Try an In Pond Skimmer!
Do you have a pre-formed pond or cement pond and having a problem with leaves and debris sinking to the bottom of the pond? Or do you have a dead area in your pond where water is not circulating but cannot fit a skimmer into because of your landscaping.? The new OASE In-Pond AquaSkim or it’s smaller cousin the OASE SwimSkim may be the answer!
I had a dead area in my 6,000 gallon pond where the pull of the skimmer at one end of the dogleg was not able to pull debris coming from the end of the opposite dogleg. Leaves and other debris would sink long before they reached my single skimmer. The debris would sink to the bottom and provide great food for the algae besides looking unsightly and clouding the water.
I placed one AquaSkim about a foot from the shore at the end opposite of my Aquascape Grande Skimmer so I could reach it easily to empty the Debris Net. The AquaSkim takes a 1600 gph to a 4,200 gph pump. I selected the 3,200 gph PondMaster Pro HyDrive Submersible pump , removed the casing and attached it with a very short 2″ Flex pvc pipe to the AquaSkim. I connected another 2″ flex pvc hose to the discharge of the pump and sent it up to one of the holding troughs for my waterfalls.
See full size video on YouTube
I put another AquaSkim closer to the center of the pond but still about a foot from the ledge and sending it up to a trough as well. I could also send the discharge through a Pressure Filter which I am considering now.
I am lucky enough to have our pond situated under 3 huge California Pepper Trees (think Weeping Willow) that are unique in that they are one of the few trees to shed 365 days a year! Since installing these two AquaSkims, the amount of debris reaching the bottom has been minimalized. The only downside is that I have to empty them and shake them out once a day but I view that as a positive!
I also tried the OASE SwimSkim as well but it was a bit too small to have any impact on my large pond. It comes with a self-contained 535 gph pump and a small Filter pad and Debris Basket. It would provide a nice skimmer for a pond under 800 gallons Check out the SwimSkim video SwimSkim Video as it could be a nice additional skimmer filter for a small water feature.
Posted on: Saturday, February 13th, 2010 at 3:33 pm 
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I have a Cement Pond made from 42.5 standard OPC. Does this skimmer potentially damage the edges of the pond, I mean is there a specific grade of Cement that is required to utlize the device?
Thanks
July 10th, 2010 at 4:24 amI am not experienced with cement with skimmers. You might try to call Aquascape Tech at 866-877-6637 and ask them.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:14 am