Ambitious in Oregon

[umpquamatt]

Hi Folks,
I live in the Umpqua Valleys of SW Oregon. I have a background in wildlife ecology as well as construction. My interest in building a spring/stream/pond complex is to attract and view wildlife. In particular, I'm hoping to attract a variety of dragonflies and damselflies, but I also expect a variety of birds, and eventually some amphibians and reptiles, etc. I have a habitat design, and my questions to this forum will mostly have to do with the water/pump/filter system. That's probably good enough for an intro. I'll attach my habitat design. I'm happy to entertain any questions here, but I assume I should ask specific pump and filtration questions to one of the other forums? Thank-you! Matt

 

[j.w]

@umpquamatt sounds like a wonderful plan you are setting up for the wildlife. Yep start a thread on questions you have on your filter etc.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

Look into building a bog as your filter. My system is filtered with just pea gravel and plants. A large bog. I never have water issues, the critters love it, the plants love it, the ponds love it. The plants in the bog suck all the excess nutrients out of the water. No green water, minimal algae.

The only pond maintenance I do is grooming the lilies and removing excess plants growing in the bog.

I have around 10 ponds being cared for by the bog, from big to small ponds all in a water loop run by one pump. The deck ponds get fed by a different pump, which handles the over 100 feet of head pressure, I have it on a timer, runs a few times a day. My stream is on a very steep hill, the deck ponds at the top of that steep hill, around 40 feet from the main pond.

 

[Ronfire]

With the cross section of your stream diagram most or all the water would flow in the gravel and not on top. If you want to see a flowing stream you would only have a single layer of gravel.

 

[umpquamatt]

Welcome to our group!

Look into building a bog as your filter. My system is filtered with just pea gravel and plants. A large bog. I never have water issues, the critters love it, the plants love it, the ponds love it. The plants in the bog suck all the excess nutrients out of the water. No green water, minimal algae.

The only pond maintenance I do is grooming the lilies and removing excess plants growing in the bog.

I have around 10 ponds being cared for by the bog, from big to small ponds all in a water loop run by one pump. The deck ponds get fed by a different pump, which handles the over 100 feet of head pressure, I have it on a timer, runs a few times a day. My stream is on a very steep hill, the deck ponds at the top of that steep hill, around 40 feet from the main pond.

Thanks Addy1 and everyone! I wonder if I could just incorporate a "bog" into the system along my stream, or if the relatively deep cross-section of my stream would essentially serve as a bog filter if I have enough plants in it... perhaps?

My more detailed construction questions are now posted here: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/spring-stream-pond-construction-liner-pump-filter.24757/

 

[umpquamatt]

With the cross section of your stream diagram most or all the water would flow in the gravel and not on top. If you want to see a flowing stream you would only have a single layer of gravel.

Thanks Ronfire. That is certainly a concern I have (see more detail in this post: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/spring-stream-pond-construction-liner-pump-filter.24757/). I'm hoping/guessing that with a lot of sand in the subsurface, and it perhaps "clogging" up over time, and the low gradient, that I would get adequate surface flow, ... but that certainly is something I'm considering in this design!

 

[Gemma]

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Stephen Noble]

Welcome! We are pleased to have you as a member and look forward to your very cool project!
Stephen

 

[gregbgn]

welcome

 

[sissy]

welcome and look forward to what you are doing

 

[Stephen T.]

Bogs sure do work! I have what looks like a spring bubbling up in my bog, a small pond, 35 feet of stream and a larger pond. Before I added the bog, you couldn't see an inch into the water. Since installing the bog, it has stayed very clear, with almost no maintenance. I built this whole system as a wildlife and bird attracter/photo backdrop and it has been very successful. Good luck with your project, all the local critters will thank you!

 

[addy1]

Bogs sure do work!

I sure do love mine!

 

[Ronfire]

Instead of 1 long stream you could make them connecting bogs and have the same look. Build the stream like your diagram but build several dams in it to force the water to flow up and over. To make it even better then have a hidden pipe to receive the water and send it below the gravel for the next section. You would not have to divert all the water down under the gravel on each section. Then you would have the best of both a stream that will work like a bog.