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

[addy1]

Question - if a bog filter works better with a slower flow.... but the water in the pond should be turned over once an hour... how would you fix the discrepancy if there's a mismatch? For the pond I'm building, the bog filter will have a lower GPH than is sufficient to run the entirety of the pond water in an hour.
Is it a big deal? Should I have a second pump or something?

My ponds turn over about every two hours more or less. The water test are always perfect.

Huge bog filtering it.

 

[ATP]

I am going to try and get my bog dug today and realized I hadnt thought about whether or not I will need a rock coping shelf or if I can just dig straight down and lay the rocks on the pea gravel as I am filling it? I would think I could just dig the wall straight down and lay the rocks on the pea gravel but thought I should ask!

 

[CountryEscape]

I am going to try and get my bog dug today and realized I hadnt thought about whether or not I will need a rock coping shelf or if I can just dig straight down and lay the rocks on the pea gravel as I am filling it? I would think I could just dig the wall straight down and lay the rocks on the pea gravel but thought I should ask!

I’m not positive I understand, but typically the outer edge of the bog is just like the outer edge of the pond. And since the pea gravel is often under the water level, there will need to be a wall of sorts behind the pea gravel. I guess you could have the bog deeper than the outside edge, and as long as the overflow keeps the water level down, you could extend the edge with rocks. Keep in mind the liner would also need to extend above the pea gravel/water level.
Hope that makes sense.

 

[ATP]

I’m not positive I understand, but typically the outer edge of the bog is just like the outer edge of the pond. And since the pea gravel is often under the water level, there will need to be a wall of sorts behind the pea gravel. I guess you could have the bog deeper than the outside edge, and as long as the overflow keeps the water level down, you could extend the edge with rocks. Keep in mind the liner would also need to extend above the pea gravel/water level.
Hope that makes sense.

I see what you mean. It will be slightly raised bog with a berm around the outer edge, the liner will go over, so the rocks will sit against that. I guess I dont see the need for a shelf like in the pond since it will be filled with pea gravel and the rocks can just rest on that. That would allow me to have the rocks and different depths too potentially. I just dont know if the pea gravel will be a good support for the base of the rocks.

 

[CountryEscape]

I see what you mean. It will be slightly raised bog with a berm around the outer edge, the liner will go over, so the rocks will sit against that. I guess I dont see the need for a shelf like in the pond since it will be filled with pea gravel and the rocks can just rest on that. That would allow me to have the rocks and different depths too potentially. I just dont know if the pea gravel will be a good support for the base of the rocks.

I think the gravel will support the rocks and now I understand your thoughts.
The only thing I would be careful of is making sure you leave plenty of extra liner tucked under the rocks. If you packed the dirt berm up against the bog wall, it can likely settle more as time goes. Just make sure you have enough liner in case you need it.

 

[bagsmom]

Good morning! We are at the stage of thinking through the bog plumbing. I am thinking about doing a breather pipe like Ozponds has - with a valve to add a little movement to the water and also to adjust the flow rate through the bog -- and the added bonus of serving to break the siphoning action if the check valve ever fails.
I will have a clean out snorkel down at the low end - still deciding what this will be made of.
Here is a question for y'all. Did you see Ozpond's homemade centipede and snorkel in his Dream Pond? He used a sort of half culvert pipe with perforations to let the water percolate up through.
I am going to use a 3" PVC pipe with slots cut in the bottom - like Addy1 - to send the water up through the rock.
I happened to acquire a length of culvert pipe - I think it is 20" in diameter or a little bigger. It is larger than what I wanted for a couple of other uses.
After seeing Ozpond's set up - and looking at Aquascape videos using aqua blocks for settling - I was considering doing a bit of a hybrid setup and wanted to run it by everyone on here.
What if I did the PVC pipe with slots along the bottom, ending at a snorkel for occasional sludge pump out -- but what if I added a cover over the PVC pipe - made of the big culvert pipe I have? I could cut it lengthwise - kind of like Ozponds - and put it over the PVC. This would act in the same way that Aquablocks do. It would be an area of just water space above the PVC.
Would there be any benefit to doing that? I have the stuff.
The first drawing is the basic set up - what I plan to do for sure. The next two drawings show what I could do using the half culvert pipe as void space - kind of like aqua blocks.
What do you think?

