Bog Filter Completed !!

[drjay9051]

Firstly, I'd like to thank everybody that answered my many questions regarding a bog filter build.

It is finally finished. 16x4.5 x app. 1.5. Toyed with the idea of different media but in the end went with typical pea gravel as well as 2 mesh bags of bioballs I had in storage.

Utilized 16 300 pound railroad ties it was way more work than I envisioned.

Anyway, it has been completed. Now just a matter of waiting for the water to clear and stocking with plants.

On a side note, a bit of frustration. Along with a valve to control flow I installed a check valve to assure that in the event of outage or pump failure ( yes I have a spare pump on standby) the bog would not drain.

So the check valve is installed along a run of flex PVC. It took me three attempts to get the flex to properly seal(glue).

In the past I have used Christy's red hot blue glue with out a problem on flex. Tried the Christy's first 2 times finally switched to Otay medium clear which seemed to do the trick.

I know the check valve is installed properly but I shut down the pump to allow spillway to dry so I could foam a couple of small gaps I missed first time around.

Guess what, I go out 30 minutes later and bog was drained. I could see it flowing back to pond via the pump. Apparently a bad check valve? I do not think I will mess with it at this point. I checked the check valve and it seemed to work prior to install. Maybe a bit of dirt mucked up the spring. I will shut down again to see if it again drains via this "faulty" check valve.

On a side note: I know nothing about the koi hobby except some people pay big money for koi. As I was researching bog filters most of what I read was positive but on one particular koi forum there is what I would call disdain bordering on hatred for bog filters. Why no love from the koi community? On this forum the overwhelming consensus was bogs are bound to fail down the road. I know Addy for one will disagree!

Again, thank you all for your patience and help.

 

[addy1]

Very nice!

 

[Lisak1]

I got evicted from one such koi loving forum for suggesting A. You can have healthy pond with rocks and gravel and B. A bog filter works. They told me “eventually your pond will fail” and gave me the boot. Here I am, 14 years later, still waiting.

Now, having said that I will add this - if you have a dedicated Koi pond, a.k.a. a pond built for Koi, you will likely need more than a bog filter. Folks who built ponds for the Koi are generally going to overstock their ponds, intentionally, and need some heavy duty filtration to keep the water healthy. They are big fish and produce a lot of waste. Generally speaking, you just need to know what kind of pond you’re trying to build, because not all ponds are the same.

One last thing - we did not put a check valve on our bog. We instead used a ball valve so we could shut the bog down in the event that we need to turn off the pump, and conversely, we can keep the bog open if we want to drain the whole system. We do have a check valve after the pump outlet to protect the pump from backflow, however.

 

[j.w]

I got evicted from one such koi loving forum for suggesting A. You can have healthy pond with rocks and gravel and B. A bog filter works. They told me “eventually your pond will fail” and gave me the boot. Here I am, 14 years later, still waiting.

Now, having said that I will add this - if you have a dedicated Koi pond, a.k.a. a pond built for Koi, you will likely need more than a bog filter. Folks who built ponds for the Koi are generally going to overstock their ponds, intentionally, and need some heavy duty filtration to keep the water healthy. They are big fish and produce a lot of waste. Generally speaking, you just need to know what kind of pond you’re trying to build, because not all ponds are the same.

One last thing - we did not put a check valve on our bog. We instead used a ball valve so we could shut the bog down in the event that we need to turn off the pump, and conversely, we can keep the bog open if we want to drain the whole system. We do have a check valve after the pump outlet to protect the pump from backflow, however.

Must have been a Communist pond forum...............only allow certain old idea's and no others!