Pond renovation and bog build

[JBViper4]

Being in quarantine and finding this forum inspired me to redesign the pond. I spent several days thinking about a big expansion and in ground bog, then started doing the budget lol. I'm self(un)employed at the moment, so I saved my drawings for the future and tackled my little 400 g oasis.

Here's a before shot, with my 'beaver dam' still in place. I knew I had a leak somewhere, as the water level was about 4" lower than being level with the patio.

So off to the store (masked and socially distant) and I spent a couple of hours finding and marking my desired high water point around the pond perimeter.

When unrocking behind the waterfall, I found the low point (And many many spiders. No photos as I was moving away too quickly to get a shot).

Here's the culprit. The landscaper who installed it didn't backfill it enough (or tamp it enough) and he put the cinderblock 'foundation' for the waterfall on top of the liner. It sank, and there was a trickle leaking out - less than 1/8" a day by my observations - but it was definitely the low point - easy fix.

So I pulled all of the rocks out, recycled the 'beaver dam' - really just overhead protection with sticks from last year's Chinese Princess tree harvest - and mucked out the bottom. It wasn't terrible but I took about a bucket of muck and dumped it in my composter.

Here's the not quite finished project (below)...

• Moved the waterfall for easier access to change the bio filter (more on this later...)
• Gained 5" of depth and significant volume and visible surface area.
• Used rocks in waterfall to aerate the water on return
• Seated the big sitting rock level and tight for the neighbor kids to sit on and enjoy the pond.
• Mucked the bottom without disturbing the caves, good green slime and bullfrog habitat.

I bought a 55g rubbermaid stock tank - nice flat sides for bulkheads and just a bit over 12" deep. Seems sturdy. I'm watching/reading a ton of your threads on this (thanks to all!) and decided with my budget (and lack of experience) a small bog would suit my pond fine for now.

Here are some questions I could not find answers to:

1. I have a 1" line from pump to the bog. Pump has worked flawlessly for 4 seasons, 550 gph so I'd like to use it. It really throws water if the spongy filter is clean - and I won't have the biosponge on it so the nutrients feed the bog. So I assume it will rip through the bog if I don't control the flow a bit. Here are what I think are my options:

- Go through a 1" bulkhead to the bog, then have 2" PVC inside throughout the bog (maybe 1.5"?) to lower the pressure. I can't seem to find an adapter that would step me up from 1" to 1.5 or 2" in the distribution pipes. Does this adapter exist and what is it called?

- Use 1" PVC throughout the distribution but lay some larger gravel to reduce the flow before going up to the pea gravel.

- Go over the sides of the stock tank for input - maybe the 90 degree turns would slow the flow enough to move water without looking like the fountains in Vegas.

That's it for now. Today is Find Flat Rocks day out in the woods. Wish me luck.

JB

 

[addy1]

I send around 6400 gph though my bog, it is big, but that amount of water has not caused any issues. With the cut piping the water is distributed throughout.

 

[poconojoe]

They make all kinds of adapters for all sizes of PVC. They are called reducers or reducing bushings and are readily available and very inexpensive. Any home center or hardware store that sells PVC pipe will carry them. Lowe's has a 1" to 2" glue in ones for $1.67. The threaded one is $1.08.

I just used two glue in reducers in my recent bog build. My 3600 GPH pump has a 1-1/2" outlet, but I wanted 2" PVC under my bog's gravel.

I seriously don't think you'll have to worry about your 550 GPH pump being too powerful. I would give it a try first, and If later you feel the need, you can tackle that a couple ways. You can add a PVC ball valve to reduce the flow altogether or add a wye fitting to divert the water two ways. For instance, one way will flow to the bog and the other straight into the pond or through a decorative spitter. If you want, you can add a ball valve to each of those outputs (off the wye) so you can control how much water goes to each location. There are so many options.

 

[JBViper4]

Thanks for the replies. I found some good flats today so I am progressing.

