Above ground tropical pond

[addy1]

Very nice job!

 

[WetWilly]

What is your plan for a filter for that set up id probably go with a bead filter. A bog would be quite the task to build like 1/3 as much as what you just did though obviously your not afraid of work

What is your plan for a filter for that set up id probably go with a bead filter. A bog would be quite the task to build like 1/3 as much as what you just did though obviously your not afraid of work

Everything will be in those walls and as silent as possible except for a waterfall that comes on on timer or on demand.

The blue is where waterfall will be. May just be. I was going to have it span the cove and trickle over so it looks something like a cave. Pump will just hang below it out of sight.

Yellow is a deep portion I plan on putting large diameter pipe suction grid and airlift up. It may just come straight up or I might use it to direct surface currents. It also doubles as a way for me to pull water out of the pond by hooking up to vert pipe.

Red is where a “bog” will go. It will be over 300 gallons and be below water surface. A wall out or 300 gallon rubermade tote will be its structure.

I need some skimming action too and I got a couple ideas. Easy would be a no nieche skimmer before bog. But that’s too easy. I really want a stream section. And I was thinking I would use the bog wall as one side and the wall wall as the other. It would pull into a stream the intake bay pump into bog and flow out other side. Stream for little fish and could even add to the filter itself with rock, air and plants. Think natural waddy ERIC filter. Purple arrows. The bog would be like a below water island if that makes sense with a wall that breaks the surface. Water would go into stream. Then pump to bottom then flow out designated spot to continue stream.

 

[WetWilly]

You could do a mangrove joust put it in a large pot. If growing from a propagule they grow so slow, be along time before worrying about the roots especially if you keep pulling it up to get the look of the partially exposed root system

Right. I was thinking in my bog area and just face the fact that it’s never coming out. I could use the 300 gallon rubber made tub

 

[WetWilly]

 

[GBBUDD]

depending on your waterfall height and gph that narrow area you plan to place the falls could be an issue for splashing out of the pond

 

[WetWilly]

It’s going to more like a barrel withe rocks mortared around it. It will spill from around the whole 2’ top so not very splashy even at a high flow

 

[Stephen Noble]

I thought about mangrove but worried it would hurt the liner. I actually thought I might grow it out of a submerged 300 gallon stock tank upflow filter. But then I remembered how I can’t clean the other one in the other pond that has plants in it.

I have kept a bunch of mangroves for about 10-years. Let me know if you are still interested and I will share my lessons learned.

 

[WetWilly]

I am. Do you think they will clog up a bog?

 

[Stephen Noble]

I am. Do you think they will clog up a bog?

I don't know. I doubt it would completely clog a bog. But I have never grown one in a bog. Only in ponds, aquariums, sumps and water features. All of mine were originally in pots. The roots outgrow the pots, and the trees only use the pot as an anchor until the prop roots take over to stabilize the tree. My largest one is over 8-feet tall with a spread of 5-feet. For the size of that tree, the roots are surprisingly not very extensive. The submerged roots are whiteish/tan color and quite flexible. The roots do not interfere or adhere to the pond liner. One interesting thing about mangroves is that they are not heavy. I can lift the large tree with one hand when cleaning. Personally, I would try growing one in a bog just to see what happens. I live in Florida and might just try it myself!

 

[GBBUDD]

if we can stick papyrus in a bog and have it still work i don't see a mangrove as even a contender

 

[Jhn]

I have stuck them in my bog, but they got lost in the other plants during the summer and I forgot about them in the fall, so they didn’t make it through the winter. Might try them again in a pot of some sort that can sit in the pond in the warm months then come inside in the winter.

The other thing is they grow really slow, so it would take them some time to clog up a bog and good to know @Stephen Noble that they root systems arent that big.

 

[WetWilly]

How deep of water can they grow?

 

[GBBUDD]

i put papyrus on an aquablock and the roots filled the whole thing very dense root system like a brillow pad tight mass

 

[WetWilly]

 

[Stephen Noble]

How deep of water can they grow?

Which plant? The papryus or mangrove? Both need to be grown emersed. I have papryus that is in about two-feet of water with its tallest fronds reaching about 6-feet. By the way, that is a nice pond project!