Pondscape, Brighton & Mid Sussex

The complete pond cleaning, building and maintenance service

Pondcare Services

Pond Cleaning

The only reasons there are to drain and clean a pond out are either if it is leaking or if it has too much silt to remove by other means. Just because the water is murky does not necessarily mean the pond needs draining. If a pond needs repairing then it will usually need to be fully drained and pressure washed to expose the leak(s) and allow them to be assessed properly.

Ponds may also benefit from being fully cleaned out every 10 or so years. How often they need a full clean out will depend on a number of factors such as it’s position in your garden. If your pond is sunk low into the ground and has trees overhanging it may need doing every five years. However, if it is raised off the ground so it receives no run off from the surrounding soil, has few fish and plants, and a decent filtration system it may well never need cleaning.

Pond repair and problem solving

Ponds leak for different reasons, such as the liner getting torn, or the fibreglass or concrete cracking. Very often these can be repaired. The other main reason ponds leak is not the pond itself, but its circulation system run by the pump (which includes the hose, filter system and/or the waterfall return). For example, you may be pumping out 1000 litres an hour but only 999 are being returned to the pond, leading to the water level going down. These type of leaks can rapidly empty the pond down to the level of the pump. In contrast, a leak caused by a hole in the liner will usually lose water at a slower rate and stop at the same level after a couple of days without filling by tap or rain.

Testing for leaks

To test the cause of a pond leak, the pond should be filled, the pump turned off or disconnected from the hose and then watched to see if the water level stops going down. This should not be done in warm weather or without suitable provisions if you have fish that are relying on biological filtration and oxygen provided by the system. If fish can’t be moved to a separate filtered tank it is better to keep the pump running to provide oxygen, install an air pump and don’t feed the fish for 2 days prior to doing the test and during the test period. Adding filter primer (bacteria) during the test period and again once the filtration system has been cleaned and turned back on will help with biological problems caused by a lack of filtration. Always read manufacturers instructions when using this product.

If you are having a problem with your pond, we can fix pond leaks, re-line ponds or renovate individual elements of your pond or give it a complete overhaul so it gives you many more years of service.

Regular pond maintenance

Most of our regular pond maintenance is to do with Koi but we also care for many ponds that only need 1 or 2 short visits per year. One to get it started in the spring, cleaning the filter and pump, adding some beneficial bacteria to give it a kick start (see maintenance tips for what bacteria does in your pond, you’ll be amazed), some blanket weed remover if needed, changing the UV light etc. Another at the end of the year to put it to sleep so to speak, all depending on the individual pond and customer’s requirements. Koi ponds need the most attention and require maintenance every couple of weeks in some cases, but monthly is usually the norm.

Filtration Systems

A filter is designed to do two things, firstly to keep the water crystal clear by acting as a silt trap and storing any suspended particles in the water that make it cloudy, and secondly to purify the water by providing an aerobic environment and home to nitrifying bacteria that break down fish waste and purify the water.

Clear water is much easier to achieve than pure water and the two are not in anyway associated. Ammonia or nitrite, the two most dangerous waste products given off by all the life in the pond are not visible to the eye. A very simple filter may keep the pond visually clear, but won’t necessarily have enough, if any, biological processing function. There are many filtration systems available with different functions. Pondscape can supply and/or fit any filtration system you require.