You mentioned that you put holes in the pipes facing down. Did you drill holes? Usually with a bog you cut slits about a third of the way through the pipe. The slits are spaced a few inches apart. Facing up or down does not matter, people go either way. There is a sticky thread on bog building in the pond construction forum that may help. A little strange that you would be blocked up just two years into it. There are some people here that have never cleaned out their bog pipes. If the stones were the cause of the problem I would think that would have been right from the beginning. Maybe if you post pictures of the bog and if you have pics from when you built it there might be a way to figure out the issue.
Bog Pipping Clogged
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Here is setup.
I'm sorry but I think you have some issues there that you will have to re-do. I am no expert so others here may be able to help you. Looks like you used 1" pipes, most use 2", not that I think that is the cause of all the issues. The problem I see is that you have the open ends to the pipes. Water follows the path of least resistance so once it hits that first opening it is just going to keep flowing out of that and never hit the other pipes. As someone else mentioned you usually put a 90 degree elbow and pipe going up that has a cap at the top level of the gravel that way you can have a way to clean out the pipe. I would look at the sticky thread on bog building. I am sure others will have some thoughts, maybe I am missing something.
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If the open ends were the problem then why is the water not going through? So many options to go out and yet not going through.
Probably goes back to the 1" pipe issue, smaller the pipe the more likely something will be able to block it up whether it is the stones or accumulated debris.
mrsclem
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if i was going to put bog piping in this space i would have gone with some like the attached. The union is so you can take the pipes appart and flush one pipe out at a time. this is the simplist way to do this but there are more efficent methods but that will require a ball valve to each side of the spit One at the pvc union and one on the other side. remove the threaded cap on the other side and you can flush out the bog when ever needed
your holes are so small and few the peastone will clog those holes quickly . heck algae can plug them up. and the open ends will work for a while until they too get filled and clogged .
the purple is 2" pvc pipe cut through the pipe to a depth of 3/4" across the pipe every 2" place the cuts in the botom of the bog face down . some feel it's best to be face up i say the gravel it's self will make for a nice smooth bottom for debris to flus out.
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How big are the holes you are drilling in those pipes?
Most people use 2" pvc pipe. Use a circular saw or table top saw to cut slits about a third of the way through the pipe. You want the saw blade to have a wide kerf, maybe 1/4", dont use a fine cut blade. There is no definitive answer on the spacing of the slits. I ended up doing about 3" apart, some people say 1 1/2", others 6" apart. There is no exact manual to these things. There are a lot of variables that go into pond/bog building. So no one can tell you that slits 2" apart is much better than 4" apart. Nobody has done scientific studies comparing bogs side by side with different configurations. And if you put too many fish in the pond then you are asking for trouble no matter how you build it.
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See i didnt cut slits, I cut holes. The holes were half an inch, what you classically get from a drilling a hole into a pvc.
That would be the problem, too small so they are easy to clog up. You could probably get away with drilling holes if you did a few around the pipe, would look like a septic pipe. With slits they are longer so they are less likely to completely clog up.
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I would have thought the open ended tubes would stay open. I guess they can get blocked too. Slits wont allow the gravel in i guess?
mrsclem
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When you shut the oump off, unless you have a check valve, the water will get pulled back into the pond. That also means gravel and muck get pulled in too. That can clog small pipes fast.
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Can someone show me a picture of the bottom of those pipes. What you cut.
This video from the pond digger is pretty good for the basics. He is doing a small patio bog but shows you what most people do when creating a bog. The ten minute mark is when he cuts the slits. Slits can be blocked by the gravel, some here recommend putting larger stones at the bottom of the bog and gradually get smaller stones to the top.