the crawfish that killed two of my fish last year survived the winter, was huge, and is now dead!!! I didn't want to keep him in there and run the risk of him hurting/killing anymore of my fish since I have several small ones. Now all I have to do is finish filling it. I'm on well water and can't do it all at once. Hopefully by the end of the week it will be running and cycling. I dont' plan on putting the fish in the water until it warms up a bit but at least I can get it ready.

Debi, sounds like you had a ton of work! Isn't it a great feeling to look at the newly cleaned pond after all that sweat! :rbanana

I love looking at it all nice and clean but my back sure doesn't like cleaning it!! The new shop vac I got for xmas worked great on all the yucky leaves on the bottom. I can't wait to get the fish in.

Last year I netted all my fish to do a major cleaning in the pond. The last one I had to catch was the biggest koi (I think he is part frog), everytime I caught him he jumped out of the net. I was so sun burned after that day of standing in the water! Nothing like having a pond and "swimming" with the fish in the fish poop!

I try not to think about what's in the pond when I have to get in. Usually I have to clean out the waterfalls once a month and they only way to do it well is by getting in.

When I was cleaning mine out a few weeks ago, it was getting dark and I dropped a small hose in the water that connected my pump and filter. The water was still murky, but only about 10 inches deep. I could not find the thing! I was not about to get in the water barefoot, so I put my ruber boots on and jumped in. I found it pretty quick, but when the water is nasty and it is dark, swamp monsters come out!

I hear yah on that one. I don't even like putting my hands in the water when it is dark and murky. You never know what you're gonna find. I grab a hibernating frog once and almost had a heart attack. I just felt gross.

On another note, I've decided not to have Water Lillies this year since the fish love to eat them so much. I'm going to try a few other plants instead. If they are going to eat the leaves before they are even the side of a tennis ball then there is no reason to have them.