Planning for Bog Clean Out -- Maybe?

[JPaul]

I've been operating my 12'x6'x3' pond with only a 6'x2' bog for filtering for 4 years now. First year took a little while to clear up, but years 2 and 3 the pond remained crystal clear all season with only a minimum amount of algae removal in the spring. Last year, however, the water never cleared up. Additionally, I couldn't get my water hyacinths and water lettuces to live when in year's past I had been removing them by the bucket load. I have never done anything in the way of cleaning out the bog which is a PVC pipe manifold system covered by pea gravel and fully stocked with a variety of plants. Current fish load in the pond is 12-15 shubunkins. Should I plan on a full dismantling and cleaning of the bog this Spring? If so, any tips on what to do, especially in terms of restoring the plants. Thanks,

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Is the 'bog' constructed to allow for flushing?

 

[MitchM]

What's the overall situation of your pond?
Do you have strong water flow in the main pond? Is there detritus accumulating at the bottom of the main pond?
Is there a plant or plants that are taking over the bog? Can you inspect the plant root growth to check and see if the roots are plugging up the manifold?

 

[addy1]

I can't get water lettuce or hyacinths to grow. My "bog" filter keeps the water to clean. I quit trying to grow them.

 

[Faebinder]

I can't get water lettuce or hyacinths to grow. My "bog" filter keeps the water to clean. I quit trying to grow them.

Really? Cause my hyacinths went crazy in August. They were slow in spring. Water Lettuce I will officially give up on. I think my pond was too shady for them.

 

[PondMutt]

i hate to think about cleaning/purging a pea gravel bog.. gonna be a lot of anaerobic muck . better invest in a gas mask , and help ,

 

[addy1]

Really? Cause my hyacinths went crazy in August. They were slow in spring. Water Lettuce I will officially give up on. I think my pond was too shady for them.

I tried for two years, finally said enough. I only keep plants that like our weather.

i hate to think about cleaning/purging a pea gravel bog.. gonna be a lot of anaerobic muck . better invest in a gas mask , and help ,

I don't clean mine, but it is big. It never smells when I turn it on for the first time in the spring. I dug down into it one year to see if it smelled, there were no bad smells, I went down to the bottom.

The lotus pond (300g), with water flowing through it, stinks really bad if you stir it up. So I never stir it up it never gets cleaned.

 

[Tula]

@addy1 , do you think the reason your bog stays so perfect, is due to it's size? I tried a small container one a few years ago and it was a disaster...thinking it was just too small.

 

[Lisak1]

Mine is only 4x6 - no where near @addy1 's size and we have no issues with smell or built up gunk. I did the same thing - dug down to see if I could uncover anything and found nothing but nice clean gravel.

 

[addy1]

@addy1 , do you think the reason your bog stays so perfect, is due to it's size? I tried a small container one a few years ago and it was a disaster...thinking it was just too small.

Might be, but also I don't pull from the bottom of the pond. I don't want to suck in all the critters that live in the pond. I pull about a foot off the bottom, also it will leave a lot of water if there is a leak issue for the fish.
The leaf basket and the skimmer collects any large debris before it hits the bog.

 

[Lisak1]

also I don't pull from the bottom of the pond

I think that helps us, too. Our pump is in the bottom of our rain exchange - the water from the pond flows down through the gravel pit before it gets to the pump. Any organic debris gets filtered by the gravel so it's just water in the pump pit.

 

[addy1]

Mine is external, I have a 5 gallon bucket full of holes around the pond intake, which cuts down the sucking power. Saves a lot of fry, tads, snails they don't get sucked in. When I had a smaller cover, it was a constant battle to keep it clean enough for the pump to draw water, plant pieces, hornwort etc. The first year I had just a pvc pipe with holes, it plugged up with fry, poor things, the draw was too strong.

 

[Tula]

@addy1 , Sounds like pre filtering the water as best you can, before it hits the bog, makes a big difference .

 

[addy1]

@addy1 , Sounds like pre filtering the water as best you can, before it hits the bog, makes a big difference .

I can see a lot of muck pulled in can cause issues. I do get muck in, but nothing compared to what would come in if it sucked off the bottom. But in saying that the bottom of my pond stays pretty darn clean, except for pulling out a few leaves now and then I have not done much to it.