 

[bagsmom]

Annnnd... here is another thought process sort of question. I was thinking about where the slits in the PVC should go in the case of using a snorkel - and whether the snorkel should be attached as in an Aquascape snorkel/centipede set up -- or NOT attached, using the "snorkel" as just an access void to put a pump in every year or so, to get sludge out.
#1 shows that set up - PVC NOT attached to the pump vault. Sludge would go out and settle on the bottom. Slight slope to bottom would let sludge settle to the low end. Notches in the bottom of the open-bottomed pump vault would allow the pump to suck out the gunk.
#2 is the Aquascape set up. The snorkel and centipede are attached. Slits are NOT at the bottom. The solid bottom of the centipede allows sludge to be accessed via the snorkel.
#3 seems like it would be a problem. If the snorkel and centipede were attached and the snorkel had a closed bottom, any sludge that accumulated under the PVC pipe (from the slits in the bottom) could not be sucked out from the snorkel. It would just sit under there.
#4 is kind of a combo - with snorkel attached but slits in the side. The solids could still get into the snorkel that way, I think.

A part of me thinks number 1 is the way to go - especially since my snorkel/pump vault might end up being a food grade container and not made of the same material. I'm thinking it might be hard to marry a PVC centipede to a random plastic barrel. Rather than a proper snorkel and centipede, maybe I just want a way to access the gunky bottom of the bog (on the rare occasion that I might want to pump it out.)
Does any of this make sense?

 

[Rabungalow]

@bagsmom I would say that if your concerned about sludge build up then you just trench out where the centipede is going to lay so the top of the centipede is level with floor of the bog that way the centipede is able to pull all sludge. I believe that is what aquascape does on a lot of their builds anyways.

 

[GBBUDD]

I just dont know if the pea gravel will be a good support for the base of the rocks.

pea stone is not the best base no. but if it's left alone and know one is walking on it it's fine. It's ok to place edging or even boulders in the bog but you do loose some surface area. modern aquascape design builds a wideeeeeeeeeee shelf around the edges and places his boulders there

He used a sort of half culvert pipe with perforations to let the water percolate up through.

THATS A LEACHING FIELD perforated pipe it's made to be buried . I was very tempted to go that route with my re build but it's taller then i wanted the 24 inch culvert pipe i had was fine but its BIG. thats a close second i believe it's 20" i forget now . I went with the aquascapes snorkel for the 10.5 inches in height could i have just done a 12" culvert yes . but this is the last time so i spent the dough.

 

[GBBUDD]

same way that Aquablocks do

the only thing missing then is the culvert doesn't cover the whole bottom or spaced evenly across the bottom. those leaching chambers could be used as aquablocks placed above the culvert pipe. I also have found MANY alternatives to the aquascapes blocks but i never got pricing there are many many companies out there making there of versions them .

 

[GBBUDD]

What do you think?
View attachment 149521
[/QUOTE]
i am doing similar to this with the pvc inside a centipede but for flushing reasons the pvc is only going to be 1 1/4 inch pvc with holes drilled so when it's time to flush out the system i have a pipe inside the clean out to throw water jets at and flush the sediment up off the bottom

 

[milonedp]

Is everyone taking the pea gravel up above the waterline? If not how deep are you leaving the water? I'm thinking about filling in some areas and have a mix of above and below the waterline in the bog so that there is more planting space. Right now the water level is about 3 to 10 inches.

 

[bagsmom]

Is everyone taking the pea gravel up above the waterline? If not how deep are you leaving the water? I'm thinking about filling in some areas and have a mix of above and below the waterline in the bog so that there is more planting space. Right now the water level is about 3 to 10 inches.

I am still not sure yet. One thing I have read in multiple places is that you can always scoop around and play with the gravel, making it higher in some places and lower in others.
I watched an Ozponds video where he shows a breather pipe with a valve - it has a dual function of making a way to break the suction in the case of a power outage (kind of a failsafe in case of check valve failure) but it also allows for a little flow of water. I like this option since we are in a very mosquito-y area! I want to be sure I don't have still pools anywhere.
It seems like having a bog is going to be fun - so many options and so much of it is changeable - as far as gravel depth and planting, and all that!

 

[GBBUDD]

2" below to 2" above

 

[GBBUDD]

Is everyone taking the pea gravel up above the waterline? If not how deep are you leaving the water? I'm thinking about filling in some areas and have a mix of above and below the waterline in the bog so that there is more planting space. Right now the water level is about 3 to 10 inches.

hows the pond doing ?

Enjoying the new LIFE STYLE ?