Algae progress - lots of pictures

[myswtsins]

Okay.
I think we found the source of your excess nutrients. Heavy feeding.
Stop feeding. The fish have plenty to eat in an outdoor pond between algae/periphyton and bugs that naturally visit and breed in the pond. Commercial fish food has an incredible amount of phosphate in it.
One season of non feeding may not be sufficient to make a difference because of the detritus that is trapped in the gravel.
I would also stop the water changes. There's no benefit to it and the pond will be constantly rebalancing every time a water change is done.
You basically need to starve your pond of any outside additions and keep removing algae to further track down what is feeding the algae. Your fish will be fine and actually help with algae removal.
Glad to hear you have no phosphate in your source water. Some municipalities use phosphate in their water to prevent corrosion.

As far as a non-chemical way to reduce hair algae, try adding in some plain koi clay every once and a while. Clay will absorb phosphate and not add any nutrients.

(edit - if you really enjoy feeding your fish and don't mind removing some algae because of it, switch to fruits and vegetables only)
.

Thanks again for your input! I wouldn't say I feed heavily (I do have aquariums for 10 years so I do have a fair idea of feeding amounts, I'm a notorious light feeder in general. I am forcing myself to feed a little more this year actually) and one season is a whole year technically AND there is minimal gunk in the gravel because I do clean out the stream at least 2 times a year (this year I have cleaned it at least 10 times so far and it's super clean).

Really no way to stop those "water changes". It overflows naturally when it gets full and when it hits minimum operating depth it auto fills. I do not usually do actual water changes unless needed (like when it poured and the pH went crazy) BTW I have well water, hence the no phos or nitrate etc.

I also think you're not getting enough of your water through your bog - you're filtering less than 20% of your water per hour. We push maybe6 or 7000 GPH through our bog with no issue - and mine is smaller than yours, I think. (6x4 - pond is 17x13). @MitchM - any opinion on the low filtration rate having an affect on the algae growth?

I did build my bog based off the advice I got from this site specifically so it's kinda disappointing to hear the same site saying my bog isn't good enough now. More flow would require a rebuild of my bog. The way it overflows through pipes is already very touchy, if it gets clogged up at all it starts overflowing (an issue I am working on currently) so I couldn't push anymore water through as it is but that is certainly something I am considering. Thank you.

Adding the second dose of barley today and vacuumed most of the escapee rocks from my lily pots out of the bottom of the pond today. Built a DIY air lift vacuum and it's awesome!

 

[qclabrat]

Thanks again for your input! I wouldn't say I feed heavily (I do have aquariums for 10 years so I do have a fair idea of feeding amounts, I'm a notorious light feeder in general. I am forcing myself to feed a little more this year actually) and one season is a whole year technically AND there is minimal gunk in the gravel because I do clean out the stream at least 2 times a year (this year I have cleaned it at least 10 times so far and it's super clean).

Really no way to stop those "water changes". It overflows naturally when it gets full and when it hits minimum operating depth it auto fills. I do not usually do actual water changes unless needed (like when it poured and the pH went crazy) BTW I have well water, hence the no phos or nitrate etc.


I did build my bog based off the advice I got from this site specifically so it's kinda disappointing to hear the same site saying my bog isn't good enough now. More flow would require a rebuild of my bog. The way it overflows through pipes is already very touchy, if it gets clogged up at all it starts overflowing (an issue I am working on currently) so I couldn't push anymore water through as it is but that is certainly something I am considering. Thank you.

Adding the second dose of barley today and vacuumed most of the escapee rocks from my lily pots out of the bottom of the pond today. Built a DIY air lift vacuum and it's awesome!

Pics of your diy vac please

 

[Lisak1]

I did build my bog based off the advice I got from this site specifically so it's kinda disappointing to hear the same site saying my bog isn't good enough now. More flow would require a rebuild of my bog. The way it overflows through pipes is already very touchy, if it gets clogged up at all it starts overflowing (an issue I am working on currently) so I couldn't push anymore water through as it is but that is certainly something I am considering. Thank you.

Did you post photos of the construction? I'm curious what you mean about the pipes -

 

[addy1]

I am not sure either what you are saying. I push water through 2 inch pipes, up through 2.5 feet of pea gravel. The only clogging I get is over growth of plants which get yanked. I do not pull my water from the bottom of the pond and have a leaf basket in front of my external pump to catch any large debris before it enters the bog.

Love your stream and pond it is beautiful!

 

[myswtsins]

Pics of your diy vac please

I'll work on that but it needs more adjustments. The tweaking I did today made it worse lol.

