Oh, I like that idea. Except for the part about the string going through the water and up to the dock. Knowing my fish, one of them would swim into it and knock off a scale, ending a show career. I think I'd rather tie the end of the string to something that can sit in the bottom of the pond next to the drain cover. Like a piece of PCV pipe or a large stainless steel nut. Anything that won't slip under the bottom drain dome. A large nut might be ideal, because I could hook it with something and pull the string up without even getting in the pond. I had to go swimming yesterday to unclog drains. I knew they were starting to run slow and needed cleaning, but of course while I was away for the weekend my poor DH had to try to keep the filters going with the suddenly even more reduced flow. I wish I had thought to run a string through the actual drain lines and clean them while I was already wet. I am sure the drain lines have a lot of icky stuff on the walls after 5 years in service.

OK!!! You guys were freaking me out a bit....I just figured since the pond was very very clear I didn't mind if they put their feet in at the very top where the water is moving. I wouldn't let them drink it or anything ofcourse. I never thought of "bad could hurt us bacteria" I just figured it looks cleaner than most lakes around here and we'd be fine. Ofcourse my oldest fell in (she could touch the bottom) and I scooped her right out but she did get some pond water in her mouth. I imagine it tasted pretty yucky cause she kept gagging and spitting it out. We do have pretty great immune systems though and I read a book by jordin rubin a couple months ago that said it is important for children and aldults to play in the dirt and get germy....it is good for the immune system. As for electric shock....hmm never thought about that one. all the plugged in equipment is dry and on the deck? Should I worry about that? The previous owner sounded like she got in all the time to clean never mentioned turning the pumps off....and told me don't worry if when I clean it I get those wormys on me that they werent leeches?? HMMM! I wonder. I'll have to take a pic next time I'm out there. My fish too seem pretty healthy...I even saw 3 babies in there yesterday...call me stupid but I didn't know how they got in there. Fish DO IT?LOL I'm in pflugerville tx (right outside of austin) (marti8a) where are you?

I linked the photos to show the OP the three outer ponds surrounding the column pond, they are all pretty much no maintenance wildlife ponds. The columns are basalt, they are quarried near here in the Columbia River Gorge. They split off the mountain in columns naturally. I work from home selling gifts and home decor wholesale to stores not at a quarry. ;) It took my husband several hours (each) to drill them using a rotohammer he brought home from work and this saved us hundreds of dollars. Pre-drilled columns are available all over the place here but very expensive. He built the bases using standard 12" cinder blocks and 12" slate floor tiles mortared on to cover them. They sit on extra pieces of liner. There are PVC pipes going up through each base into each column there is a trident shaped piece made of PVC that the hoses connect to so all three columns are run by one pump. There aren't any valves on yet but there are going to be. The pump is a Pondmaster Hy Drive 3200. There is too much splash so we need to dial it down. Smaller pump was returned because it just produced a trickle. I designed the entire water feature back in 2004 but it took until fall 2008 to get the columns done. The first liner pond was done in 2004. None of the three planted ponds has ever had pea soup algae but the column pond tried to turn green earlier this year when we cleaned it out completely to paint the pipes black and remove debris from the neighbor's box elder (now cut down). I added black dye from Microbe Lift that I have been using in the greenhouse pond and the green algae stopped.

Dudleydoright, I agree with no additives besides a water conditioner if you have water supplied by a water company, private wells don't need it. Bacteria's in a bottle are usually nothing more then a placebo! Exception is Bio-Spira that is no longer available. Use the money you would have spent for the bacteria in a bottle and get yourself an accurate reagent test kit, money would be better spent. See the link at the bottom to explain the "cycle" if you are unsure. It is not a technical article, but a basic summary of what it is about. What Ernie did is called a "fishless cycle" and is a great idea and more humane to the fish. It also gets things going quicker because you can spike the ammonia level well past the danger zone to fish. Bio-Spira is the only reliable "bacteria in a bottle" however it is no longer available in the refridgerated form. There is a new product that was supposed to replace it but there has been no tests to my knowledge that back it. By the way the biochemist who invented Bio-Spira for Marineland, no longer works for them. Bio-Spira is still available under the Bio-spira name for salt water only now. Here is a link that might be useful: The Pond Forum