I have a pond that is two months old. When the pond was installed they didn't wash the rocks and gravel, therefore I have a thick layer of dirt and silt all over the pond and stream. What is the best way to get rid of the dirt, short of draining the pond. Can the Matala Pond Vacuum 2 that you sell be used for this purpose in a pond with a gravel bottom? The installer said the flow ranger filter would take care of it, but so far I have seen no improvement.
Hey Froglover,
I wouldn't run out and buy a pond vac because of your situation, although having a pond vac in your pond tool arsenal is not a bad idea.
I have seen contractors use SUPER DIRTY gravel and rinse little to nothing leaving the homeowner with a murky pond for many months.
We started ordering pre-rinsed gravel from our supplier to help shorten our time on location. Now the gravel that we use on installs isn't perfectly clean but it needs little if any rinsing when we complete the pond project.
Usually any left over dust, dirt or silt is gone in a short amount of time after the introduction of fish to the pond. If you have a FlowRanger backflushable waterfall filter you could always swish the silt around with simple pressure from your garden hose and then backflush your waterfall filter the next day.
Where are you located? Can you post any pictures of the silt?
The Pond Digger