Elevated Bog Pond

[dustboy]

I got impatient with the cloudy water and drained it this weekend. It gave me a chance to arrange the pump and some rocks too. I wouldn’t have done it in a drought year but we have had two years worth of rain this winter and it ain’t over yet.

A couple questions:

1) Does the pump need to run 24/7? At our (PG&E) power rates and 170W pump I calculated it will cost me about $33/mo.

2) The pond store wants to sell me a $15 bottle of water conditioner before I add fish. Is this necessary? I would think all the chlorine should have outgassed by now.

 

[addy1]

Yes run the pump 24/7, mine only gets turned off in the winter.

You can let the water age, the chlorine does go away. But if you add city water you will need to dechlor if you add a lot.
I had a constant feed of water via a float valve for my Arizona pond, city water, never added dechlor, but the water sort of trickled in when needed.

 

[dustboy]

Pond is still cloudy, I put a bottle of barley clarifier in there, can’t see much of a difference after 2 days. I threw another pump with a box filter in there, hoping that helps. Was going to do the bucket and quilt batting thing but couldn’t figure out how to set it up without it tipping over.

Yesterday I threw in 10 “starter goldfish” from the pond store. Haven’t seen them since, until we went looking tonight and found 5 of the poor little guys in the skimmer. Still alive but probably not too happy. Not sure what to do about this, any ideas?

 

[ashirley]

Pond is still cloudy, I put a bottle of barley clarifier in there, can’t see much of a difference after 2 days. I threw another pump with a box filter in there, hoping that helps. Was going to do the bucket and quilt batting thing but couldn’t figure out how to set it up without it tipping over.

Yesterday I threw in 10 “starter goldfish” from the pond store. Haven’t seen them since, until we went looking tonight and found 5 of the poor little guys in the skimmer. Still alive but probably not too happy. Not sure what to do about this, any ideas?

I put a piece of deer fencing over the opening for my skimmer to keep the fish out.

 

[dustboy]

Still working my way through the shakedown phase of a new pond.

-The floating skimmer killed two goldies, so I took it out. The pump now draws from the middle shelf where it sits. I may put the skimmer back in when the fish are big enough not to get sucked in. Another solution might be to split the pump intake between a bottom draw and the skimmer, so the skimmer only takes in a minimal flow. This would prevent the pump from getting starved should the skimmer be clogged.

-The water in the bog was too high, and leaking over the top of the liner. I lowered the weir by 1/2” and widened it by another 10”. It still runs a nice continuous curtain.

-In addition to the original 10 goldies, I added 20 more. Population should be around 28 now. Algae has followed, predictably. We are going to add more floating plants, and the existing plants in the bog are filling out nicely. Hoping this sucks up enough nitrogen to clear up the water. I thought that water poppy was a goner after I put it in, but it is thriving. Hope to see some flowers on it soon.

 

[Nevermore44]

Nice looking!

So how do you end up cleaning a bog?

 

[dustboy]

Nice looking!

So how do you end up cleaning a bog?

Ideally you don’t clean it, unless the diffuser pipes get clogged. At least I think, I’m a n00b to the bog scene. Mine are not glued in so I can just take them out.

 

[MajorDan]

The bog should be a biological engine continuously cleaning the water be way of physical and biological activity. The bog is always “cleaning itself” through the bacteria that consumes the biological waste so cleaning should not be required. The bog is nature at work and it is a beautiful thing. Maintenance of the plants in the bog is of course a requirement if you want it to look nice as well as function well. Can you tell, I am a bog lover.

 

[addy1]

Nice looking!

So how do you end up cleaning a bog?

I have never cleaned mine. But it sure cleans the pond!

That is great looking!

 

[Lisak1]

Looks awesome! And look at those happy bog plants!

 

[dustboy]

Found a dead bird in the water yesterday...Wonder how that happened? Hard to imagine he was bathing in the bog and got sucked down the waterfall.

I do believe the pond has brought a lot of new birds to my yard, which is fun to watch.

 

[addy1]

I love the wildlife the ponds have brought.

I find dead birds now and then, it just happens

 

[Nevermore44]

I bet you get birds taking bathes in that weir... that will be fun to watch.

How does the bog clean itself if it's your only filter? The plants will remove some if the dissolved nitrates from the water... but what about that awesome green gel stuff that builds up in filters? I am new to the world of sand and gravel filters... and adding some plants in the top would be nice!

For me... after a week when i clean the sand and gravel filter.. tons and tons of stuff gets flushed out in the waste water. It isn't clogged up in single week... but it definitely would be after a month of use and have reduced flow.

 

[addy1]

How does the bog clean itself if it's your only filter? The plants will remove some if the dissolved nitrates from the water... but what about that awesome green gel stuff that builds up in filters?

I get no awesome green gel stuff.
My bog is big, I don't draw water right off the bottom but about a foot up. The bog has been running for over 9 years now without being cleaned. My water stays in great shape nice and clear, it is only cloudy first thing in the spring for about 2 days when I first turn it on.

 

[dustboy]

I haven’t seen any green stuff besides the suspended algae that is making it hard to see my fish right now...trying to be patient for it to clear up! The Creeping Jenny is growing like mad and should fill in most of the bog in a month or two.

I visited a friend this weekend who bought a distressed property waaaaay up the the Sierra mountains with two gigantic ponds...1/4 and 1/2 acre...There’s an old colony of Koi in the smaller pond, very healthy (and inbred) but I think once they get bigger they turn into snacks for the abundant wildlife there. The largest is about 6”. They have several hundred juveniles, she said “how many do you want, and what colors?” Yes I am very excited. As soon as they are fat enough to travel I will go pick up about 3.

Their plan is to introduce some new Koi (and give away some of the old colony) to bring some diversity to the gene pool.