New pond - bog filter, waterfall or both?

[AlyssaFish]

@AlyssaFish What kind of pump do you have? Does it have treaded intake and output?

Yes, I believe they both do. I don't know much about pumps, but it sounds sorta like you're asking if they're both inline pumps? They are, but only the one for the bog is being used that way (it's intake hose is attached to a skimmer). Did that answer your question?

 

[IPA]

@AlyssaFish I have one of these. Once you figure out how to keep it from popping apart it works great. It’s threaded so I have a 90 elbow threaded to the pump and threaded pipe into the elbow and the cage. Pump is zip tied to a brick. Anything that gets stuck on the cage eventually rots or softens up enough that it is sucked into the line and into the bog. Never needs to be cleaned.

 

[poconojoe]

Nice idea! I'll have to see if I can make that work. I don't really have anywhere I could easily anchor any ropes from. Do you have any suggestions for that?

It's also a good idea to have a rope on your pump for pulling it out of the pond. You never want to pull it out by the electrical cord.

My pump has a handle. I have a thin rope tied to the handle and the other end is wrapped around a large rock on the shore. If you don't have a large rock, you can always use some kind of stake, like a tent stake, a stick, pole or pipe driven into the ground. If your pump doesn't have a handle, wrap the rope criss cross around the pump and (or) around it's output pipe.

I found that my pump doesn't clog anymore when kept off the bottom. The bulk of debris seems to settle on the bottom.
Every so often, maybe every couple of months, I'll use my net to slowly scoop the debris off bottom.

 

[AlyssaFish]

Thanks for the advice, guys! I'm excited to look into these options!

 

[KDubU]

I have a bog and a small waterfall. I was in the same boat as you this time last year as I had planned for a waterfall and filter but not a bog. Then somebody on here who shall not be named got me interested in a bog. I had already bought my pump and feared the pressure would be too high but you control that with a good quality valve. My bog is about 6’ x 3.5’, filled with pea gravel to approx. 14” deep. The bog then flows over a drop of about a foot into a small basin and then into the main pond which is 20’x13’ and averages 4’ deep. Works fantastic and I would not change anything.

 

[addy1]

I would never go back to any filter except a bog. It works too darn good.

 

[twoheadsbrewing]

Thank you all for the input! Today me and my son start digging, and after discussing it think that a small bog is the way to go. We're going to start out with feeding it via the 16" waterfall box and see how that works out. Once the pond is up and running, I may opt to install pipes below the surface and move the waterfall to another location for more circulation in the pond. Will post some progress pics!

 

[poconojoe]

Thank you all for the input! Today me and my son start digging, and after discussing it think that a small bog is the way to go. We're going to start out with feeding it via the 16" waterfall box and see how that works out. Once the pond is up and running, I may opt to install pipes below the surface and move the waterfall to another location for more circulation in the pond. Will post some progress pics!

Not sure what you are describing, but just to make sure, here's a quick bog filter explanation...
Distribution manifold pipes are laid in the bottom of the bog which are covered with about 12" of pea gravel. The pipes have a series of slits cut in them throughout their length.
The water gets pumped from the pond through the slits in the pipes. The water rises up through the gravel and returns to the pond by way of natural flow.
I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but just checking.
You don't want to do the opposite. What I mean is you don't want to pour the water on top of the gravel, letting it seep down and return to the pond. That would result in a layer of stinky muck covering your gravel.
I got worried when you said "feeding it via the 16" waterfall box".

 

[KDubU]

Here is a pic of my bog that drops a foot into a small spot before the pond itself.

 

[poconojoe]

Here's mine:

 

[GBBUDD]

I have a bog and a small waterfall.

you should go to settings for the site and add a link to your blog. it will show up like the one below tge text area your looking at now

 

[twoheadsbrewing]

So after doing some digging and looking at the size of our 15x15" liner, I've decided to just go with a waterfall for this first phase. I'm going to see how this works and then look into adding a second pump and bog after the pond is up and running. I will have some space off to the side, and also to the rear of the pond to add this later.

Progress today:

 

[poconojoe]

Great! Good work!

 

[twoheadsbrewing]

Me and the boy got some good progress made on the pond over the weekend. Sunday we finished cleaning up the ledges, rocked in 95% of the pond, and got the skimmer and waterfall running. After work this week I'm going to brave the heat and finish the rock work, then trim the liner and dress the edges with gravel and bark. This weekend I'm going to head to the landscaping center and pick out some flagstone pieces to place around the pond.

We just couldn't stand to wait to finish it all, and it was 100F so we decided to hose the rocks down and pump out the dirty water.

It was so nice to cool down, we filled the pond up to get the skimmer running and to fine tune the waterfall.

Today we planted some plants that were Father's Day gifts (how'd they know???)

 

[poconojoe]

Great work!
Try not to trim the liner. Fold it up and cover it with rocks, soil, whatever. I found I'm constantly tinkering, so you never know when you might want a little bit more liner. Also your pond might settle a bit and you don't want to be short of liner. Do whatever you can to fold and hide the excess.
You should also create a slight berm of soil or rocks under the liner edge so you don't get any runoff from the ground into the pond. All sorts of things can affect your water quality.