Did you post photos of the construction? I'm curious what you mean about the pipes -

Pictures of the bog are lacking but here's what I have.
Smaller lattice was placed on top of this shelf and then 1.5" rock and then pea gravel. Gravel depth is about 12", undershelf, open water area is about 6". The water overflows through a 2" and 1.5" bulkhead.

Shelf flipped over

You can see the shape of the container here best if you look at the end, the bottom corners are angled giving a ledge for that shelf.

Problem we are having is that the water at the overflow end is not very high but it overflows at the opposite end towards the end of the season, happened 2 years now. With the open water flow underneath clogging/overgrown plants shouldn't be an issue but clearly something is happening. We have pulled plants thinking maybe they grew so deep they were blocking the bottom but not even close! The bog needs adjusting anyways so I will certainly take into consideration pushing more water through it.

I am not sure either what you are saying. I push water through 2 inch pipes, up through 2.5 feet of pea gravel. The only clogging I get is over growth of plants which get yanked. I do not pull my water from the bottom of the pond and have a leaf basket in front of my external pump to catch any large debris before it enters the bog.

Love your stream and pond it is beautiful!

Thank you!

 

[addy1]

The water comes up through the pipes that are under the containers? Or just in the one end and out the other?

Neat looking bog you made there.

 

[MitchM]

...

I did build my bog based off the advice I got from this site specifically so it's kinda disappointing to hear the same site saying my bog isn't good enough now. ...

The person most knowledgeable about "bog" flow rates passed away this past December and the rest of us are doing the best we can to offer free helpful advice.
You could always perform your own search through @Meyer Jordan's past postings to see if there's anything you could improve upon.

 

[myswtsins]

The water comes up through the pipes that are under the containers? Or just in the one end and out the other?

Neat looking bog you made there.

Thanks. Those black lines are the soaker hose that I run air through for cleaning, sorry should have specified.

The person most knowledgeable about "bog" flow rates passed away this past December and the rest of us are doing the best we can to offer free helpful advice.
You could always perform your own search through @Meyer Jordan's past postings to see if there's anything you could improve upon.

I have read a lot of his stuff, what a great loss to the community. Thank you.

 

[bagsmom]

WOW! Your pond is beautiful! You have an impressive system! I don't know what to contribute on the algae, really, but even your picture with the string algae in full glory was pretty! It is a lovely green and to me looks like mermaid hair!

 

[myswtsins]

WOW! Your pond is beautiful! You have an impressive system! I don't know what to contribute on the algae, really, but even your picture with the string algae in full glory was pretty! It is a lovely green and to me looks like mermaid hair!

lol Thank you. I don't mind the algae SO much either cause I know it is doing a service to my pond and when it is bright green it is pretty. But when it's brown it's not so pretty or working so well and I'd prefer to not have it.

 

[addy1]

Thanks. Those black lines are the soaker hose that I run air through for cleaning, sorry should have specified.

So let me see if I understand what you have done. The water goes in at the top, runs down the structure and flows out the other end.

It is not pumped in pipes that run below the gravel. Water goes the least resistance. I am speculating that the water just flows in and heads up to go over the gravel. Over time the top of the gravel gets covered with muck, that muck might be causing your overflow issue. I had a bog that had the water just flow over the top of the gravel, it constantly clogged up and overflowed.

I would plumb it with some pvc lines under the crates, with holes or slits in them so the water is dispersed from below the gravel over the entire length of the bog.

If I am missing the fact you have it plumbed with lines, sorry.............. : )

With mine you can see the main input of the water, then it splits to go down the two pipes to the end of the bog.

 

[myswtsins]

@addy1 The water enters into the bottom of the bog through a bulkhead into the open area underneath (no pipes inside is correct) then flows up through the gravel and overflows out the other end. It's an upflow system but the open water area acts to distribute the water instead of pipes with holes is the only difference. We actually did add a compartment around the overflow pipes that gives access to the open water area underneath to try to alleviate the overflowing but to no avail. That compartment should technically guarantee proper flow, maybe not for the plants as it kind of acts as a bypass by being the path of least resistance. But no matter, I need to redesign the bog obviously. Biggest problem is that it need to fit into the same area or else it will be a BIG rebuild as the bog is built-in to the deck.

 

[Telion]

Beautiful pond and a very unique DIY bog setup I like it. Wish I could be of more help as I too am new. I will stand by an learn with you.

 

[addy1]

Some believe a slow low flow is good for a bog and eating up of excess nutrients. I push a lot of water through and it works fine for me.

One other thought, how big is the input pipe? I have found I need double the size output to keep up with the input. A one inch input needs two one inch outputs to keep up.
I do see it happens mainly towards the end of the season. Are the output pipes above the gravel? I would guess they are.

 

[Lisak1]

Is the design such that the water can only flow out of the two pipes? Or could you create a series of outlets along the front edge?