Many people use the commercially available pond vacs, and alot of people just use a wet/dry shop vac. Depends on the size of your pond. Those with pond vacs will hopefully chime in.

If you're a DIY-er I added a link to a DIY pond vac (thanks Floyd). I haven't tried it, but found it very interesting.

S

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

That is very interesting. I have seen some other DIY vacs made with shop vacs. I'm not a DIY'er, but I'll show this one to DH (maybe)...he's likely to turn it into a Tim 'the toolman' Taylor turbo special! This is one of the better homemade ones I've seen.

Personally, I'm going to try a shop vac this year as my 2 ponds are both under 350 gallons so frequent emptying isn't really a problem. I would love a pond vac, but can't justify the cost for my humble puddles at this point :)

S

I purchased the Laguna cordless pond vac that was new on the market this year. There has been some design problems that the company is aware of and are working to fix. So far, I've returned two vacs to them which has been very frustrating. But, the silver lining is that when I actually had a correctly working vacuum, it worked great for doing spot cleaning and keeping the bottom gunk to a minimum and the company has been very good about standing behind their product.

I think if I had it to do over again, though, I would have waited to purchase the laguna vac when I saw it at a good price (I've seen them as low as $125 since I bought mine) or just stuck with a shop vac.

The good news is once you find a system that works for you, the spot cleaning only needs to be done a couple times in the summer. I've done mine twice this year (in addition to picking up a few leaves by hand if I happened to be in the pond moving pots) and it has stayed really clean.

Good luck!

I am wondering about the difference between the Oase Pondovac3 and the Oase Pondovac4? I haven't been able to find anything comparing the products on the web. When I went to the oase.ca website, they didn't even list the pondovac4??? very strange

Thanks

Well, after 8 years of frustration, I finally bit the bullett and bought a pond vac. I absolutely love, LOVE it. I bought the Pondovac4. It's amazing. Is going to save me so much time and stress!! My water is so clean now. Have lots of plants to repot, as the tubers and roots are all over the bottom of my pond, but...oh so clear water.

Wish I'd done this years ago!!

I purchased the Oase 3 last year and love it. I usually don't recirculate the water back into the pond while vacumming. Instead, I utilize the cleaning time as a 20% water change time. So I discharge into my garden and, man, does that discharge help the plants grow!

Good luck!

Do you still like the Oase Pondovac4? I want a vacuum before I turn my pool into a pond, and had arranged to have one of Floyd's home-made ones made, but this Oase 4 may be more suitable for MY needs.
My pool is about 30x15x5.5, and holds about 13000 gallons. Will that Oase do t he job?
I looked at a couple of websites but couldn't find a price. How much was it, where did you get it?
Thanks,
Ella5

Found it. At $400 maybe the Floyd's one will be it...
Ella5

Ella5. I still love the Oase Pondovac4. I'm wondering if your pond may be too deep for it though. I think, think that about 3 ft is what they say the depth can go. But where I got it, it was for 339.oo. I'll post info at the end of this. Nate is super helpful, I emailed him back and forth and he took the time to give me very informative and detailed answers. I got in it the mail in no time too. I'd call him and ask, or email him, tell him what you have, and he'll definitely email you. The price posted was 349.oo (on ebay) but he gave me another 10.oo off because that what he charges on his website.

Here's his website. He has lots of useful info there too.

Nate at Practical Garden Ponds

www.practicalgardenponds.com

nate@practicalgardenponds.com

His website has his phone number.

Gotta tell you, I was really impressed with him, and his willingness to put the time in to be helpful to me. I will definitely be doing business with him in the future. And the price, was the very best on the web. I spent days researching....cause that's just what I do.

Anyway, happy vacumning. You won't be sorry.

Wanted to post a follow-up on my Pondovac4. It's now been 2 years that I've owned and used it. I am as in love with it as the first time I used it. Absolutely a great purchase for me! Highly recommended.