Well~I don't have an actual pond vac...but what I use, and it is time consuming but it works!!!! It a siphon used for kerosene~ I just bought some extra tubing for the length and put the other end in a bucket and squeeze away!!! This is really good for that sludge on the bottom but not for anything big like leaves. It will clog it up!!!! But easy enough to unclog!! If tadpoles get in the bucket you can just put em back in the pond! :)

O my you already have tadpoles???? We are in the same zone and I just know the next rain... we are going to be overrun with toads!!!

We also have a wet/dry vac that has a drain you can run a hose from but have not used it too many times for the pond. It fills up way faster than it drains unfortunately.. Good luck and I hope to see ideas from others on this!

Thanks dazyjune........I only have tadpoles because I use a deicer in the winter and that keeps them alive.
I have a ton of leaves in the bottom, so I need something that will suck them up too. I need to cover it up in the fall, so I don't get all these leaves.
Thanks again for your suggestions!

Oh the fall leaves!!!! We use the bird netting! Hubby bought pvc 1 inch by about 8'. We arch it over the pond and use bamboo sticks to hold it in place. Then he also drilled holes and put screws, (not all the way screwed in) that we use to hold the netting down and off of the pond. I sometimes have to go flip em off the net after a hard rain really brings em down....

Works great, then just take it off after all the leaves are down and gone!!!! Not our idea I actually seen this on someones pond and thought what a great idea!!! Hope you can get the visual since I don't have pics~ the bird netting goes on clearance and the pvc is inexpensive as well!!!

That's a good idea! Do you ever get birds caught in it?

You know I think we did once and I am glad I was home. I try to make sure the ends are tucked under the rocks so that doesn't happen though!!!

i have the oase pond vac 4.my pond is large 6000 gal. it is pricey but it works great, and it is self draining

Hi joe...........I wonder........are the tubes the same size in the vac 4 and the smaller one? Are you able to suck up leaves? Although I'm thinking the larger model might have more powerful suction. I don't need too much with my small pond.

catherine, you remember waterbug_guy? He had lots to say abut vacs. I googled and came up with his own site. You might try using waterbug_guy in another search to get some posts directly from gardenweb as well.

catherinet the pond vac 4 has 1 1/4 in tubes. the suction is really strong and picks up anything.there are different hose fittings for all applications

Thanks chas and joe!

I finally broke down and got a pond vac last year. Not sure it is worth the investment. It does work but it is not easy to get a decent flo unless the vac itself is a little lower than pond level. also, the vacuum itself can be a little tricky. Like I said, it DOES work but don't believe the ads you see about ease of use.....easy it ain't!

Thanks Stan Susan,
How does that work? ......I'm assuming you don't use a filter in the shop vac....and then you would have to dump it out when it gets full?

We use our big shop vac too or did when we had a big pond. It has a drain on front. We always used it with the sponge wet filter and wheeled it over to a garden bed to release the water, leaves and muck. The trick is to have the hose positioned on the bottom where the leaves and gunk is. It takes just a sec to fill up a 22 gallon shop vac, but it does a number on the leaves. In your case you'd need to be ready with a bucket of pond water to catch and rescue the tadpoles that will also get sucked up.

Thanks Pk.......that sounds like a less expensive option too.