Bog building, also called upflow filter, eco filter, wetland filter

[addy1]

My bog is in the ground, no clue how deep it froze. It is a liner bog, the first winter it froze up real bad and did fine. I do not drain it. When it does freeze, I don't see the ice rising up, since there is a mix of pea gravel and water, not just water.
A container bog may cause issues like he is stating above.
The problem with draining it, the plants in the bog will die, if the roots dry out. Esp if we have one of those warm type winters. Most of the plants have shallow roots, it does not take much for the gravel they are planted in to dry out.

 

[Tula]

I saw a nice resin whisky barrel at Costco the other day and am wondering if I could make a container bog with it? I'd like to have some pretty plants that the koi couldn't get to! I'm not too sure how to rig it up so it would look nice and yet not have the potential to drain my pond if something went awry. I'm thinking I should post some pond pics tomorrow, so you can see my set up.

BTW, the pond guy cometh tomorrow to "consult" on my sinking Savio skimmer.

 

[addy1]

I bought something similar, not from costco, it did not hold water. So make sure it is well built before you get it for that.

 

[falconut]

I'm not too sure how to rig it up so it would look nice and yet not have the potential to drain my pond if something went awry.

Just add a check valve on the outlet side of the pump. It will only allow the water to flow into the container, not back into the pond.


Catfishnut - Container freezing. It does get cold here, just not as cold as in your area. I was hoping that as the water between the gravel freezes, it just pushes everything up since the container is larger as it goes up. My pipe has slots cut on the bottom of the pipe. The pipe will have an open end to allow the frozen a place to go up and out. I should have a way to drain it, but like addy1 said, I think that would dry out the plants. I'm hoping this works without cracking, that's why I spent the extra $ for the Rubbermaid stock tank. I read people having cracking issues with the Tuff Stuff containers that were 1/2 the price. Rubbermaid said they're made for outside use all year round, of course with just water, not all the gravel.

 

[Tula]

I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the pond guy....think I've found yet another unreliable worker

I get confused with this bog business.....a check valve to allow the water into the container? Do I want the container water to spill into the pond, to act as filtration? I need a Bogs for Dummies book!

 

[addy1]

I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the pond guy....think I've found yet another unreliable worker

I get confused with this bog business.....a check valve to allow the water into the container? Do I want the container water to spill into the pond, to act as filtration? I need a Bogs for Dummies book!

It can't really drain your pond unless the bog over flows and the pond water overflows with it. If you have a break in the pipes into the bog, and they decide to leak, it could suction water out of the pond if you have no air break , check valve to keep the pond water form being sucked out. Mine is an open water fall it can't drain the pond, unless it is an overflow issue in the bog.

I hope that makes sense. A picture would help and an idea of what you want to achieve. A bog in the pond, a bog out of the pond, a container in the pond just to have plants in safe from koi lots of different ways to have it made.

 

[Tula]

I wish I had a ledge in my pond, but it's a straight sided drop. I've been thinking a container outside of the pond would look nice, plus have the added benefit of filtration.

The snow is fast melting, rain tomorrow, so pics on Friday. Called pond guy, he said he was backed up ( I personally think he forgot) and will be here at 8 am on Friday. I appreciate your help

 

[addy1]

Ok so if the container is higher than the pond, water will be flowing down into the pond via a waterfall, piping etc. If you have your piping above your pond water, added splash and aeration to your water, no chance the bog could drain your pond, unless the bog clogs up and overflows. Then the pumped in water would flow out of the bog and be replaced with more pumped in water, that could drain your pond. So to keep that from happening you want your gravel level below the rim of your container by 3 inches or so, have the output into the pond at gravel level.

You could get a nice container, have it partially buried, but then if you want a bottom drain it would not drain well. My yard is so sloped the bottom of our bog is at ground level. So I can easily just open the pipe and drain it if ever need be. I had to build a dirt berm around 8 foot tall to contain the pond and bog on the down hill side.

Or make a surface bog, the main issue is like stated above, is it surviving freezing. I do leave mine full of water every winter.

So more decisions for you to make lol.

I have a 300 gallon stock tank that has survived freezing and winters. It is only buried on one side, due to our slope. There are fish in it, I did have a bubbler, not sure how it did this winter i.e. the fish, mainly rosey red minnows. The stock tank itself is very tough. That might be a good option for you.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

THIS is the article I lost after reading yesterday!!! put it in my watch now...going to embark on making a bog for my last years new pond. Does anyone know of any other articles anyone has written/drawn on building a bog on this forum?? The weather here is starting to warm up (low 70's occasionally yet mostly 50-60 degrees now) and I know the bubbler I've had on all winter is not going to be enough filtration as the water begin's to warm and my fish decide it's time to play again. Thanks Addy your article definately is helping me figure this bog thing out!!

 

[addy1]

They are pretty basic, pump water up through a medium have plants planted in it, back into pond.

My bog cleared my ponds water in about 6 hours after it had been sitting for over 5 months. It was turning dark greenish. I turned on the pump yesterday, even though we have snow coming tomorrow, this is the time of bouncing temps.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

It was absolutely gorgeous out here today in the 70's...till about 7pm tonight then the wind shifted back to the north and it's howling again and colder, k like 30 degrees colder to boot. But I did get the leaves that had blown in the pond all cleaned out pretty good and the bubblers filter media freshened up with new batting around it in the cage I have it in and mow/raked (LOL) until that wind started to blow the neighborhood leaves back to my place and over my fence...oh come on mother nature isn't it about time to stay nice!!! The fishkids were all over me while I was all around the pond on my belly/knees cleaning. Thought about hooking the diy filter back up but ran out of time/warmth! Guess that might to wait until next saturday (my one day off). I sure did stir up all kinds of gunk in the pond though and was pulling out the whatever it is (string algea) growing on the liner...how that stuff made it threw winter here Idk...
I want to get to my new bog here in the next 2 or 3 weeks for sure though!

 

[addy1]

Great! Here is a link to a build being done for a container bog, https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/my-bog-filter-build.13757/ by falconut. Looks like it is going to work well too.
I don't have any string growing in the big pond, have not messed with the small ones yet, they all need some clearing of plants.

 

[CountryEscape]

Rebel, based on info from Addy, I built a bog on my goldfish pond 2 years ago. If you go to my thread "Country's 2nd pond Goldfish Only", to page 7, post #137, then just go page to page scanning the pics (lots of chatter back and forth in between LOL), you will see how I laid out the liner, dug, put PVC pipe together, etc. for my bog. I think it's pretty much like how Addy did her bog. I will say that it has kept that goldfish pond crystal clear all winter long, and I've had it running all winter, never did shut it off, even with the extremely frigid temps we had. I have a submersible 4200 gph pump in the pond (on a milk crate, so it's not on the bottom) running it, so no worries about break in line from freeze. I'm going to redo my koi pond bog, make it about 10X the size it is right now, which will be slightly larger than the goldfish pond bog is, but the koi pond is larger, as well as the fish. Good luck with your build!

 

[rebelangel_3733]

thanks country I'll go check it out!

 

[rebelangel_3733]

Ok here's a question for bog already haver's...which is a better build...a bog made with a rubbermaid tank (large one) OR a bog built with a liner? Trying to weigh in the pro's and con's...I'm leaning towards one made with a liner, as either way I have to bring in more dirt and this would allow me to make it the size/shape I want. One made with a rubbermaid tank would allow me to get this project going faster, yet abit more expensive. Just wondering what everyone else thinks.