accident! I only have 2 left and I have had them forever. Im attached! |
RE: How do you vacuum the bottom without sucking up fish?
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| I've improvised a narrower tube about 1" in diameter to use as an attachment to suck stuff off the bottom. The smaller diameter slows the suction somewhat - its just not as powerful. No danger of fish getting sucked in, even small ones. It seems easier to focus on the muck on the bottom -instead of it sucking up a lot of the good water too. The down side is its easier clogged than the 2" diameter, so I use a skimmer first to get out the bigger stuff. |
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