ATP's Front Yard Pond!

[GBBUDD]

Overestimated how much river gravel I needed. Will probably use most of what is left in the bottom of the bog and fill the rest with pea gravel.

absolutely nothing wrong with that

very cool having a private space in the back with the pond is relaxing the pond in the front screams out very classy and cool

 

[YShahar]

Today's update: Pond is full and holding water = no leaks. Got a load of pea gravel with my truck and estimate I will need 3 more. Ran the bog plumbing before gluing and glad I did. Found, not surprisingly, like everything else they diffuse the best when perfectly level. Still a lot to do but feel like I am in the home stretch! Time to order some Lilies?

Looks fantastic! And plenty of extra liner in case you want to dig some shallow planting pockets back from the edge a bit.

 

[GBBUDD]

After a week off from working on the pond was only able to get a half day of work done on the pond. Got the cobble wall mostly done in the deep section minus the foam and filling in gaps with smaller cobble and gravel. Added all the boulders I am using in the pond and I need aprox another ton of larger cobble to finish the vertical walls. Fabric overlayment is in the bog and I even doubled it up under the downward facing slits in the pvc.

Still need to find a good source for pea stone. The local place I am getting the 3/4 river rock has very small pea stone with a lot of fines and the other local stone supply has the correct size but its absolutely filthy, rather not use it if I dont have to. Contemplating just using the 3/4 river rock in the bog as well. I have plent of small cobble left that I also may cover the bog pvc with and then get the smaller pea stone with a lot of fines. Still not sure and open to suggestions. View attachment 149995View attachment 149997View attachment 149996

wish i had noticed the stacked stone earlier I WOULD HAVE SUGESTED USING MORTAR or waterfall foam to help hold those stacked rocks in place with the kids hanging all over them. I would lean toward mortar

 

[ATP]

wish i had noticed the stacked stone earlier I WOULD HAVE SUGESTED USING MORTAR or waterfall foam to help hold those stacked rocks in place with the kids hanging all over them. I would lean toward mortar

I actually filled the gaps with smaller stone and then used about a can of pond foam. I felt like I could have walked on it afterwards. They know they are only allowed to stand on the two big viewing stones in the pond, otherwise they would be trying to jump from stone to stone all the way around.

 

[ATP]

Big day today. Got the bog and pump vault plumbed, filled the bog with pea gravel and got the rock work done in the bog. Even got to turn it on and see how it worked! That left me with a few surprises/questions. It worked great but its going to need to get tweaked!

I realized as I was turning it on I forgot to add a siphon break. No big deal, will add one tomorrow. Can anyone suggest what size hole I should drill on the underside of the hose toward the top of the bog? Thinking 1/4, will that be large enough?

I was surprised how high the water rose above the spillways. Ate up at least half the 8 -10 of my berm wall above the level of my spillway areas. Actually was spilling over the middle of the bog too ( I built those walls up but only slightly). Not a huge issue but I think I will add some cobble and foam to try and push the majority of the water over the spillway sections.

My Laguna Max Flo 2900 was more than enough. In the video I actually have it dialed back quite a bit. It should have plenty left for the spillway bowl. When I tested the manifold, the valve was fully open or slightly closed, all the slits in the diffuser pipes had water coming out, at different intensities. I didnt test it at lower gph with the valve closed more. In the video its only open arourd 2/3 to a 1/4. How do you tell if all areas of the bog are at least getting water or is that not an issue?

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[combatwombat]

The diffuser is nice for spreading out dirty water to prevent channeling, but water always rises equally/level, so even if you were just dumping the water into one tiny spot, it would still make its way into every available crevice between rocks before rising to the top of the filter.

 

[ATP]

The diffuser is nice for spreading out dirty water to prevent channeling, but water always rises equally/level, so even if you were just dumping the water into one tiny spot, it would still make its way into every available crevice between rocks before rising to the top of the filter.

Great! Makes sense!

 

[ATP]

Another milestone! Got the spillway bowl hooked up and the pond is officially alive! Still very cloudy but excited to see it running and hopefully it clears soon.

 

[combatwombat]

Rock on. Bowl looks really cool.

 

[Rabungalow]

Looking really good! Are you going to put in pond lights?

 

[GBBUDD]

You did a heck of a job in very short amount of time.

What size pump are you using ?
It appears your spill way has twice the water that the bog is getting. At that rate I may be wrong but I bet it will take a couple weeks to clear. It looks like the bog is getting maybe 500 gph. I don't know if that's going to work out in the long run.

Not to rain on your hard work at all I've been very impressed expecialy with the nothing " with it all " digging, design , rocking. But it appears your volume turn over to the bog is going to be if I had to guess probably once every 4 to 5 hours. That will be a challange to keep balance.

 

[ATP]

Looking really good! Are you going to put in pond lights?

Thanks! I added 4 of the spot light type lights when I was doing the rock. Might getting a few uplights for under the two larger water features too. Will probably add some landscape lighting as well but havent decided on what I am doing above water yet..lol.

 

[ATP]

You did a heck of a job in very short amount of time.

What size pump are you using ?
It appears your spill way has twice the water that the bog is getting. At that rate I may be wrong but I bet it will take a couple weeks to clear. It looks like the bog is getting maybe 500 gph. I don't know if that's going to work out in the long run.

Not to rain on your hard work at all I've been very impressed expecialy with the nothing " with it all " digging, design , rocking. But it appears your volume turn over to the bog is going to be if I had to guess probably once every 4 to 5 hours. That will be a challange to keep balance.

Thanks @GBBUDD! I appreciate that coming from you!

The pump is a Laguna max flo 2900 that I have had for years. Its rated for 2900 gph with zero head. I have a 2" hose going from the pump to the bog only about 10' away, only bout 2-3' of head. I actually have it dialed way back on both the bog and bowl. When I filled the pond last I used one of those digital meters attached to the hose. I didnt realize it would reset at 1000 but I think it went through twice, so estimate the pond without the bog to be 2K gallons. I could easlily turn it up, its set more for aesethics than water turnover rate. I decided to completely drain the pond today and get rid of all the suspended dirt, so it should be "clearer" after I fill it again.

I would be concerned if the bog wasnt able to keep up with the pond waste. I thought it might be fine the way it is and give the plants more time to take up nutrients. Also,we like more the subtle flow currently of the bog spillways. But, by all means my main concern would be the overall pond health and i can easily turn it up if necessary.

 

[Rabungalow]

Thanks @GBBUDD! I appreciate that coming from you!

The pump is a Laguna max flo 2900 that I have had for years. Its rated for 2900 gph with zero head. I have a 2" hose going from the pump to the bog only about 10' away, only bout 2-3' of head. I actually have it dialed way back on both the bog and bowl. When I filled the pond last I used one of those digital meters attached to the hose. I didnt realize it would reset at 1000 but I think it went through twice, so estimate the pond without the bog to be 2K gallons. I could easlily turn it up, its set more for aesethics than water turnover rate. I decided to completely drain the pond today and get rid of all the suspended dirt, so it should be "clearer" after I fill it again.

I would be concerned if the bog wasnt able to keep up with the pond waste. I thought it might be fine the way it is and give the plants more time to take up nutrients. Also,we like more the subtle flow currently of the bog spillways. But, by all means my main concern would be the overall pond health and i can easily turn it up if necessary.

I bought this off Amazon and it did wonders for speeding up the clearing process.

 

[ATP]

I bought this off Amazon and it did wonders for speeding up the clearing process.

Thanks! I'll keep it in mind if after this final drain and fill I am doing doesnt work.