Is it new and still trying to find an equilibrium? I don’t know either. Thought it would have cleared by now. I figure with bog spillway bowl I am probably turning the pond over once in an hour. Hopefully, once it clears it will stay that way, especially since it will be planted. Not opposed to a bigger pump but would love to make this one work if possible due to its efficiency.
ATP's Front Yard Pond!
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When I built mine, 38000 lbs of unwashed gravel, baby plants in the bog, it took a few weeks to clear., if I recall right. A lot of dirt in that pond.
I turn over the water about once every two hours. Now if I make a total mess, which I do, and murk up the water by the next day it is clear. I don't run as much flow as others.
It will clear, patience!
Or get some quilt batting and put it where the water flows through it. It will filter out a lot of the dirt. Rinse repeat, I am too lazy to ever do that. (well too busy)
I turn over the water about once every two hours. Now if I make a total mess, which I do, and murk up the water by the next day it is clear. I don't run as much flow as others.
It will clear, patience!
Or get some quilt batting and put it where the water flows through it. It will filter out a lot of the dirt. Rinse repeat, I am too lazy to ever do that. (well too busy)
It hasnt even been a full week yet. I can just barely see down about 20" or so and gets a little better each day. I did turn off the spillway and added a pump in a bucket with some floss to speed things up
. Gotta make sure there isnt a snapping turtle at the bottom eating my new fish...
If it hasn’t been even a week, what addy said patience. It will clear and once everything’s gets established and balanced It will stay that way unless something gets it out of balance.It hasnt even been a full week yet. I can just barely see down about 20" or so and gets a little better each day. I did turn off the spillway and added a pump in a bucket with some floss to speed things up
Also, don’t be surprised if it clears the cloudy water then you get hit with pea soup green water ( new pond syndrome), if so just leave it alone it will clear too.
Well, I added a few inches of pea gravel less than a week ago and even though I tried to rinse it, it didnt help. I turned up the bog today and even ran a pump, bucket with holes and filter floss today...almost looks worse...go figure.
Maybe, its already started to get a little green and that is why it looks a little worse today. Its been warm and sunny the last few days. I know my water has phosphates and silicates so that could fuel some algae. Thanks for the heads up that it might get green, I would probably have thought there was something wrong with my bog.
The spill way is adding a little o2 but does nothing to help clear the water that's why i suggested just putting all the flow to the bog how many gph is your pump and what did you guestimate your build to be how many gallons?
I estimate the pond to be approx 2k gallons. Pump is rated for 2900 gph at zero head.
I'd suspect your head pressure is nothing to worry about as far as loss.. I had green water for about 4 days once I fired up the new bog. I did plant it fully but still a far cry from a mature bog .
It might be turning a little green. Will the bog filter out the algae/green water,? I dont have any plants yet but cant imagine there are too many nutrients yet in the water for the algae to feed off other than the phosphate that is probably in my city water supply.
OH THERES ALWAYS SOMETHING IN THE WATER to allow for green algae . leave the spill way down , feed the bog all your water. latter you'll want to slow down the flow when the bacteria is established. But i would get as many plants as possible into the bog . Once your pond is established you may be able to have no plants in the bog but in the beginning i feel it's crucial
Ive got a bunch of plants ordered. I am more afraid they will starve with only a few fish. Nelson's bog article recommends you leave the dirt on the plants, so they dont starve in new bogs but most of what I ordered are "bare root". What did you do to ensure your plants had food? Dose anything?
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Ive got a bunch of plants ordered. I am more afraid they will starve with only a few fish. Nelson's bog article recommends you leave the dirt on the plants, so they dont starve in new bogs but most of what I ordered are "bare root". What did you do to ensure your plants had food? Dose anything?
When I started learning about bogs, I found Nelson’s article first and it was a godsend. They are adamant about their rules for how to build a bog that won’t fail.
Then I kept learning and kept building and came to learn that Nelson’s rules are a bunch of BS. Yeah, their design will absolutely work. But so will most other designs.
Anyway, You don’t need to leave the soil around your plants. Sorry for the rant!
I AM a bit outside the box, i added sacrificial fish . cheap fish to cycle the pond a bit quicker adding waste to the bog and nutrients to the water. Many of the old time ponders here were amazed i had sooo many plants thriving the first year .But it took over a year to a year and a half to get hair algae under control
agreed
more than agreed i found them to be way behind the curve
I know you were an aquarium guy and thought maybe you dosed something like Nitrate to feed the plants. With saltwater reef tanks I would add nitrate if it got too low. Not planning on doing it here but was curious if anyone tried it. I did add some nitrifying bacteria before adding the fish, so hopefully they arent "sacrificial".
How did you get the hair algae under control?