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

[Tula]

So sorry we weren’t able to take them. Our pond is pretty much maxed out, probably will need to remove a few next time I have to drain the pond. But for now they are all good. I’m fine if they don’t grow to be 2-3’ long! I just love seeing all of the pretty colors.

No worries, it all worked out. Enjoy your beautiful koi!

 

[kerm55]

Here this will help, maybe. The big pond, stream and bog were there first. The 1000 gallon stock pond and three ponds to the left and the deck ponds were added after the fact. The middle loop pond is a 300 gallon stock tank, it is full of lotus. The ponds are fishless unless eggs wander in and survive. There were 3-4 small fry in the first small loop pond last fall. The deck ponds are fishless.
The 1000 gallon and big pond have fish.

The arrow coming out of the water to the right goes to the main pump. The main pump has two T's, one sends dirty water to the 1000 gallon stock tank which waterfalls back into the big pond. The other T is a garden hose connection, the red line running behind the bog is a garden hose that sends water to the three loop ponds. They water fall into each other, then back into the main pond.

The main water flow from the pump goes right into the bog. The black lines are pvc lines running under the pea gravel. The red arrow coming out of the bog is the water fall back into the big pond. The water also weeps over the bog wall.

The green line out lines the bog.

The black arrow to the left points to the flow into the skimmer (no pump skimmer) the water is drawn into the pump via a T.

The light blue lines are the flow into the deck ponds and stream back into the big pond. It is a separate small clear water pump that feeds the deck ponds on a timer. 100 feet more or less of head pressure.

View attachment 108452

Im trying to understand how your skimmer gets water to flow into it? I think you mentioned that your main pump has a T on the inlet one side of T is sucking water from the pond about 1 foot off the bottom thru a lowes bucket with holes drilled in it and the other side of the T is sucking water into and thru your skimmer? is this correct? I have a large pond that I want to build a bog filter for and after reading about your setup I consider you and expert worth listening to..
Thank you

 

[addy1]

Im trying to understand how your skimmer gets water to flow into it? I think you mentioned that your main pump has a T on the inlet one side of T is sucking water from the pond about 1 foot off the bottom thru a lowes bucket with holes drilled in it and the other side of the T is sucking water into and thru your skimmer? is this correct? I have a large pond that I want to build a bog filter for and after reading about your setup I consider you and expert worth listening to..
Thank you

Thanks. My set up is very simple compared to others. I use a external pump. Two lines feed the pump, one the main line in the pond water pulled in through the lowes bucket with a ton of small holes drilled in it. That reduces the draw which keeps from pulling in fry etc. It is about a foot from the bottom of the pond. The second pipe that pulls from the skimmer (hayward pool skimmer) I have a ball valve on that line. I can increase or decrease the draw into the skimmer. That line is about 27 feet long to reach the skimmer, The line is under the ponds liner, installed before we put in the liner. In the winter, I turn all off. I stuff the skimmer with bubble wrap = no freezing up.
The skimmer is at the other end of the pond from the main draw into the pump.
It has been working great for over 10 years now.

The lowes bucket will be replaced this spring. The bucket got overwhelmed by hornwort and drew too hard, ie cracked it. But it also has been in there for 10 years so I think the bucket got brittle. I am going to put one bucket inside of a second, both with holes in them this time. Double wall strength. The lid on the bucket is a lowes lid for them. I have the pond line going through the lid, the lid has a few holes in it and the bucket to wire them together.

All ice has recently melted, I think I will pull the line today so I can get working on it. Even at around 60 it took 3 days to melt.

 

[bagsmom]

@kerm55 -- I consider Addy an expert, too!
For some additional ideas on DIY skimmers, etc. have you watched any YouTube videos from Ozponds? I think he does a great job explaining things and it is helpful to have the visual, too. He has videos for ponds of all different sizes, with DIY systems.

 

[kerm55]

@kerm55 -- I consider Addy an expert, too!
For some additional ideas on DIY skimmers, etc. have you watched any YouTube videos from Ozponds? I think he does a great job explaining things and it is helpful to have the visual, too. He has videos for ponds of all different sizes, with DIY systems.

Thank you I’ll check them out

 

[kerm55]

Thanks. My set up is very simple compared to others. I use a external pump. Two lines feed the pump, one the main line in the pond water pulled in through the lowes bucket with a ton of small holes drilled in it. That reduces the draw which keeps from pulling in fry etc. It is about a foot from the bottom of the pond. The second pipe that pulls from the skimmer (hayward pool skimmer) I have a ball valve on that line. I can increase or decrease the draw into the skimmer. That line is about 27 feet long to reach the skimmer, The line is under the ponds liner, installed before we put in the liner. In the winter, I turn all off. I stuff the skimmer with bubble wrap = no freezing up.
The skimmer is at the other end of the pond from the main draw into the pump.
It has been working great for over 10 years now.

