What is an exploratory pond cleaning?

​Before we get right into it, let’s run through a quick scenario.

​You are in the process of or have recently just purchased your new dream home.  You and your family are ecstatic and elated with your new home and looking forward to creating long lasting memories together.  There just so happens to be this body of water which was called a fish pond or maybe you just have a fountain or one of those circulating waterfalls. 

You and the family stand outside gazing at this beautiful feature or maybe it’s not so beautiful but green, murky, and just plain stagnant.  Either way you look back at your home and then at the water feature thinking to yourself: 
What have I gotten myself into, I don’t even know where to start?  What now? 

If this sounds like a predicament you’re facing, an exploratory drain and clean or exploratory start-up may be just the service you’ve been searching for.  We can help you get your feet wet in this wonderful hobby of fish ponds and water features. 

​Is it even worth it to hire a professional pond company to clean, assess, and educate you on the water feature system you have?
​Of course, it is. Having a pond professional figure out your system, walk you through the maintenance or your pond or water feature and make suggestions to improve your pond or water feature will prevent any headaches along the way.     

So, what is an exploratory pond cleaning or start-up?

​In this wonderful world of fish ponds and water features it’s apparent not all ponds are created equal, so there’s no one size fits all pond manual to help you through this process of “figuring” it out.   This is where we come in, think of us as your go to pond manual.  With our extensive pond knowledge and experience we’ve just about seen it all, and if we haven’t, we will figure it out.  

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​Exploratory Pond or Water Feature Cleaning: What does AFD do?
The AFD team will show up ready to dive in and figure out your pond’s system. 

1. Drain entire pond and power wash and clean. House any fish during service and check fish health.
2. Clean all filters
3. Check condition of pond liner
4. Check and clean all pumps and any other equipment
5. Check plumbing system condition and for any leaks
6. Clean stream/waterfall areas  
7. Provide you with a full report of equipment condition, type of equipment, and any items needing immediate attention or recommended repairs and upgrades. 
8. Provide you with “Peace of Mind”.  How?  We will spend time to educate you on your pond, the filtration system, and maintenance tasks.  But most of all we will be your go to manual.  You can always reach out to us should you have a question.  

​Once your exploratory pond cleaning is finished you will have a clean pond and most importantly an understanding of how your pond functions and the maintenance that needs to be done to help keep your pond beautiful and healthy.  In essence, we will be performing a complete pond or water feature physical and providing you with a plethora of information so you can enjoy your pond or water feature.  

Exploratory Pond or Water Feature/Fountain Start-Up: What’s this all about?
What do we do?
We perform all the same tasks as in an Exploratory Cleaning, we just don’t fully drain the entire pond or water feature. 

1. Clean all filters
2. Check and clean all pumps and any other equipment
3. Check plumbing system condition and for any leaks
4. Clean stream/waterfall areas  
5. Provide you with a full report of equipment condition, type of equipment, and any items needing immediate attention or recommended repairs and upgrades. 
6. Provide you with “Peace of Mind”.  How?  We will spend time to educate you on your pond, the filtration system, and maintenance tasks.  But most of all we will be your go to manual.  You can always reach out to us should you have a question. 

 
Sometimes the pond or water feature is in pretty good shape, the previous owners kept really good care of the feature and maybe a full draining isn’t necessary.  That’s when the Exploratory Start-up can be a great way to have your pond or water feature checked out by a pond professional to make sure all is running properly.   

Which Exploratory service is right for you? 

​It really depends.   There are many factors to take into consideration as to whether an Exploratory Cleaning or an Exploratory Start-up is right for you.   This is something we are more than happy to help you figure out and we can figure it out together.  

Ok, Ok, this sounds great, but what’s my investment going to be?  

A great question, and one that’s difficult to answer.  And yes, you may have guessed it, it depends.  It depends on water feature type, size, if it’s been neglected, and so on and so on.   We can’t provide you with an exact price, but we can give you a good starting point. 
An exploratory cleaning for a pond can range from $775 and up. 
An exploratory start-up can range from $575 and up.  

Related Links:

• When can I start feeding my pond fish and koi this spring?
• What do I do with my fish when cleaning my fish pond?
• ​When do I need to change my BioFilter filter pads for my fish pond?
  

A Frog’s Dream Aquatic Services is offering this pond information as a personal information source to our website visitors. Pond services are performed in Morris County New Jersey (NJ) Hunterdon County New Jersey (NJ) Somerset County (NJ) and Warren County (NJ). Fish and Koi Pond Construction, Streams and Waterfalls, and  Fountains are all in our wheelhouse of talent. Explore our website for more ideas. Like our Facebook page for daily inspiration.  Receive #TheWeeklyRibbit for weekly water feature tips and a fun video