could/should I add a bog?

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No need to be sorry, Most here have finished there builds and enjoyed the hell out of it so they get to relive it helping others. Here is a thread i did about seaming rubber with some videos. https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/seaming-epdm-liner.26807/
Just read the pinned thread on seaming. Seems daunting for my purposes—-the liner from the pond that gets seamed would be from the waterfall box. So not a smooth and flat and even piece, not to mention trying to work in that small area. I’ve literally laid awake nights before worried about leaks. I don’t want to risk creating a problem here with the transition to the pond. Maybe I’ll consider the bog just dumping into the waterfall box...
 
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Green water mean excess nutrients. I’d put more oxygenators in there as well as more marginals. How old is this pond? Does this get full on sun and For how long? My pond gets probably 12 hours of full on Virginia sun everyday in the summer....and the first year or two it was algae city. By year 3 I had massive amount of plants (most occurring naturally)...more plants=more competition for the algae. Besides the show stopping favorites of water lilies and irises get the underrated ones that really pay the rent like:-anacharis, dwarf Sagittarius(great for bog), parrots feather, water celery(great for bog), forgetme not(great for bog) these guys have loooong roots that suck up those excess nutrients....but it takes time..if you want crystal clear water fast then do water changes, use very dense material for mechanical filtration(expect to change it a lot), and some chemical filtration like unalgi and barley extract. Also get a clean up crew....tadpoles and snail if you want.
 
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overlaping can be done but I do not know the recommended min. I myself wouldn't be comfortable under 8 " and even then I would add a bead of epdm compatible caulking. for insurance.
 
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overlaping can be done but I do not know the recommended min. I myself wouldn't be comfortable under 8 " and even then I would add a bead of epdm compatible caulking. for insurance.
I’ll try the seaming.....and not sleep for a few nights. I’m thinking of ordering a kit off Pondguy.com. https://www.thepondguy.com/product/...er-gardens-fish-ponds-pond-liner-underlayment
Unless someone tells me you can buy the same stuff just labeled for roofing a whole lot cheaper!
 
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You built a very nice looking pond area there. I would do both i would build up behind the shed like you said with 3 layers of 6x6 at least this will give you a little bit of a drop from the bog into your pond. But i would also bring it across the back of the pond along the fence up to the second rock. Once you learn what beautiful plants you can grow in the bog AND THE BEST PART IS NEXT TO NO WEEDING . And CLEAR WATER
This is very similar to what I was thinking. A long bog between the pond and the fence and if need be, extended further between the shed and fence. No need for a river, which could be troublesome. Butt the bog right up to the pond.
A bog, if sized correctly will completely clear your water like magic. No more filter maintenance. Just watch that the plant roots in the bog don't get out of control.
 
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After the seam tape is applied you could and should apply a bead of epdm compatable caulking to the seam edge and then after that if you want to sleep like a baby you can get a cover tape to protect the seam. so if you have seam tape, caulking, and cover tape. caulking again you now have for barriers to keep the water from finding it's way out. And you will sleep like a baby.the one key is to spend the time and lay out your epdm on a 2x10 .. 2-2x6 with some ply on it this will be needed to keep the rubber as smooth as possible and NEVER stretch the rubber where you are seaming. can you pull the rubber to flatten it out but don't apply the tape to a stretched section of the rubber.
 
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After the seam tape is applied you could and should apply a bead of epdm compatable caulking to the seam edge and then after that if you want to sleep like a baby you can get a cover tape to protect the seam. so if you have seam tape, caulking, and cover tape. caulking again you now have for barriers to keep the water from finding it's way out. And you will sleep like a baby.the one key is to spend the time and lay out your epdm on a 2x10 .. 2-2x6 with some ply on it this will be needed to keep the rubber as smooth as possible and NEVER stretch the rubber where you are seaming. can you pull the rubber to flatten it out but don't apply the tape to a stretched section of the rubber.
I’ll definitely do all this, thanks!
 
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I’ll definitely do all this, thanks!
The cover tape is not just some gorilla tape it is made for epdm and is some tough stuff . And by the way the statement above should have read That would then make four seams to give you piece of mind. wrinkles can be tough but they too can be worked through sometimes you may need to remove more of your finished edgings etc in order to get the rubber flattened out .
 
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Another question....if I use concrete blocks to build the walls for the bog, I’d need to stack them two high. Would just using some rebar stakes in the ground in the cavity of the blocks, along with block adhesive be enough to hold the walls once filled with gravel and water. The gravel and water would only go half way up the top block. I fear that wouldn’t work...
 
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Another question....if I use concrete blocks to build the walls for the bog, I’d need to stack them two high. Would just using some rebar stakes in the ground in the cavity of the blocks, along with block adhesive be enough to hold the walls once filled with gravel and water. The gravel and water would only go half way up the top block. I fear that wouldn’t work...
Yes, and I would add that you should also fill all the cavities with concrete after the rebar is in place. This will create a more solid wall.

I'm not sure what you mean by block adhesive, but what you should be using to build the block wall is mortar cement. You don't want to be using any type of glue or adhesive. And not concrete mix either, which has stone aggregates in it. Just mortar cement.
 
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I’m not familiar, can you explain?

A S&G filter is similar to a bog setup... squished into a 55g barrel with no plants. It has a gradation of stone sizes from large ones held off the bottom... reducing down to a grit size stone at the top. Water gets filtered through the stone and returned. In a pond your size with just goldfish ... you could probably go a month or more before you clean it. Cleaning entails pumping air down to the bottom with a small shop vac. The rushing air rises through all the stone and actually "boiles" the top grit layer releasing all the muck and mulm which goes out a waste port. It doesn't take long to clean them and you don't have to get your hands wet/dirty do so.
I have a 1000g pond with a good amount of Koi who are fed good amount every day ... ie more waste. When I installed this filter, i went from pea soup to clear in a day.
So the space required is basically the barrel itself, which you could easily hide from view with a small wall or you can set the barrel back farther as long as your pump is strong enough and the top of the barrel is above the water line of you pond (since it uses gravity to return).
Bogs do like nice... but space wise these work very well and physically remove waste from your pond

There are lots of videos showing how they work on youtube.
 
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Yes, and I would add that you should also fill all the cavities with concrete after the rebar is in place. This will create a more solid wall.

I'm not sure what you mean by block adhesive, but what you should be using to build the block wall is mortar cement. You don't want to be using any type of glue or adhesive. And not concrete mix either, which has stone aggregates in it. Just mortar cement.
depending on where
Another question....if I use concrete blocks to build the walls for the bog, I’d need to stack them two high. Would just using some rebar stakes in the ground in the cavity of the blocks, along with block adhesive be enough to hold the walls once filled with gravel and water. The gravel and water would only go half way up the top block. I fear that wouldn’t work...
you live you maybe able to get away without a foundation. in New England if you want it to last you'll need a footing under yourblocks to keep mother nature from shifting and cracking
 

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