1st Pond....equipment help

[poconojoe]

I can't help you with estimating water volume, but can tell you how to get an exact amount as it's being filled. It may be too late for equipment purchases at that point, but at least you know exactly how much water it will contain for future reference.
I use a digital water meter that screws onto the end of my garden hose. I bought on Amazon for under $20.
As an example, my water is chlorinated, so if I need to add water, I use the meter so I know how much dechlorinizer to add.

 

[GBBUDD]

Not sure what size the flat box filters you are referencing. I have one I don't use anymore made by Tetra that is very small. Definitely not large enough for 1500 gallons.
My pond is a slight bit over 1500 gallons.
I suggest you look at addy's long post on contructing a natural bog filter. It will work way better than any commercial filter you can buy and not hard or expensive at all to build.
I wish I would have known about bog filters when I built my pond. Eventually I will be adding one and getting rid of my two (yes two) pressure filters. I also have a pump in a bucket filled with lava rock. Even with all of this, my water is not as clear as I would like it. So, basically, I spent hundreds of dollars on commercial filters and I'm not satisfied. A bog would have cost a fraction of that.

With a 2" pvc bog and a pea stone gravel the cost is mind numbing how cheap it is in comparison add long term maintenance and service and you can't compare them to a sand filter or pressure filter in any way. i can walk away from my pond for months and come back to larger plants as the only change. The water is crystal clear you can see down 5 feet to the bottom thinking it's only 6" deep. I did also go with a snorkel bog that i like a lot i can vac out sediment built up over time . and i can also run air stones to the bacteria below . Just like today's septic systems they have found adding compressed air into the septic tank allows the bacteria to thrive and when it thrives you get sparkling clear water.

 

[poconojoe]

With a 2" pvc bog and a pea stone gravel the cost is mind numbing how cheap it is in comparison add long term maintenance and service and you can't compare them to a sand filter or pressure filter in any way. i can walk away from my pond for months and come back to larger plants as the only change. The water is crystal clear you can see down 5 feet to the bottom thinking it's only 6" deep. I did also go with a snorkel bog that i like a lot i can vac out sediment built up over time . and i can also run air stones to the bacteria below . Just like today's septic systems they have found adding compressed air into the septic tank allows the bacteria to thrive and when it thrives you get sparkling clear water.

The air stone idea sounds interesting and makes sense to me. Where did you place the air stone and are there more than one?

Can you explain how your snorkel bog is constructed and the procedure on vacuuming it out?

One day I'll have to get myself in gear and start that bog build. I have not seen anyone post your method concerning air stones and the snorkel.

 

[GBBUDD]

They have recently 10 years started pumping air into septic systems so that the bacteria can grow. think about all the wonderful gasses in septic tank. methane, co2, well places like a gas station who are in rural areas but have a great business have septic issues because they are constantly being used and the clog up real quick. Well by pumping in air/ o2 they have found the systems can handle greater loads "pun intended" when they pumped something as simple as air into the system. The other related is open natural ponds say at golf courses or condo's they pump air or have a fountain to keep the o2 levels high which intern deter algae growth. So i gave it a shot in my system. my bog is 20x10 x 6 foot deep as i can recall and what i used was 24" culvert pipe double walled so it is smooth inside. so theres 18' of horizontal pipe that is attached to a second culvert pipe thats 8 feet tall and caped on the bottom and top. but the top above water level can be removed. i left it 1 foot and a half sticking up above water level so that if the bog starts to clog it can't just come out the vertical snorkel tube as the height increases in the tube so will the pressure in the bog thus cleaning it's self. So the horizontal pip has slits cut in it facing up at 9 and 3 o'clock and is pitched toward the vertical section . so that any sediment that does get in the snorkel should settle to the bottom and can easily be cleaned out with a trash pump. I had some string agae before i started pumping air to the bog and now well i think you have seen the video on my build. If not it's https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/going-for-it-phase-one-12-000-gallon-pond.22563/

The air is a nitto 45 and i am using a double rubber bladder . a sinle would probably do the job the double i use for my winterizing breather. i ran it to the bottom of the vertical snorkel tube .

 

[Lisak1]

We used Aquascape's snorkel and centipede to build our bog - more expensive than PVC, but it was a quick and easy install.

We actually used two of these - one in the rain exchange (the pump is in the vault) and a second in the bog. Like @GBBUDD said, we can drop an airstone into the snorkel to add air or even drop a pump in there to run a fountain or another feature in the bog if we wanted. Plus it makes potential clean out a breeze - never used it, but we could if we had to.

 

[mgmine]

I didn't read through all the responses so I may be repeating a few. Make your life simple and put in a skimmer. In the skimmer put a 3000 gallon per hour pump or larger (water is better pushed than pulled). Push the water to a skippy filter that is at a higher level than the waterfall and the water will flow to the waterfall. A filter can be made for under $70 dollars. In the skimmer and in the filter add filter material that can be bought on Amazon for the mechanical side of the filter equation. For the biological part use plastic construction/snow fence. Add a check valve in the skimmer and another gate valve before the filter to regulate the water if needed. Use PVC piping or flexible piping but not the cheap sump pump type of tubing. Check locally for the lining because shipping can get expensive. Use an old rug for padding and if you can find one an old swimming pool liner as extra padding. Check Craigslist for all your items.