The lowes bucket will be replaced this spring. The bucket got overwhelmed by hornwort and drew too hard, ie cracked it. But it also has been in there for 10 years so I think the bucket got brittle. I am going to put one bucket inside of a second, both with holes in them this time. Double wall strength. The lid on the bucket is a lowes lid for them. I have the pond line going through the lid, the lid has a few holes in it and the bucket to wire them together.

All ice has recently melted, I think I will pull the line today so I can get working on it. Even at around 60 it took 3 days to melt.

Thank you that is very clear! I really appreciate your comments!

 

[kerm55]

Thanks. My set up is very simple compared to others. I use a external pump. Two lines feed the pump, one the main line in the pond water pulled in through the lowes bucket with a ton of small holes drilled in it. That reduces the draw which keeps from pulling in fry etc. It is about a foot from the bottom of the pond. The second pipe that pulls from the skimmer (hayward pool skimmer) I have a ball valve on that line. I can increase or decrease the draw into the skimmer. That line is about 27 feet long to reach the skimmer, The line is under the ponds liner, installed before we put in the liner. In the winter, I turn all off. I stuff the skimmer with bubble wrap = no freezing up.
The skimmer is at the other end of the pond from the main draw into the pump.
It has been working great for over 10 years now.

The lowes bucket will be replaced this spring. The bucket got overwhelmed by hornwort and drew too hard, ie cracked it. But it also has been in there for 10 years so I think the bucket got brittle. I am going to put one bucket inside of a second, both with holes in them this time. Double wall strength. The lid on the bucket is a lowes lid for them. I have the pond line going through the lid, the lid has a few holes in it and the bucket to wire them together.

All ice has recently melted, I think I will pull the line today so I can get working on it. Even at around 60 it took 3 days to melt.

 

[kerm55]

I’m trying to find a wide weir Hayward skimmer and having trouble… it appears to have a wide mouth inlet but standard size weir…. Would that be what you used?
Sorry for all the questions just trying to build right the first time…

 

[kerm55]

I’m trying to find a Hayward wide weir skimmer .. all I find is a wide mouth skimmer with standard size weir…

 

[addy1]

I’m trying to find a wide weir Hayward skimmer and having trouble… it appears to have a wide mouth inlet but standard size weir…. Would that be what you used?
Sorry for all the questions just trying to build right the first time…

no problem I can see IF I have the info from my order. And tomorrow go out and see what is written on the lid if there is data

 

[addy1]

Here is what I bought , from Amazon, in 2010
The only thing I would have done different is put it a bit lower in the ground. For lower pond water.
We set it for perfect height not taking into account pond water fluctuation , it runs dry now and then, never bothers the pump when it does.

Hayward SP10852 Auto Skim Series Skimmer Wide Track

 

[GBBUDD]

I know you didn't like my comment regarding the run off to your pond. But that's a large issue in trying to clear up a pond.

A hayward skimmer in your large pond is way under powered two or three would be required in order to clear the surface of a pond that size. those are made for swimming pools. That one in particular is more for concrete or vinyl liners

A intake bay or what i would do in your case is just an open pipe just below the surface . if your water level fluctuates then a intake bay is more the right tool for the right job.

and person to look into is modern design aquascaping

 

[kerm55]

no problem I can see IF I have the info from my order. And tomorrow go out and see what is written on the lid if there is data

Wow thank you very much for your time..

 

[seedsofnature]

Any large pond will benefit from an intake bay. Skimmers can only handle so much flow and can leave dead spots allowing leaf debris to settle in pockets. They even double as mechanical and biological filtration. They are relatively easy to build as long as you understand simple fluid dynamics. Using aquablocks, like you would for a constructed wetland filter, you figure out water flow needs. One minute of flow per aquablock. So if you are using large aquablocks, you can have 32g per minute per block safely.
For example, you have a 6000gph pump: Divide 6000/ 60, to find the pump runs 100gpm. You will need 3 large aquablocks for this flow rate.
Then building the intake bay, you dig to allow the aquablocks and pump vault to have minimum 6-8" of water over top. Lay in liner and underlayment, add in your blocks, use large cobbles over the blocks, never small gravel. Then for the weir, you calculate 12" per 8k of flow opening.

 

[GBBUDD]

A facts man i like it @seedsofnature ... wish i found such info when i was designing mine but I guess I got lucky it worked out. The benefits to Aquascape training I suppose. but one bit of info should be made is the depth . While AN INTAKE CAN BE ALMOST ANY SIZE THE NARROWER the opening the better the draw. At least that's how I prefer mine to work . More like a gigantic skimmer