=>>> CUSTOMER REVIEW!!! Matala Pond Vac II Vacuum Muck Buster
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsit's excellentAugust 3, 2011
By Chad386
Amazon Verified Purchase
This muck buster was shipped to me via 3rd party seller: Webb's Water Garden. It was well packaged and had no obvious damage. It does come with 3 different attachments for putting on the end of the suction hose, but I find the main one, which is the largest and also has brush threads is the best. I have not had a need to change out the attachment heads.It also comes with several sections of hose pipe "extenders" so you can make the handle as long as you need to. I left off 1 of the 3 sections and the handle is more than long enough for me to clean my 1200 gallon pond.For me, this unit has a specific use case. I use it during each of my pond water changes/cleanings, which I do 2 to 3 times/year. I drain the pond using my primary waterfall pump, and as it's draining I use the pond vac to suck up debris/algae/sludge. My main pump can only drain the pond so far before I have to shut it down. I catch my fish at this point and place them in a holding tank. I use the pond Vac to do the rest. Then I use pond salts/kosher salt to sprinkle on the rockwork where there has been a lot of string algae, scrub with a brush, and then rinse with the hose again. The dirty water builds back up in certain sections of the pond which I promptly vac back out.Using this process, I was able to get my pond cleaner than it had been in years. The suction on this vac is great, but the full head does pretty much need to be submerged, so you could switch to one of the smaller heads for tiny places.Its only weakness is not worth detracting a star over, but is an issue of internal timing. The vac's collection tank fills as you use it. When it fills all the way up, the vac automatically shuts off, so as to allow the exhaust tubing to empty the tank. It switches back on after a set # of seconds. Which is the problem, cuz it doesn't use a sensor of any type to allow the unit to know when the tank has emptied out completely. What happens instead is the vac shuts down, the tank empties only partially, then the vac clicks back on, only allowing you a very short time to vac again before it clicks off again. There may be a way to rig the timing differently, but I haven't figured it out. It would probably involve voiding the warranty. ;)Once I learned this, it is an easy fix. When the vac shuts down, I go over to it and manually turn the power switch off, so as to let the tank empty completely. This also gives me time to scrub rock or whatever, then turn the unit back on when I'm again ready to vacuum. The internal timer is basically useless. I feel this unit is most effective with a pond cleaning that involves emptying a pond completely vs. "spot vacuuming" algae and stuff out. It was pretty ineffective at that since that's how I tried to use it initially.But you should've seen the muck that poured out of the exhaust tubing towards the end. It is a strong unit with strong suction. I would not recommend it, however, for ponds much larger than mine. You would need a more expensive unit. This helped me obliterate my muck/algae problem due to bad summer heat. The price is fantastic as well, at around $219 with free shipping from Webb's.UPDATE 7/30/2012Had the unit around a year now, used it about 5 times total. Still works like it did when I got it out of the box. All comments in original review still stand. I do still recommend using common sense (I only paid about $200 for the thing), not overworking the pump, and treating it with care.UPDATE 3/18/2013Pulled this thing out again to do the Spring cleaning on my pond yesterday. I'm telling you the thing is still running like the day I got it. I still insist it's a great value for the money. Use some common sense with its use, turn off between cycles to give it more rest than the timer allows between cycles, and don't loan it out to crazy neighbors to tear up. You will get your money's worth. The exhaust was putting out water that looked like black sewage. Really strong suction.
Product Title : =>>> CUSTOMER REVIEW!!! Matala Pond Vac II Vacuum Muck Buster
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