I have one and it works well for me. Glenda

I too have one and it works fairly well for me. It comes with two nets for silt and other debris and requires some practice. In my opinion it doesn't replace something like a shop vac but is easier for routine cleaning.

Mike

I have two besides the shop vac cleaner. I like the one from Wally World that is designed for a child's pool. It connects to a garden hose and collects the debris in a net sack. It has problems. As it collects junk it also puts water in the pond which leaves me with an overflow problem. I solved this by using a sump pump to remove water as I am putting it in. The handle is weak and poorly constructed so it frequently breaks so I have had to buy an extra for parts. The bag is fairly small. I wish I could find a larger one so I didn't have to empty it two or three times for my 1000 gallon pond. It is fairly cheap, about $20.00 but I would and did pay more for a more efficient and better constructed one. I'm going to see if I can't design a better handle.
The second one is made by Python, the company that made the one I use to clean my aquariums. It eliminates the need for the sump pump but the jar that collects the debris is so large I can't get my hands around it to empty it. It takes good balance and a good back to get the collecting end down to the bottom of my three foot deep pond but when it gets there it does work. Then the problem of opening the jar comes up again. It does have a couple of details in putting it together that could frustrate someone like my DH who does not understand how things work such as getting the nozzle attached to the jar. If it isn't done correctly there is no vacumn and it won't work. The directions don't say anything about that. It is somewhat expensive, about as much as the shopvac I bought and I got it on sale at that. Sandy

Mine is an Odyssey Muck Vac and it attaches to a garden hose and has another output hose that allows the mucky water to be dispensed onto the grass in the yard. I did go to a pool supply place and purchase extra hose so I could run it a further distance into the yard. It works well for me, but it stirs the water and makes it cloudy, but settles soon and I have to add water to the pond after vacuuming. Glenda

Glenda - my water pressure vac has two nets, one for coarser material like leaves, and one very fine for silt. There is no discharge hose; it is more a venturi effect than vacuum I guess. I checked your brand out and see it has a 1.25 inch discharge hose. Do you have many leaves, and if so how does your vac do with them? Leaves are a constant problem for me and I want a simple way to remove some or most without the effort of getting out the shop vac everytime. This net device of mine is OK but not as good as I hoped.

Mike

In my opinion, the Python vacuum is not strong enough to really do a good cleaning. I threw my Python vacuum away after getting a shop vac, which works great. The Python vacuum uses water pressure from your faucet and doesn't have the power to really suck up the debris. It is really slow and wastes a lot of water as you have to run your faucet the entire time you are cleaning to keep the suction going. I wish I never wasted money on the Python. I used it about a dozen times and was never happy with it. As the previous poster mentioned, the plastic container is really hard to open due to a lack of grips and/or a handle. That problem alone made me dread using it!

However, since your pond is small, you may be happy using a hose pressured vacuum (no electricity) such as the Python. A shop vac might be too strong for your needs. It all depends on how powerful you want your vacuum to be. Although my pond is small (1000 gallons), I prefer my RIDGID shop vac to the hose-pressured vac. A lot less work on my back, too!

Mike, I don't have many leaves, but it does a good job with the few that I do have. It will pick up gravel and other plant material and fish waste just as well. I believe that it would work in heavier leafed ponds.It could possibly get clogged, but I don't think that it would because of the water running out with the leaves. Glenda

Thanks so much for all your replies. Those darn raccoons were back again last night making another mess. I'm going to look into getting the muck vac. It looks like it comes with all the parts necessary.

All but the water hose and water source....Glenda

I use a sponge mop. The type that has wedges and grooves to trap the dirt. It works and gets scrubs string agae away. I don't have any rocks at the bottem and it works for me.

Always Outside and others,

I have a water garden that is similar in size to yours. It is about 1000gal. I think it is 10x5 and about 2ft at its deepest (it slopes and the 2ft depth isn't all that large). It sits below some trees and shrubs, which sheds twice a year. Last year the pond was pretty messy and I didn't feel like messing with cleaning it (I usually drain it and get in personally and use a wet vac to clean it). I hired a reputable cleaning company that did a decent job. I was embarased, though because the people who cleaned it said it was one of the dirties they have seen. They gave the the biological media that was supposed to clean it up, but I really didn't notice a difference.

I would really like to find some type of vacuum system to clean the bottom of my pond from all of the leaves that have accumulated. The past winter has been especially bad and I am not looking forward to this spring cleaning. The bottom of the pond has stones. I was interested that you used a shop vac.

The shop vac that I have would vacuum the bottom, but it would collect water in the resivoire. After 5-10 gallons I would have to empty it. This would not only be a hassle, but would really drain the pond. Does this sound like what you do when you use a shop vac? Is there a special vac you use or a set up you can recommend? Can I get a really clean pond bottom by just using bacteria?

After I get this clean I will put a net over the water garden. But I would really like to get it cleaned up with as little hassle as possible. Thanks to you all for your help.

Partially draining the pond is OK ... good in fact... because you want to be doing regular partial water changes anyway (10-20% every couple of wks), and that being the case its best if its the muckiest stuff that gets drained out. Filtering and returning old water to the pond is not an efficient way to keep the pond clean, IMHO

My Muck-Vac arrived yesterday. I wasn't going to fire it up till the weekend but I got excited and tried it out after work today. It's fabulous! Massive suction. I could hear some small gravel as it sucked it up and it handled the random elm leaves just fine. I didn't think it stirred things up too much considering what I was doing. The discharge hose isn't nearly long enough for me and it really gushes but I'll get another length of pool hose and couple it on - coupler included.
Vanessa

I'm glad it works for you. At first I was afraid I would vacuum up fish accidentally, but they stay out of the way and I had no problem at all. Glenda

Hittlet:
Yes, the shop vac does vacuum the water out quickly, but considering our pond size, you only have to fill the vac about 5 times to do a good cleaning. I am able to vacuum the entire bottom of my pond in about 5 fillups. The key is positioning the vac hose where you want to start sucking debris instead of starting the motor and THEN deciding where to clean next. You will end up sucking out clean water if you start the motor before you're ready and positioned. Also, did yours come with attachments? Mine has one that has sort of a muffler attachment and it slows the suction and prevents gravel from getting sucked up. I read somewhere on this site where someone put duct tape on the end of their hose and created a smaller opening to slow down the suction, but I haven't tried that. My attachments pretty much do the same thing.
Loretta

I first tried the vacuum that works off a garden hose. My results were not that good. Even though I had good water pressure, the vacuum would only pick up the lightest of debris.

I next tried a shop vac that had an automatic pump out feature. This worked much better than the garden hose vacuum in removing debris, however the shop vac draws in more water than it can pump out at the same time so you are waiting on the sop vac to empty itself before you can continue.

I finally broke down and bought the Oase Pond Vas 3. This is hands down the best way for me to go. This vacuum has two chambers and as you fill one chamber the other is emptying. As a result, you can vacuum continously. It handles virtually all debris in my pond with ease.

Just my two cents