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Wow, absolutely beautiful !!!!
Congrads the builder did you right. it looks amazing . I'm amazed at the water flow though it looks like your pushing 8,000 gph at max or am i seeing things?
Hard to see what plants are in the bog/pond and which ones around the landscape of the pond. The species of a plants matter on nutrient banking/consumption to starve out algae. Irises are good nutrient consumers, but the issue is they can take a year or so to really get going. Ones that grow quickly almost right away are water celery, water cress, forgetmenots, marsh marigold, parrot feather, creeping Jenny, too name a few. You want plants that grow like wildfire, but are easy to weed back, ie don’t have huge root systems, the aforementioned fit that bill. My bogs get overrun with these plants numerous times through out the summer, where I have to get in there and weed out a wheel barrow fulls. Think about it as the faster a given plant grows the more nutrients it needs and consumes to achieve that growth, thus starving out the algae.Question on algae. This year we've had a ton of algae growing almost as mats on the bottom and then floating up over time. It's as though something has died and released all the organics but all the fish are there. We did plant a number of irises in the spring that didn't make it but the amount of algae seems excessive.
Water is really clear it's just these mats that are growing on the bottom and then floating up, any thoughts?
Question on the intake bay. I have mostly river rocks in the intake bay and leaves and debris of get pulled into the rocks, should I have a smaller gravel over top to act like a pre-filter and make it easier to net things out?
I planted mine in Oct. The plants settled in over winter and took off in the spring.: What do you think about planting the pond/bog in the fall? I think I finally have time to do it, but feels pretty late now.
Agree with @addy1, nothing wrong with planting in fall, gives them a bit of time to establish themselves/root system and a better chance of them taking off quickly the following spring. I am all about establishing plants in ponds as soon as possible, as they are truly the janitors of the water garden ecosystem, making the maintaining of water quality much easier by mopping up all the crap left by wildlife and the end result of the nitrogen cycle.It’s a balancing act. The smaller the media, the better the filtering and, so, the more frequently it will need service/cleaning. Are you concerned about the bog?
@Jhn: What do you think about planting the pond/bog in the fall? I think I finally have time to do it, but feels pretty late now.
Question on algae. This year we've had a ton of algae growing almost as mats on the bottom and then floating up over time. It's as though something has died and released all the organics but all the fish are there. We did plant a number of irises in the spring that didn't make it but the amount of algae seems excessive.
Water is really clear it's just these mats that are growing on the bottom and then floating up, any thoughts?
i run the same pump but i am only running one . and i have a very small 500 gallon pump rotating the water in the cistern.That is two AP 1-120 Performance Pro Artesian Pumps 12,000 GPH each at 6' head and a third for the jets and urns. There is a decent amount of head pressure and the way they did the plumbing wasn't super clean so there's more loss there. I think they calculated it at 23k for the entire system so maybe 14k at the waterfall? Which come to think of it I'm not sure that's right. Total volume is 13k so 1 turn over an hour seems higher than reality.
What do you mean mulch over the base? Mulch in the wetland filter?!?Most plants don't die off in the winter they crawl back into the roots and grow slowly very very slowly throughout the winter. the fibrous microscopic roots will grow when given the chance in the fall and in the earliest of spring.
In your area I don't know if I'd be afraid to plant just about anything short of tropical . But even like a papyrus which is a tropical and has a CRAZY roots system if you planted some and just mulched over the base of the plants keep the frost off . I'd almost bet it would survive the winter and take off the mad in the spring.
so yes i agree with @Jhn AND @addy1 i'd be planting anything that can survive in your zone
a first year pond and even into the second year for a larger pond. It takes time for the bacteria to grow and cover all the surface areas for the bugs and the microbes to find your pond , some even by hitch hiking on a bird mouse of frog even 17 snakes.
The other fact is we need to learn our ponds. My water source is not going to be the same as yours . And i do have a higher ph but it flutuates more than i like with heavy rains. so i add baking soda to raise the kh. This also helped with the algae situation a little in the second year. Check your kh .
Another product i did find helpful is Nualgi IT'S ISOTOPES AND so that take some time to gather use as directed and i would see the algae slowly change to where it was pealing off and floating to the top. it wasn't a miracle but every effort helps to find your balance
i run the same pump but i am only running one . and i have a very small 500 gallon pump rotating the water in the cistern.
2 pumps ? how much did your electric bill go up:?
Hard to see what plants are in the bog/pond and which ones around the landscape of the pond. The species of a plants matter on nutrient banking/consumption to starve out algae. Irises are good nutrient consumers, but the issue is they can take a year or so to really get going. Ones that grow quickly almost right away are water celery, water cress, forgetmenots, marsh marigold, parrot feather, creeping Jenny, too name a few. You want plants that grow like wildfire, but are easy to weed back, ie don’t have huge root systems, the aforementioned fit that bill. My bogs get overrun with these plants numerous times through out the summer, where I have to get in there and weed out a wheel barrow fulls. Think about it as the faster a given plant grows the more nutrients it needs and consumes to achieve that growth, thus starving out the algae.
Not concerned about the bog I was looking for easy servicing, when the leaves get pulled into / under the rocks I'm not getting them out.It’s a balancing act. The smaller the media, the better the filtering and, so, the more frequently it will need service/cleaning. Are you concerned about the bog?
our ponds are very similar in size but i only use the one 12000. what did they estimate the overall volume of the pond to be . I wonder if 12000 TO THE BOG IS TO MUCH. But i don't know how big it really is.I used Nuagli in my reef and have been going back and forth on starting in the pond... Thanks I may try it now.
Electric went up quite a bit, thankfully I budgeted for it but during planning that was one of the bigger surprises...
For 13k gallons do you think that's good flow? 1 goes to the bottom of the wetland and the other is near the top really just for visuals of the waterfalls.
Also what do you think about get a larger pump in the deeper area to get more flow there. The jet system just doesn't push as much as I was expecting.
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