I stared at those reducers for 20 minutes and tried to find the proper connections, but eventually shrugged and came home to check this forum. I'll probably order this stuff online so I can figure it out without plumbing pros snickering at me in Lowe's lol. There's a million bins of this stuff! I'm a noob DIYer. I'm a college prof by day so this stuff is like Greek to me.

I do have another question. My pond is semi raised - about a 12" berm all around. The spot where I want to set my bog is of course the highest point in the berm (about 16 inches). I need to create a stable foundation for the bog, snug up next to the pond - to avoid tipping, spillovers, etc.

I have been thinking about putting down a gravel filled frame and pouring a cement pad for it. Another thought is to use a pallet on a nice level gravel pad. I'm trying to avoid it being ugly (don't know how the wife would like a concrete pad in the yard) and keeping expenses down. Any ideas are welcome!

 

[poconojoe]

So, basically, you need to somehow raise the stock tank so it's top is a little higher than the 16" berm. The depth of the stock tank will obviously determine how much you need to raise it.
Unless you had excess soil around to build it up, you'll have to build something as you suggested. Concrete would be kind of permanent. Or you can build a wooden frame and fill it with gravel and just sit the stock tank on the loose gravel.

 

[JBViper4]

Thanks poconojoe. I figured I was overdoing it. The stock tank is about 14" deep, it won't require a massive build up of soil. I think a nicely footed pallet or gravel frame will do it.

 

[poconojoe]

Thanks poconojoe. I figured I was overdoing it. The stock tank is about 14" deep, it won't require a massive build up of soil. I think a nicely footed pallet or gravel frame will do it.

Oh, 14" high stock tank, that's good. You'll only need to raise it up a few inches.

 

[JBViper4]

UPDATE: Almost finished.

I built a 55g bog with pea gravel and plopped a creeping Jenny, day lily and 3 water hyacinth. 2 " pvc with downward facing slots, and a 550gph pump feeding it. I control the flow so the bog takes it in nice and evenly, as the pond is approximately 400g now that it is averaging 24" deep.

Here are some photos

This is the outflow, I used 2" pvc with a 90 elbow and used JB Weld and PL Sealant to seal it.

Here is the output:

I coincidentally has two 30' pine trees cut down and the stumps ground up, so 2 yds of free recycled mulch to surround the newly re-rocked pond.

I built a gravel bed, then used cinderblocks stuffed with rock to build the platform for the bog. Covered with mulch to help fine tune the leveling. I let it sit with the bagged gravel and re-leveled it daily for a week to make sure no massive settling would occur once I filled it.

And as I was too lazy to rinse the gravel, I had a "tropical look" for about 12 hours...so I played guitar and waited it out.

This morning I woke up, and lo and behold...

All that's left is to load in a couple of yards and soil, mulch, flowers and to think about what to do where my pine trees used to be....lol low wet spots in both corners of the yard... more bogs? Turtle habitat? I also have to hide the hoses - I wanted to make sure I was watertight and happy with placement before un-rocking (again haha).

Thanks to all who have posted advice directly and indirectly. This has been a fun project!

JB

 

[poconojoe]

Nice job!
It looks like you are already enjoying your paradise!

 

[GBBUDD]

jam min

 

[mrsclem]

Like how you set up your outflow pipe!

 

[JBViper4]

Like how you set up your outflow pipe!

Thinking about painting the stock tank fire engine red to make it look less farmy here in my houses-too-close-together community. The pvc shined up straightaway with a couple of coats of black.

The outflow falls (squirts) onto a rock cave set up with some 4" pvc glued onto rocks underneath in case one of the little ones tries to step on it. The fish love it and all have ample hiding spots when herons stop by for a pre-game snack before heading back to the Bay.

 

[addy1]

Great job!

 

[j.w]

Looks wonderful! Now enjoy it to the fullest and serenade the fish as I bet they love it!
My hubby loves the guitar too and he plays it all the time.