new pond digger from central calif

[pond42sliders]

Oh my Gosh...I just got home. Man, I see where one can really get carried away with this pond passion stuff. I got all kinds of stuff for ideas that came out of ""I have no clue where"" for what I want to do...And I haven't even started yet!! I may be living in the California desert, but I'll be having me an oasis before long! Springs and misty trails, with flowers everywhere...fish jumping, squirels drinking, a hammock over the waterfalls...and two turtles basking in the pondland.
Wait, where's my dog? Caught up in the hammock, with her legs hanging through lol...

And, I have all you to thank...I'll try to posts some pics tomorrow of what I think I'm doing, cuz I won't know till I get there.

Cheers,
Susan

 

[Fishylove]

Happy ponding Hun..

 

[pond42sliders]

Ok, well I accepted a Thanksgiving invite, so didn't work on the bog. Probably better that I didn't, so I could share my idea first. So here's some pics of what I have planned on paper and then pics of what it will take to get it done.
In the first one I show a draft of my pond area. The yellow is where my old bog was, and the purple is what I want the new bog to be. The orange is where I'll run the pvc and the control valve. I haven't included my plan to incorporate a soaker line, but it would come off somewhere close to the flow valve with it's own control shut off valve. That would be for all the plants surrounding the are outside of the pond.

The rest of the pics just show the area which I have to work with, which isn't much. There is very little room between the Biofalls bin and the block retaining wall. That's where I have to cut into the flex/flow line and run the pvc underground to the area where just before the bog begins. There's so little room that I may have to end up pulling some of the secured rock from the top of the falls area. But I may get lucky and be able to gently sneak underneath. That's a piece of marble that sits on top of the biofalls bin.



I'm gonna go out and start clearing the bog area and chime in later.

Cheers,
Susan

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello
It looks great and a good plan.
Sure do's look tight around there.

Lots of work
Take it slow and don't rush
but it is going to be real nice.

Ruben

 

[Fishylove]

Ok, in the first picture, your question A or B.( if A is at the input end of the bog ) then B is your clean out and would be on all three ends.
And I can't tell, will the line to the bog be coming from the skimmer? Looks great

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello
Looks like the flow will be diverted just before the Falls.
Then comes around the rock of the falls and there is where it will be split in to 3 sections for the bog.

But (Now remember not much experience with a bog) but I would suggest putting a clean out end cab or valve on each end of the 3 pvc lines.
If you only do one (Say the middle) when it comes time to clean them out and you open the center line that will be the only one getting cleaned out.
Since the way that is setup you will not be able to get water behind the end lines and force the water and junk back to the center line with the valve on it.

If you put a valve on each end then you will just have to open one at a time until clear.

Al least that is what I am seeing or thinking.

Sorry on my first post did not really see your ? in the pick

Good catch FishyLove

Sometime I can't help myself and get in the middle :razz:

Ruben :helm2:

 

[Fishylove]

Lol its ok Ruben as long as she gets it, thats all that matters.

 

[pond42sliders]

Yes, the bog line will T off the main line (coming from the pump in the skimmer) where it's
attached to the BBB (benificial bacteria bin). I think aquascape calls it their biofalls,
part of a kit the pond was built around, which I began changing around with an upgrade to
the the pump before the first fill. And continuing, I'll dig down 18-20 inches, tie into
that feed and run pvc along the retaining wall until it starts coming out of the side, and
down to the bog.
But, first I have to seam some liner together and that may be more of a chore than I had
bargained for. The way it lays, all bunched up, hilly, lumpy and curved is going to be
tricky to get right. I've never done anything like this..that's not saying I can't, cuz I
will...I'm just not sure about how.
So, while I was clearing the area, I realized I was going to have to make a level place to
get the two pieces lying flat together. I hope what I did isn't going to turn into a pile of
rocks...down in the pond.
I took 6 blocks down from the retaining wall, to where the liner would lay flat, without
tearing any of the existing spillway running to the bog. There is still two layers of block,
that was the original wall for the bog, and now, serving as a place to seal the liners. Only
thing is, I can only go so far before it starts to curve and go slighly uphill. I think I
may have to move the two big rocks that provided the lower spillway entrance back into the
pond. And, for sure the purple grass plant in order to level that small hill.
Am I doing this ok, guys?
The work...so what. The what is...will it work? Which IS the ONLY thing that matters
.
I moved only one rock, not foamed or sealed in, while taking the blocks down. And, the only
other rock not foamed in, is the white one at the top of the hill. If I move it...avalanch. :yikesu:
Kidding.

