Bog building, also called upflow filter, eco filter, wetland filter

[addy1]

Mostly, the pipe needs to run the length of the bog with slits cut in it facing down. They can be facing up but if your pump would ever need to be shut off or the power goes out, there is a chance the gravel could get into the pip or clog the holes.

If you have your slits facing down, I highly recommend you put some scrap liner below the piping, the constant pounding of the water on the liner, MIGHT notice the might wear through the liner over time.
I have my slits down, because I do shut it off during the winter, the gravel does shift around so I did not want my pipe to get clogged up by the gravel.

 

[addy1]

(I should change my user name to LoveMyBog!- ha!)

ME TOO !! LOVE MY BOG! well it is my only filtration and it does a great job.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

ME TOO !! LOVE MY BOG! well it is my only filtration and it does a great job.

I plan on building my filter this year, and I was wondering If I could run water from the filter to the bog or if that would defeat the purpose. I've seen many people use two or three barrels to filter water, so I'm thinking running the water through my filter and then through my bog would be a way to make sure the water is extra-filtered.

 

[brandonsdad02]

If you have your slits facing down, I highly recommend you put some scrap liner below the piping, the constant pounding of the water on the liner, MIGHT notice the might wear through the liner over time.
I have my slits down, because I do shut it off during the winter, the gravel does shift around so I did not want my pipe to get clogged up by the gravel.

I did as you mentioned when I redid the plumbing last spring and put a extra piece of liner between the pipe and the actual liner.

 

[brandonsdad02]

I plan on building my filter this year, and I was wondering If I could run water from the filter to the bog or if that would defeat the purpose. I've seen many people use two or three barrels to filter water, so I'm thinking running the water through my filter and then through my bog would be a way to make sure the water is extra-filtered.

You can but I noticed the first year I had my bog, I had my skippy filter running too. It seemed that the bog plants did grow as well when I had both filters running, but I did have plants in the top of the skippy filter as well. In a round about way, it was sorta acting like a bog, just instead of the pea gravel, I had floor scrubber pads for the filter material.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I'm considering adding the bog and not doing any other filter, but I'm worried about the bog having issues if that's the only thing filtering the water.

I read that a bog's size needs to be at least 10% of the pond, and I would plan on doing it at least 50%, so maybe that would help the bog take on any gunk and debris it gets.

 

[brandonsdad02]

I have mine heavily planted with all sorts of stuff. It has kept my water cleaner than the skippy filter ever did.

 

[Nepen]

I dont remember where I read it but it said when planting the plant in the bog, dont rinse all the dirt and to keep some of the dirt... I'm not really happy I did that now since when I move my plants/re planting/ digging in my gravels, the dirts gusshing out and go into my pond. I wish I just stick roots in there instead.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Another question I've got is how deep should the pea gravel layer be, and how deep should the raised water above it be?

 

[addy1]

Here is a piece of my bog. You can see the blue for get me not starting to grow in the front, the day lilies growing to the left. The water is around an inch deep.

This is how clear the water was the day after I turned the pump on, this is around 4 feet down, the dark lumps are trap door snails, some are 3 inches in size. I have nothing but the bog running except on the 1000 gallon stock tank, that has a sort of up flow barrel filter just to give that tank clean water. The only water it gets is dirty water from the big pond. The white stuff to the bottom right of the picture is some pea gravel that has wandered in.

I would never go back to a "normal" filter. The bog is around 1/4 to 1/3 the size of the pond.

 

[addy1]

Another question I've got is how deep should the pea gravel layer be, and how deep should the raised water above it be?

My gravel is way deep, the rush, grass roots do go down around 18 inches. The "normal" bog plants stay pretty shallow. Most the write ups say a foot to 18 inches is fine. Mine is 2.5 feet, someone with a tractor i.e. me, didn't know when to stop digging.

 

[addy1]

I dont remember where I read it but it said when planting the plant in the bog, dont rinse all the dirt and to keep some of the dirt... I'm not really happy I did that now since when I move my plants/re planting/ digging in my gravels, the dirts gusshing out and go into my pond. I wish I just stick roots in there instead.

Whenever I mess around in the bog, some dirt does flow into the pond, it is usually cleared up within an hour or so. Now if I am really yanking plants it is longer like 5 hours maybe. By that I mean I have made the pond so murky you can see nothing

Most of my plants I rinsed. Dirt will accumulate in the pea gravel and it will move around when you mess around in the bog.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

The "normal" bog plants stay pretty shallow. Most the write ups say a foot to 18 inches is fine. .

This definitely seems to be the way I'm going to go now. thanks!

 

[taherrmann4]

My bog depth is 12"-18" from one side to the other. I did what Addy did with the slits facing down I put an extra two pieces of liner where the slits are just for extra protection. I planted all my plants bare root and they did great. In fact they did so well last year that I had to go in and do a major clearing of the bog. The water depth above my gravel is at max an inch, the biggest problem I have had is the plants really block the water flow therefore increasing the depth and I actually had overflow one of the walls on the bog. My liner was just to close to the water height so be sure to give yourself some extra when you build yours.

 

[addy1]

My bog water flows over the water fall and here and there the entire length of the bog wall, not planned that way, just happened. That helps keep any blockage from causing an out flow of water from the bog. Make your wall higher than you think it should be, totally agree with Tmann.