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

[Jack B. Nimble]

Just a word of caution and perhaps a good practice but it is illegal to remove water lilies up here and helps preserve nature. Most bogs would typically have only 2 inches of water above gravel in bog.

 

[Ronfire]

I see that an other KOI site has nothing good to say about bogs. Wonder why one site loves bogs and another is so negative about them.

 

[addy1]

I see that an other KOI site has nothing good to say about bogs. Wonder why one site loves bogs and another is so negative about them.

lol it is called koi keepers. My bog was trashed a lot on some other sites, they say no way could it keep a pond in good shape with either goldfish or koi.

 

[Lisak1]

I see that an other KOI site has nothing good to say about bogs. Wonder why one site loves bogs and another is so negative about them.

If you really want to get them started go ask them about putting rocks and gravel in your pond.

 

[addy1]

If you really want to get them started go ask them about putting rocks and gravel in your pond.

Bog is a dirty word there................rocks and gravel even worse.

 

[Ronfire]

I was wondering if adding an open layer below the pea gravel would help with the "plant filtering bog". It would allow the larger solids to settle out before entering the gravel. Might be counterproductive though as then it will not reach the plants. Good point is you could back flush to remove the accumulated derbies that gets past the filter screens. Bad point is you are creating pressure points holding up the gravel that could lead to a leak.

Things to think about.

 

[Lisak1]

I was wondering if adding an open layer below the pea gravel would help with the "plant filtering bog".

You're not the first one to suggest that. Technically that's what we have - we have a series of AquaBlox in the bottom of our bog. The theory is they slow the water down as it comes out of the manifold to allow for more contact between the water, gravel, and plants. I don't think debris would settle in our case though, as the manifold is below the blocks pushing water up.

 

[Ronfire]

I have a few bread trays that I think will work well to provide a space below the gravel. The holes are a little big for pea gravel size so I will add 2" of 1"rock then the pea gravel. Might add a couple of smaller pipes as well so I can blow air under to help clean it out if it is required.

 

[Ronfire]

Still planning on the 5000 gallon pond. Wondering how fine to prefilter for the bog. Leave the particle to big and it may clog up, to small and you might rob the bog of nutrients. With the bog as a low maintenance it would be good to have a prefilter to match.Is just a skimmer basket enough or would a better screen system like a VLM, RDF or Sieve

 

[Jack B. Nimble]

Agree I just have pre filter basket on intake only, no foam in it and set at mid level pond depth.

 

[addy1]

Wondering how fine to prefilter for the bog

I don't pre filter except with a leaf basket. I do not pull the water from the bottom of the pond but from about a foot or so more above the bottom. The leaf basket does not catch much, I clean it one time in the summer. The skimmer basket catches a lot more. Floating plant pieces etc.

 

[Ronfire]

Sounds like I will make a leaf basket with a 55 gallon drum with fed by a 4" bottom drain, also a T before the pump for the skimmer. Or might use 2 pumps instead in case 1 pump has a problem. With 2 pumps I could shut 1 down at night and reduce the water flow and power cost.

 

[Ronfire]

If you place rocks on top of the pea gravel in a bog do they migrate down. Thinking of having different depth of water in a bog and step it down with a row of rocks.

 

[Lisak1]

My off the top of the head answer would be yes, but if they were larger rocks, you could just keep re-setting them. I have rocks in my garden beds (small boulders, actually) that I have to reset from time to time as they will settle in the soil. If you mean rocks that are just slightly larger than the pea gravel, then you might lose them over time.

 

[Timothy]

We've had flat rocks roughly a foot in diameter (like flag stones) supporting potted plants on top of pea gravel with no issues. The silt will cover them through the course of a season, but we've experienced no evidence of settling.
The key here may be "flat".