The other thing is, the GeoGreen is nowhere to be found in my part of the world. I'd have to get it online, and I have 6 days before the rain comes in...they say...so I will have to go with seal tape
or find an alternative to the GeoGreen. I'm about real burned out on educating myself on what a Chemist spent years knowing as well as Engineers. But then again I'd rather keep learning than start to be forgetting. Still, can someone suggest something else i could use, instead of the GeoGreen.
I'm so grateful for you all, I could not do this alone.

Peace,
Susan

 

[pond42sliders]

Oh, one more thing. I was thinking the way to flush the lines out would be to attach a water hose to the one line that goes up out of the bog. Like the end of the middle one. Then, if I closed the water flow valve and turn the hose on, it would, eventually, flush through all of them. Would that work?

 

[pond42sliders]

You know what I just realized...this is a forum for Koi ponds and Garden ponds. I wouldn't have known any difference, since you guys make me feel so welcomed, only everybody has fish but me.

Hey, I was going to put a smiley but it's all shaded and won't let me. What happened? Did I do something wrong? I'll get fish

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello
Well I have turttles also and know others have turtles and frogs so don't get worried. :razz:

As for smiles and stuff it might have to do with permissons and depends on how many post you have before it allows.

I am looking at your pic's for the bog (The first one)
I am having troable understanding where the water runs back to the pond.
Do's the water fill up and goes over the liner up over on the left where the rocks are.
or
Does it continue down around the curve and back in to the pond.

I ask becuase
If your liner that you want to add is big enough to go up under the water fall where the bog is getting filled
and up and over that ledge on the left and still have enough to make your bog bigger then you would be better off then trying to seal a used piece of liner with a new liner.
or it might be better to
seal two new liner peices and going on top of the old and over that edge. Water is unlikly to back up in to a seam
and it might be less work then trying to straighten the old out.
I you understand what I am saying or thinking.

Ruben :goldfish:

 

[pond42sliders]

You can't really see in these pics where the water runs back into the pond. But, in any case I will do what I can to make the bog bigger...I just need to figure out what I'm going to use to seal together the two pieces of liner. The temperture is going to be 70 + degrees for the next 5-6 days, so it's going to be perfect for whatever way I go. The problem is there isn't anyone in this area that that carries seal tape, cover tape or pond liner adhesives. And that's insane, given I live in a city of nearly 400,000. It's just something the pool supplies don't carry and there is only one pond shop, but he doesn't carry patching materials. I would use some other adhesive if I knew which one of the 100's avaible to pick from would do the job I need done. Like have you seen how many silicone sealants there are on the shelves these days? Liquid Nails, dupont, Kwickset, Locktite etc, etc. And the one made by Geocell called GeoGreen has been discontinued everywhere in town. Anyways it's wearing me out trying to figure out which one, reading all the labels and getting overwhelmed.
So I'll start digging the pit for the pvc tomorrow, just to take a break from the search for sealant.

Susan

 

[pond42sliders]

Oh, Ruben I'm sorry, I just reread your post. Yeah, I couldn't put a whole new liner in to drape over. That's because I have to move a boulder that is 2x's my weight.

 

[Fishylove]

Have you tried a roofing supply company? Not Lowes or Home Depot, a true roofing supply company. And if that is an EPDM rubber liner, DO NOT use silicone caulking to seal a water way( meaning any place water will be sitting or flowing ). It would be ok to use marine silicone on say a waterfall. I used it to keep water from going behind rocks sitting on the rubber liner. You will need to find rubber caulking. Once you find the rubber caulking, the folds will not be as much of a worry, because you can fold the liner with a bead of caulk and then on top of that run another bead and smooth the new piece on top of that. As long as all of the beads of rubber are continuous and there aren't any breaks in the run, the rubber caulking cures into a hard rubber bond that you can not pull apart. If you don't have a roofing supply company idk
You know, if worse comes to worse, I'd be willing to ship it to you from here. They are about $6.50- $7 dollars a tube. We could figure something out

 

[CountryEscape]

Hopefully Addy will jump in here. She is the one that recommended this black goop of stuff in a tube. It seals really well, people use it to direct water on waterfall rocks, too. Not positive if it can be used for sealing liner, but maybe. I'm not home, or I would go outside and look for the tube. Sorry, not much help for you, I know. It is a roofing sealant, I remember, but can't remember the brand or specific name.