Bog finished.....mostly

[brandonsdad02]

Its just like yours, just a inch or 2 for most of it. I really could use some more gravel, but I'm not going to worry about it. After putting almost 3,000lbs of pea gravel in it, I think it will work. There is water covering most of the bog, but there are some spots where the gravel is higher, mostly around the plants. The string algae came from a friend of mine that gave me some plants for the bog. She lives close to me. She has been dealing with string algae all year. I got most of it off of the plants before I put them in the bog. The rest will just its thing.

 

[taherrmann4]

I have some extra gravel if you want to come pick it up.

 

[addy1]

How deep is your water level from your gravel? Mine is only an inch or two at most not enough for fish. I do not have string algae in the bog only some green slimy rocks. The plants are just now starting to take off.

With the 4200 gph pump it was only 1/2 inch deep here and there, mostly dry pea gravel, with this 6700 gph pump I have about 1/2 of it under water about 1-2 inches depending on if I had messed with pea gravel i.e. digging out plants. Some gravel dry some wet. We changed the pond plumbing to 3 inch the flow had a dramatic increase with that and my wlim pump install.

The fry I saw where swimming in about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of water in the bog last year. I have seen no fry this year, except the rosey reds.

 

[brandonsdad02]

Just an update. The bog has been working great all summer. With the extreme heat that we have been having, all the plants have taken off and exploded in the bog. Haven't had much of a issue with the string algae in the bog. There have been a few places that have gotten it, but will be adding to the bog plants in the spring. Here are some pictures.

Taken from my iPhone

Taken from my iPhone

 

[addy1]

looking great there! I have had to yank plants off and on all summer, they are growing like weeds.

 

[j.w]

Pretty neat looking and lots of nice plants :razz:

 

[brandonsdad02]

I have a plant that is next to my stream and it has been slowly taking over the area this year. I've had to trim it twice this summer and I discovered it in my bog tonight. I wasn't going to deal with it taking over the bog so I took it out tonight. My water mint has started to "flow" over the sides of the bog now and is taking off across the mulch. I wish I could find a nice colorful plant that woud grow over the sides of the bog but not take over the bog. Just something to hide the wood frame that makes the bog.

 

[brandonsdad02]

Well had to do some "emergency" repairs to the bog this weekend. I noticed when we got home from the hospital with our 1yr old on Wed that the pressure from the water and the rocks had made the bog wall start to pull away from connecting wall. I tried some 6" long screws first but they weren't long enough to do the job. I know, I was thinking that the 6" long screws would be plenty, but I was wrong. So this is what I ended up with. The screws are called Spax lag screws and the amount of force these things can take is unreal. For these to pull out it would take over 2,000ft lbs of force. It takes a torx 50 bit to drill these things in. No pre drilling needed.. They have some sort of special cutting thread for the first few inches of the screw. I used my 18V cordless drill on low gear to put these things in. When I was done the drill was smoking a bit so I had to let it cool down before putting in the rest which I did today. I did the front side yesterday and did the back side today. I was a believer of them when it pulled wall back together with all the gravel and water in the bog. I did close the ball valve to the bog so the water would drop a few inches but that was it. I tried the night before putting in a 3/8s eye bolt and pulling it with my jeep in 4low to pull the wall back together but the jeep just pulled the eye bolt out. So that gives you a idea how strong these are.

Made sure the back side was done too.

This is how long they are. I went around the top as well to make it more sturdy.

And this is the water mint growing thru the fence.

 

[humbirdlover]

wow, healthy mint you got there Sure glad you got it secured. I've been reading thru the bog threads for ideas and really like your build

 

[addy1]

Nice looking mint, I yanked a bunch this summer.

 

[brandonsdad02]

Thank you. I wish I could have made the bog bigger but I just didn't have the space. The fence was already up when I put the bog in so I had no choice but to build above ground.

Addy, do I need to trim everything back in the bog for winter prep once we get our first hard frost?

 

[addy1]

Last winter I left all alone, did a spring clean up mid march. I figure the dead foliage helps insulate the plants,

The winter before I trimmed a little but again left it mainly alone