Will my bog filter out the dirt/dust from all the gravel I used to build it?

[GBBUDD]

So my pond is a circle: 16ft diameter, with an average depth of 2ft. This gives a volume of almost exactly 3,000 gallons.

BUT, my bog is 1/3 of that (maybe a smidge more). The bog portion is full of rock/gravel, so not 100% water (40%? maybe?)

So my pond volume is ~2000 gallons.

my pump is 2700gph. So I will assume I get about 1 turnover per hour.

I am not a huge fan of dumping 3,000 gallons of water into my yard for no reason, but I think if I pull off some of the silty water and replace, it should clear up in a reasonable time. It's Oregon in the winter... I'll get the water back in a hurry. I have some water capture from my greenhouse walls, and I redirect the overflow into the pond anyway. So I won't just be running the hose for a whole day!

What your not grasping is this method the BOG or wetland filter is also about patience and more patience. Your more than welcome to dump the the water to lessen the turbidity but in the long run it really doesn't do all that much either your filter is where you need it to be and can do what it is built for this is the best test if the water doesn't clear in a couple weeks your bog apparently is undersized or something is not quite right

 

[poconojoe]

So my pond is a circle: 16ft diameter, with an average depth of 2ft. This gives a volume of almost exactly 3,000 gallons.

BUT, my bog is 1/3 of that (maybe a smidge more). The bog portion is full of rock/gravel, so not 100% water (40%? maybe?)

As far as the bog size goes, it is recommended that the bog's surface area be at least 30% of the pond's surface area.
Mine is very slightly over that and has been great. The water looks like you could drink it. It's the best improvement I've done for both the pond and me.
I still tinker around with things, but the only thing I really have to do is feed the fish and maybe net out the occasional leaves.

 

[nimrod]

My bog is ~50% the size of the surface area of my pond. So I'm really not worried about size. I hope there isn't a way to make a bog TOO BIG...

What I am worried about though, is that initial silt load. The bog filter isn't for filtering solids (AFAIK). Yes, it will pull solids out, but it doesn't delete them. It simply allows them a place to settle. Seems to me it makes sense to remove the initial solids load to lengthen the life of the filter.

I chose the bog filtration method BECAUSE of its no-nonsense patient approach. So I'm ready to wait! But draining the muck right now will allow me to do some last minute configurations on the bottom without having to go waist deep in ice cold water!!

Thanks for all the feedback. Love this community.

 

[poconojoe]

My bog is ~50% the size of the surface area of my pond. So I'm really not worried about size. I hope there isn't a way to make a bog TOO BIG...

What I am worried about though, is that initial silt load. The bog filter isn't for filtering solids (AFAIK). Yes, it will pull solids out, but it doesn't delete them. It simply allows them a place to settle. Seems to me it makes sense to remove the initial solids load to lengthen the life of the filter.

I chose the bog filtration method BECAUSE of its no-nonsense patient approach. So I'm ready to wait! But draining the muck right now will allow me to do some last minute configurations on the bottom without having to go waist deep in ice cold water!!

Thanks for all the feedback. Love this community.

At 50% you will have no problem keeping the pond water clear.

Mine is a little over 30%. My water is always crystal clear and my pond is WAY overstocked with goldfish, shubunkin and a hand full of pretty large koi.

 

[GBBUDD]

I use to be over 50 but with the pond extension im down to about 30%

 

[nimrod]

At 50% you will have no problem keeping the pond water clear.

I love to hear that.

I don't have any hopes of expansion - perfectly round pond to match the geodesic dome greenhouse, so 50% will be enough to keep all the duck sh*t taken care of.

I plan to run an irrigation pump out of the pond in the summer, but I will start another thread for that specific quest.

 

[Koi4JT]

I'm sure this is answered in the bog mega-thread, but my searches were coming up empty. I just finished building my bog, and the pump is pushing water through it! Very exciting. But the gravel and stone that I used to make the bog (about 5 yards total) was not very clean going in. I tried to rinse it, but it proved pretty futile. So I just shoveled it in there. The water that was flowing up from the bog was coming out pretty brown yesterday, but today it seems much less brown.

Should I dump all my murky pond water, and fill fresh? Or will this work itself out? Where will all that dirt go? I imagine it's just eventually settling on the bottom of the bog. Seems like this will cause issues for me down the way. But I chose the bog for how maintenance free it seemed to be.

now all i need to do is wait until we get some drier weather so I can work on the edging of this dang pond. It's a literal mud pit out there!

Your bog will filter all of the fine dirt from the gravel. The heavier dirt will just sink too the bottom of the pond. The weather will continue to introduce more dust all of the time. This is normal. The discharge water from the bog will soon become clear and should remain that way. You should also notice that your pond also stays very clear, including little to no algae. However, don't be surprised to see that the top gravel surface will become dirty and quite gunky. I can remove part of one side of my bog to let the water run out into the yard and not the pond. I then use a hose with a fan tip to "pressure wash" the top surface when it gets a bit thick. You probably will also notice when it gets warmer that a mat of algae will form on top of the gravel, which I just grab large chunks of it and throw it all away. Hope this helps.

 

[nimrod]

Update: I took the opportunity to drain the pond, and vacuum out the sludge using my shopvac (what an amazing tool!) There was a solid inch of muck in the bottom that I removed.

Refilled the pond with my fancy water meter, and found that my pond is ~1600 gallons, and my bog holds an additional 250 gallons. I am shocked by how much volume the gravel takes up. My calculations estimated the bog at around 1000 gallons, and I assumed half of that would be take up by rock, but 75%??? Pretty wild.

The pump is running, and the initial water from the bog was a bit cloudy, but it seems to be running clear now. The ducks are doing their best to change the clarity of the water, but for now... it holds.

 

[GBBUDD]

Tes the rule is rock in a bog is only 30 percent water the smaller the stone the less space for water.