I have just been putting all the pads & scrubbies in a big tub of water & letting them soak for a week or so & occasionally mixing them up & down. Then removing them & let them winter in the garage. They seem to do well that way even though they still look 'dirty'but I figure maybe some 'good' things still survive in them for the next season?! Anyway, I have used the same pads for three years now & have the same nice clear pond. I read somewhere on this site that someone grew mint plants in the Skippy water in summer & I have done that so don't know whether to give credit to the clear pond water to the mint, to the pads or to both?!! My problem is finding a sturdy tub for the working Skippy as the Rubbermaid plastic ones (small for my site)crack after the second season even when emptied & dried for the winter. I cut the lily stems to the pot rim & sunk them to the bottom each Fall. Another problem is trying to hack the huge lily rootball into sizable ones for the pond each Spring & try to find someone to take the rest of the roots... had to use an axe! I have just this year gotten the floaters (corkscrew rush, water lettuce,water hyacinth) & am afraid I can't find a way to keep them over winter (!) & they have multiplied so well! I have posted this ? earlier on this site & you might find some helpful responses that I got there. I tried to keep the floaters in a tub of water in the garage but guess the cold (not freezing) & lack of good light killed them by Spring. Like you, my pond has been crystal clear for three seasons now except for the 'good' algae the fish nibble at that is like a short 'carpet' along he walls & on the pots. Oh I do add peroxide occasionally when I think I begin to see less clarity of the water & that does the trick! Good luck!

Hi Anne,

Question 1) My skippys are a 60 gallon rubbermaid tank and a 1/2 whiskey barrel with a tub liner. The 60 ga. tank I pull the plants, unscrew the drain plug, remove as much plant debris as I can, and then hose down the rocks with a full force jet from the hose 'til the water runs pretty clear from the drain. Then I leave the whole works alone, but with the drain plug out, for the winter. The 1/2 barrel doesn't have a drain plug, so I tip it on it's side and hose down the rocks and scrubbies before winter. I have never removed the rocks or scrubbies to clean them - going on 5 or 6 years. The roots will die, but what you can't pull out now you can hose out debris in the spring. The 1st year I had a skippy (the 1/2 barrel) I dumped the rocks out and since the scrubbies were in mesh bags I was able to hose them off in their bags really well right there on the lawn, then stored them in the garage - frozen :). The 60 ga. can't be tipped so I started the drain and rinse thing. Works for me, but others swear ya gotta clean 'em. My plants and fish don't seem to care.

Question 2) I think the less plant debris you have in the pond when you shut it down, the better. Anacharis and hornwort may survive (probably will), but if they die they will rot in there and that's not so good for the fish. Ditto any lily stems or pads you don't trim off. The cleaner the better going into the deep freeze. The fish aren't eating much and can survive on the algae in there.

S

whiskey barrel and liner for ours...we just drain (tip it) and store it so that water doesn't freeze/break it. No major cleaning. Just pull out plants, and other obvious garbage.