leaves from Florida pond

Question
I have a 7'x22' x 2.5'deep pond with goldfish.  No water problems, thankfully.

However, there are many leaves in the pond that have to be removed.  I bought one of those industrial vacuums with the supposed automatic pump to pump the leaves out.  However, it sucks alot of water out and stops too soon.

Is there a better way to get the leaves off the bottom of the pond (have river rock on the bottom - I know it's not preferable, but it was there when I moved here)

Also, I saw a small snake in the pond and since them am terrified to walk in it to cut plants, etc.  What type of protective covering would you recommend for me?  Would a wetsuit do the trick or do I need waders (they are so heavy to walk in in the pond.

Thanks
Barbara

Answer
Your pond is over 2000 gallons (if it's mostly 2.5 feet deep) but either way, it's a good size pond, about the size of my 1800 gallon.  I have a OASE pond vacuum that was over $400.  I don't like it.  It is a pain to use and more trouble than not.  I do use it on my smaller ponds but don't trust it in my big pond.  It clogs on everything and could suck up animals, etc.  My pond also has pea gravel in the bottom of most of it.  For my pond, I mostly rely on a small pond net.  I net the leaves out.  I've found it works better than either electric or venturi-driven pond vacuums.

If you can identify your snake, it should help.  For example, if it's a common garter snake like I've had in my pond, no problem.  They're shy, and if they bite, it won't due much harm.  On the other hand, if it's a water snake, they're aggressive but at least not poisonous.  The copperhead (rarely gets in ponds)and water moccasin are poisonous.  Wearing a wet suit will just slow down your response time.  Fangs might still be able to penetrate it anyway.  I use hip waders in the cold months and go bathing suit (naked the part that's in the pond) in warm months.  The goldfish sometimes mouth my bare legs but I've survived.  Remember, snakes are more afraid of you than you are of them.  These pages on my site may be of interest to you:

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/myfish/clean.htm (how I cleaned my much smaller pond)
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/animals/snake.htm (work in progress)

I know I made a long list of things I liked and didn't like about the OASE electric pond vacuum in my forum but I can't find it right now.  Good luck!

Robyn