This page and related pages are to recount in detail how I have cleaned out my 153 gallon pond each year from 2002. No record was kept from the cleanings of the years 2000 and 2001. This pond was built in October, 1999.

On This Page:

• Supply List
  
• Chore List

In the pond newsletters before I started keeping the 153 gallon pond cleaning stories on their own pages:

• 2002 Cleaning of the 153 Gallon Pond - under Happenings at Robyn's Ponds #6.
  
• 2003 Cleaning of the 153 Gallon Pond - under Happenings at Robyn's Ponds #11.

On The New Pond Cleaning Pages Separated by Years:

2004:

• Diary of Events 3/29/04
  
• Photos from 3/29/04

2005:

• Diary of Events 3/25/05
  
• Photos from 3/25/05

2006:

• Diary of Events 3/30/06
  
• Photos and Video from 3/30/06

2007:

• Diary of Events 3/29/07
  
• Photos and Video from 3/29/07

2008:

• Diary of Events 4/1/08
  
• Photos and Video from 4/1/08

2009:

• Diary of Events 4/1/09
  
• Photos from 4/1/09

2010:

• Diary of Events 3/31/10
  
• Photos from 3/31/10

2011:

• Diary of Events 3/30/11
  
• Photos from 3/30/11

2012:

• Diary of Events 3/15/12
  
• Photos from 3/15/12

2013:

• Diary of Events 3/30/13
  
• Photos from 3/30/13

2014:

• Diary of Events 3/27/14
  
• Photos from 3/27/14

2015:

• Diary of Events 4/8/15
  
• Photos from 4/8/15

2016:

• Diary of Events 3/30/16
  
• Photos from 3/30/16

2017:

• Diary of Events 4/3/17
  
• Photos from 4/3/17

2018:

• Diary of Events 4/2/18
  
• Photos from 4/2/18

2019:

• Diary of Events 4/1/19
  
• Photos from 4/1/19

2020:

• Diary of Events 3/30/20
  
• Photos from 3/30/20

2021:

• Diary of Events 3/22/21
  
• Photos from 3/22/21

2022:

• Diary of Events 3/25/22
  
• Photos from 3/25/22

2023:

• Diary of Events 3/26/23
  
• Photos from 3/26/23

2024:

• Diary of Events 3/25/24
  
• Photos from 3/25/24

This is just the cleaning list. To see information on the 153 gallon pond's statistics, history, and past cleanings, go to my 153 Gallon Pond Page.

This is the list I made of what to bring out onto the back porch. It takes about 45 minutes to bring these things all outside and over an hour to clean and put them up each time I clean the 153 gallon pond.

Supplies to Bring Out:

Wheelbarrow, shovel, clay dirt from the garden, assorted one and two gallon Lerio pots to repot the plants, plant fertilizer (PondTabbs), utility knife, pea gravel, towels (paper and fabric), PondMaster system, PondMaster filters, assorted buckets and lids (6 of them I used; 3 were buckets that sold cat litter in them), a medium-sized net, BZT, pond salt, Pond-Zyme, pond Stress-Coat (it is discontinued but I had some left), two battery air pumps (check to see if they work, changed batteries on one), two air lines, two air stones (for fish and frogs at least), my list, Luft pump (in pond already), paper to record animals found, 2 hoses (attached to far spigot with sediment filter), both kiddie pools, pond vacuum (Pondovac 2), new barley straw and holder (already in the pond), red scrub brush, pail hot water to warm and clean hands, digital camera to take photos of fish, little glass aquarium bowl to take photos, bag of lead weights to hold air line tubing, beach shoes, baking soda, plant pruners, ruler, clock, Shultz aquatic plant soil, and a kneeling pad.

The supply list varies a little bit with each year.

This is the list of chores I made for myself. I have done them so many years now that I do not even look at them until I am done to see that I did not forget anything. The chore list changes a little bit each year. This is the 2004 version.

1. Fill the big white bucket half way with top pond water. Add a lid and air stone. This is for fish.
2. Fill a litter bucket with pond water and cover for frogs.
3. Set up kiddie pools with pond water by bailing to fill them. These are for plants, snails, insects, etc.
4. After bail fill all containers, note water level. Only need to refill to this level!!
5. Bail down pond to the first shelf.
6. Remove pots on shelves.
7. Use the Pondovac to vacuum suck the clearer water down until it is too dangerous (might suck up animals). Sift through effluent for animals.
8. Bucket by bucket, remove water and debris and search through it all from one bucket to another. Save all animals and plants. Record the number, sex, and species of any fish collected. Put in glass containers and take photos.
9. Remove the pots on the very bottom of the pond.
10. Use nets and buckets at bottom of pond. Sift everything.
11. While animals are in clean, aerated pond water, pond vac the last of the gunk out and sift the effluent.
12. Refill the pond with water from hose attached to spigot that has sediment filtration. Fill up to the previously noted water level that was bailed out.
13. Install the PondMaster filter and put the Luft pump air stone back in to heavily aerate the new water.
14. Repot the lilies and iris and sweetflag. Add PondTabbs. Put them back into the pond.
15. Add pond salt, BZT, pond-zyme, stress-coat, and stress-zyme as per instructions for 153 gallons.
16. Add back water from the kiddie pools including anacharis, hornwort, snails, and tadpoles.
17. Put in animals with their water. Be sure to take their digital photos before I put them back! Top off pond all the way.
18. Add in barley straw and other removed stuff.
19. Put out some of the pond ornaments.
20. Alter my pond inventory (I keep a paper inventory of everything in my ponds which also tells me when plants are due for repottings) and more than a half dozen of my web pages for the changes and story from the pond cleaning.

Go to Robyn's Aquariums and Ponds Index.
Go to Robyn's Aquariums and Ponds Master Index.
Go to Robyn's Tanks.
Go to Robyn's Ponds.

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