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  • Results 1 to 10 of 10

    Thread: DIY Pond Vac

    1. #1
      Victoria is offline Senior Member
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      DIY Pond Vac

      After reading mixed reviews for the various commercial pond vacs, I decided to make Ron Boedeker's DIY model, here:

      http://www.midcolumbiakoi.com/articl...wn-pond-vacuum

      It took me an insanely, embarrassingly long time to decide exactly which parts to buy from which venders (quality, price, availability); if anyone else is interested in making this pond vac, I can send you info from my order lists (prices, part numbers, coupon codes, etc) if you pm me. Please be patient as I recently quit smoking so I never know what I'll be able to accomplish on any given day.

      I placed my orders on Tuesday, so I haven't actually received most of the items yet, much less assembled the pond vac. But I wanted to post this now, while I can still find my lists, in case anyone else can make use of them.

      Cheers.

      Victoria

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    2. #2
      SueSTx's Avatar
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      Interesting...I hate those canisters of water that you have to empty.

      Good luck on the 'quiting'.
      RedNecks R Us

    3. #3
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      I made a similar vac and it worked wonderfully. I used an old Hayward swimming pool pump I had with the priming pot/leaf basket already attached. Just attached the hoses to the in and out connections and let it rip. I used 1 1/2" pipe because of the strong suction on my pump and it did pick up some of the smaller stones along with all the muck but they were caught in the leaf basket so they didn't damage the pump.

      Good luck on the construction of yours and hang in there with the smoking cessation. It's hard to do but if you just remain dedicated you can do it.

    4. #4
      salmon alley is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by Victoria View Post
      After reading mixed reviews for the various commercial pond vacs, I decided to make Ron Boedeker's DIY model, here:

      http://www.midcolumbiakoi.com/articl...wn-pond-vacuum

      It took me an insanely, embarrassingly long time to decide exactly which parts to buy from which venders (quality, price, availability); if anyone else is interested in making this pond vac, I can send you info from my order lists (prices, part numbers, coupon codes, etc) if you pm me. Please be patient as I recently quit smoking so I never know what I'll be able to accomplish on any given day.

      I placed my orders on Tuesday, so I haven't actually received most of the items yet, much less assembled the pond vac. But I wanted to post this now, while I can still find my lists, in case anyone else can make use of them.

      Cheers.

      Victoria
      Hi Victoria!
      I'd love to have the parts list that you mentioned.
      Feel free to PM or email it to me.
      Thanks!
      Jeff

    5. #5
      tnovak's Avatar
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      Did you complete this? How's it working??
      TINA
      Indian Echo
      [URL="http://www.worldwidekoiclub.org/index.php"]

    6. #6
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      Victoria, knowing no details about your quitting smoking(good for you), 3 years ago, when I quit, I used an ecig and I had no withdrawal at all. If you are interested, pm me & I will give you some info.
      Anne-------American by birth; Southern by the grace of God!!




    7. #7
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      How neat! Is this working well for you? I always worry about too much suction as I am afraid I might suck up a fish. Is this likely? I start my vac and my fish all immediate crowd around the wand and follow my cleaning paths, LOL.
      Robyn,
      South Florida
      KOI NOOB
      MY FISH ALBUM


    8. #8
      Victoria is offline Senior Member
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      I have been happy with the pond vac - I think it is a good design. I have not, however, been happy with all the forces conspiring against my use of the pond vac. Most problematic is the pond leak that consumes about 200 gallons per day ... being on a well, I just don't have enough water to replace more than that. Also, I wouldn't have been able to bear to vacuum with a bazillion toadpoles in there. (They all disappeared over a period of a couple of days, and I can't figure out why. Has anyone else seen this? They were just getting their hind legs when they vanished. Ravenous tree frogs perhaps?) And then the pond was overrun with baby goldies - I think I have captured and rehomed about 250 of them, and it looks like home stretch with "only" about 50 remaining. (Actually it *looks like* about 20 so I'm estimating 50.) What I'm trying to say is that I haven't been able to use it nearly a much as I had intended, but it works really well when I do use it.

      Robyn - The first time I used it, I made a little "cage" out of hardware cloth (instead of the brush attachment) to ensure that I wouldn't vacuum up any fish. Your experience might be different, but I felt comfortable using the brush attachment after the first trial run - my fish pretty well steer clear of the area, but a couple of times I had to make a menacing gesture toward one of them, which did the trick. Unless your fish are tiny, the hardware cloth would keep them safe, but the vac would be somewhat less effective that way.

      Player30 - Glad you found a method that worked for you! I do use an ecig when I feel desperate, but that is rare as Chantix has worked well for me. Five months and counting!

      -Victoria

    9. #9
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      Quote Originally Posted by Victoria View Post
      I have been happy with the pond vac - I think it is a good design. I have not, however, been happy with all the forces conspiring against my use of the pond vac. Most problematic is the pond leak that consumes about 200 gallons per day ... being on a well, I just don't have enough water to replace more than that. Also, I wouldn't have been able to bear to vacuum with a bazillion toadpoles in there. (They all disappeared over a period of a couple of days, and I can't figure out why. Has anyone else seen this? They were just getting their hind legs when they vanished. Ravenous tree frogs perhaps?) And then the pond was overrun with baby goldies - I think I have captured and rehomed about 250 of them, and it looks like home stretch with "only" about 50 remaining. (Actually it *looks like* about 20 so I'm estimating 50.) What I'm trying to say is that I haven't been able to use it nearly a much as I had intended, but it works really well when I do use it.

      Robyn - The first time I used it, I made a little "cage" out of hardware cloth (instead of the brush attachment) to ensure that I wouldn't vacuum up any fish. Your experience might be different, but I felt comfortable using the brush attachment after the first trial run - my fish pretty well steer clear of the area, but a couple of times I had to make a menacing gesture toward one of them, which did the trick. Unless your fish are tiny, the hardware cloth would keep them safe, but the vac would be somewhat less effective that way.

      Player30 - Glad you found a method that worked for you! I do use an ecig when I feel desperate, but that is rare as Chantix has worked well for me. Five months and counting!

      -Victoria
      AWESOME!! 3 years 6 months 8 day for me - Spontaneous Pnuomothorax did it for me!

    10. #10
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      Congrats on the stopping smoking!

      Yes, I occasionally have large batches of tadpoles suddenly go missing. I too am not sure why except for maybe their parents. Ours are toad tadpoles most likely so the fish don't eat them, but the toads come back night after night and they sure would. I too refrain from vacuuming when tadpoles are present.
      Robyn,
      South Florida
      KOI NOOB
      MY FISH ALBUM


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