Darksaber Pond - My Next Adventure

[GBBUDD]

Floating debris is easier to remove than debris stuck in the gravel. I mean, either way it's an upgrade from a skimmer, don't get me wrong. It's just that when it's full to overflowing it really makes it easier to scoop everything out.

I took @Lisak1 's post years ago saying it was not so easy to clean the rocks on a disappearing stream . but that she thought it would be easier to maintain if the debris fell into water. I can totally relate to those reasons so i took that a bit further I made the entrance to my cistern being on the side of the cistern instead of the very top. This was done by creating a pocket that was line with Non woven fabric. so the leaves and etc fall into this pocket and as it fills up and clogs it over flow the top of the pocket where it then flows into the top of the cistern that is covered in 2 to 6 " rock . as the pocket clogs i can then pull it out clean it off and stuff it back in

 

[milonedp]

Floating debris is easier to remove than debris stuck in the gravel. I mean, either way it's an upgrade from a skimmer, don't get me wrong. It's just that when it's full to overflowing it really makes it easier to scoop everything out.

Thanks, I see your point. I was just thinking that getting anything organic out of the water columns sooner is better.

 

[Lisak1]

I was just thinking that getting anything organic out of the water columns sooner is better.

Well, once it's out of the pond, it's not getting back IN the pond, so having it floating in the intake bay or even sitting on top of the rocks while the water flows through isn't really a big deal.

 

[milonedp]

Ours are both on the edge - one down flow "bog", one upflow bog.

For your upflow bog to you find that you get hot spots of flow or sediment getting heavy further away? If so does that affect your cleanout? Do you think there could be any impact to the oxygen levels in the bog?

 

[milonedp]

I took @Lisak1 's post years ago saying it was not so easy to clean the rocks on a disappearing stream . but that she thought it would be easier to maintain if the debris fell into water. I can totally relate to those reasons so i took that a bit further I made the entrance to my cistern being on the side of the cistern instead of the very top. This was done by creating a pocket that was line with Non woven fabric. so the leaves and etc fall into this pocket and as it fills up and clogs it over flow the top of the pocket where it then flows into the top of the cistern that is covered in 2 to 6 " rock . as the pocket clogs i can then pull it out clean it off and stuff it back in

Do you have a picture of that? I can't seem to visualize that.

 

[Doctor mcboy]

thanks that was cool

 

[Lisak1]

For your upflow bog to you find that you get hot spots of flow or sediment getting heavy further away? If so does that affect your cleanout? Do you think there could be any impact to the oxygen levels in the bog?

My bog is only 4 feet by 6 feet (and four feet deep) - there's really no "further away". The centipede goes from one end of the bog to the other. The flow is constant and steady from one corner to the other. In the spring before the plants start to fill in, you can stand and watch as the water moves over the entire surface. Once the plants get going, it's more of a "let's make sure we don't block the water" kind of adventure all summer long.

We've never cleaned out our bog. I've done a few experiments - digging down into the gravel, dropping a pump into the bottom of the snorkel - looking for signs it needs cleaning. Nothing. Gravel is relatively clean, water is crystal clear from the bottom. If we get sediment at all, it's on the surface of the bog - fine particles that fall from the sky, like pollen, dust, etc. Causes no issues so I leave it be.

 

[GBBUDD]

Do you have a picture of that? I can't seem to visualize that.

 

[milonedp]

My bog is only 4 feet by 6 feet (and four feet deep) - there's really no "further away". The centipede goes from one end of the bog to the other. The flow is constant and steady from one corner to the other. In the spring before the plants start to fill in, you can stand and watch as the water moves over the entire surface. Once the plants get going, it's more of a "let's make sure we don't block the water" kind of adventure all summer long.

We've never cleaned out our bog. I've done a few experiments - digging down into the gravel, dropping a pump into the bottom of the snorkel - looking for signs it needs cleaning. Nothing. Gravel is relatively clean, water is crystal clear from the bottom. If we get sediment at all, it's on the surface of the bog - fine particles that fall from the sky, like pollen, dust, etc. Causes no issues so I leave it be.

Thanks

 

[milonedp]

View attachment 135531

Nice, that's ingenious!

 

[GBBUDD]

Nice, that's ingenious!

BUT OF COURSE IT IS ....《humor》.. In the pool I also added branches in the pool . Anything to catch leaves they have a habit of wrapping around anything they touch and it has worked pretty good . I wrote it but didn't draw the non woven made basket. As the fabric clogs you can pull it out and clean it if you miss when it clogs then the water just fills up and over flows the pocket w g ere it the runs between the 2 to 6 inch rocks on the top of the cistern and has been filtered twice before it does. Both with over flows so if I am away one step fills / fails and the next stage starts on its own. And I can't see where it will ever fail.

 

[milonedp]

Question, they got rock for the wetland from two different distributors and the sizes, even though named the same, are very different which resulted in the middle later being larger than the bottom layer. The bottom layer is properly sized so I'm not concerned about clogging, is this going to cause any issues? Surface area is the same either way.

 

[Jhn]

The only issue is if the smaller surface layer of pea gravel can fall down between the bigger rocks over time and end up in the void space. You do lose a little bit of specific surface area for bacteria to colonize, as the layer of what should have been 2-4” rock would have more surface area than the larger rock used, but I wouldn’t worry that much about it. You could put a layer of 3/4” gravel then mix in some 3/8 pea gravel For the upper layer.... I put primarily 18” of 3/4” pea gravel down over a layer of 2-4” rock and 8-12” rock over the water matrix blocks, with a little bit of 3/8” pea gravel mixed in on the surface layer of my bog.

 

[GBBUDD]

I did very much the same. 3/8 pea stone in feet sounded like a potential clog i opted for mainly 3/4 inch river rock for the 16 inch top of the 2 to 4 inch rock on the aqua blocks.

 

[Lisak1]

I really don't think it will matter at all honestly. I know there's all kinds of specific instructions out there for ONLY do this and NEVER do that, but this forum is proof that lots of types of bogs can work great. I don't know that there are really any two here that are exactly the same!

We opted for a larger than pea-sized gravel in our bog. No clue what it's called, but it's worked fine for us.