My first plants in my bog

[Fruit loop]

So excited! After digging out all the rocks in the bog and repairing leaks 4 TIMES I finally was able to plant in my bog.

Still working on the pond so we ran a pump to the pipe in the pond that feeds the bottom of the bog and are doing a fishless cycle to get it started.

I thought I'd experiment with plants I had on hand and so far so good. Nothing dead yet! Yay!

 

[Duxwig]

What did you figure out on the leaks?

 

[Fruit loop]

We had installed a bulkhead to use for the bog drain. When we would fill the bog with all the rock and water, the weight and water pressure would just slightly stretch the liner out from the rubber seal of the bulkhead.

It was very confusing why it would be fine (didn't leak) if we filled the bog half way but then when we added all the rock and all the water it would then start to leak.

So after several attempts we added pea rock in the corners of the structure, put the liner back in and now the liner where the bulkhead is supported better.

Perhaps that's a common problem, we're just inexperienced. By the 4th time of pulling all that rock back out I was really frustrated.

 

[poconojoe]

We had installed a bulkhead to use for the bog drain. When we would fill the bog with all the rock and water, the weight and water pressure would just slightly stretch the liner out from the rubber seal of the bulkhead.

It was very confusing why it would be fine (didn't leak) if we filled the bog half way but then when we added all the rock and all the water it would then start to leak.

So after several attempts we added pea rock in the corners of the structure, put the liner back in and now the liner where the bulkhead is supported better.

Perhaps that's a common problem, we're just inexperienced. By the 4th time of pulling all that rock back out I was really frustrated.

That's why I opted not to make any holes in my bog liner for plumbing. Liner material is too flexible to trust any seal in my opinion.

My plumbing goes over the wall between the pond and bog. It's then covered with stones. You can only see a short portion of the black flexible PVC exiting the water surface of the pond. The rest is covered by stones. Most people wouldnt even notice it. Especially since it's black.

All my plumbing is within the pond and bog. If there's ever a plumbing leak, no water can escape the system. Call me paranoid, but at least I can sleep at night knowing my pond will never drain due to a plumbing failure.

 

[Fruit loop]

That's why I opted not to make any holes in my bog liner for plumbing. Liner material is too flexible to trust any seal in my opinion.

My plumbing goes over the wall between the pond and bog. It's then covered with stones. You can only see a short portion of the black flexible PVC exiting the water surface of the pond. The rest is covered by stones. Most people wouldnt even notice it. Especially since it's black.

All my plumbing is within the pond and bog. If there's ever a plumbing leak, no water can escape the system. Call me paranoid, but at least I can sleep at night knowing my pond will never drain due to a plumbing failure.

Yeah that's probably what we should have done.

I'm definitely wondering what side of the fence to be on with putting a drain in the bottom of the pond with said frustration of the bog.

I've read several posts on this forum on that as well. It's def. a hot topic.

From what I've read, a bottom drain is best for our pond for a couple of reasons.

1) I really have given thought to what fish I want. I only have 1300 gallons between the bog and the pond. I've looked at shubikins and other fish.

The only fish I really want is koi. (Sorry to shub lovers out there) I know koi get 3' long and I'm totally ok with only having 2 fish.

Personally I'd rather have 2 fish that I love, than 10 fish that are ok. So a bottom drain will be helpful to get their crap out to the bog.

2) my daughter (13 yrs) wants to occasionally get in the pond with the fish and will probably freak out if there's is sludge at her feet.... so bottom drain.

Ok I'm braced....ready for feedback!

 

[mrsclem]

So you are going to run your bottom drain directly to your bog? I personally don't have bottom drains but pump the water from a pump elevated off the pond bottom. You don't want to pump sludge into the bog. Maybe that's why you put a drain on the bog? Just remember that the bog plants need water. If the bog is drained, most plants will die.

 

[Fruit loop]

So if we did a bottom drain, (we're still not sure and can be easily influenced)
we would run it to a pipe that feeds the bog.

I don't know why we decided to put a drain in the bog. My husband just thought that if we ever had to drain the bog, it would make it easier. But it definitely has made it difficult to keep it from leaking.

We still need to workout an overflow solution.

 

[mrsclem]

I'm a firm believer of not putting any holes in liner below the water level. How were you planning on moving the water from the pond to the bog? External pump?

 

[Fruit loop]

Yes a pump to the bog, but gravity fed back to the pond.
The first picture is the pipe from the pond (which really is a couple of feet from the very bottom) we'll still have to put a hole in the liner. But we thought we also needed a drain at the bottom as well.
We just hooked up an external pump temporarily to start the fishless cycle.

The second picture is the return with the bog in the background.