Country Escape's 2nd pond - Goldfish only

[addy1]

Even now if I move plants, dig a hole there is some dirty water there, but it just settles back down. If I really stir up the bog dirt will start flowing out.
Use a low flow rate with some quilt batting to catch anything that comes out.

 

[CountryEscape]

Ok on the low flow rate, but after everything is settled down, do I turn up the flow, or keep it low? I guess I figured the more water that ran through, the more nutrients that got filtered into the bog, and the happier the plants were, plus more filtration with more water flow ... but maybe not!
Also, would a bag of that volcanic rock help either in the bog with the pea gravel or on the overflow? I can't remember what that is used for now.
And, I had no idea the oyster shells could be used just thrown in. I thought they were not supposed to get into the water. I'll have to check my PH on that pond before adding them to the bog.

 

[koiguy1969]

CE... if your gonna split the flow from the pump and .the flow not sent to the bog is gonna be just used for pond circulation. when venturied, it can do some aeration as well. check this out.....
this is a simple venturi...but it gives you the idea. that was with a 1000gph pump. 2000 gph would blow that away. the more flow the more air drawn in.

 

[addy1]

I just did the low flow rate cause that was the only pump we had when we got the pond running, but it worked great for settling the dirt, never knowing I was doing that. Once I picked up the 4200 gph one fired it up full flow through the bog. The lim dragon pump coming from arizona has 6426 gph, I am going to hook it up ( I had my renters send me both of my dragon pumps).

For the shells to work they need to be in the water and where it is flowing well.

 

[CountryEscape]

KoiGuy, what was the part that he used for the "open and close" part of the venturi? I've not seen that before, so want to know what I'm asking for. Is it a plumbing part (in the PVC area of the store) or somewhere else? I guess it is drawing air in through the tube when the water is flowing through the pipe, right?

 

[koiguy1969]

that guy was me...heres the build video...costs about $1.50

 

[CountryEscape]

I thought it was you, but wasn't positive. Thanks for clarifying, and giving yourself credit to others who might view this. I have to pick up my rocks I purchased either tomorrow or Sun., so will pick up the necessary parts to make one of those and use it to aerate the pond with the excess flow for now. Thanks for the great idea!!!

 

[koiguy1969]

sorry about the poor narration...i know what i want to say, but i'm alittle shy, and a nervous public speaker...makes me go kind of 'DUH!'

 

[CountryEscape]

Don't cut yourself down, KoiGuy! You did a fantastic job in my opinion. I didn't hear any "duhs" at all. I was intent on watching what you were doing and taking notes on parts I need to get. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom. And, if someone wants to talk negatively about your video, then tell them to make one and post it themself.

 

[CountryEscape]

Got tons done today! Here are the progress pics, and the detailed pics of the PVC pipes in the bog, per special request of JW.
Here's what the bog looked like when I began this morning.

I finished laying the inner wall blocks which will be slightly higher than the pond height when the water is at full line.

I put down underlayment, followed by the liner.

Then I laid out the PVC pipe and began getting pieces cut and ready to put together. Here is the intake T pipe and attachments before they were put together. The black pipe is sewer drain pipe, 1 1/4" ID.

Then I marked the pipes where I wanted the holes to be drilled (couldn't find my power saw, so opted to drill 1/4" holes instead). The holes will be rotated to the bottom of the pipe when done. Do you like my "clamp"? Haha, 2 landscape stones that I laid the pipe between to drill holes.

Once I had all the holes drilled, I put the pipes back together to make sure everything fit, and then glued them together. I hadn't planned to glue them, but they wanted to come apart since there was a turn, so figured the last thing I wanted to do was dig out the bog to repair the pipe. All is glued except the clean out caps. They are on tight, but can be removed.

Then came the pea gravel, which I shoved from the truck bed into the tractor scoop. Sure made it go fast! Got another load today, but have not put it in yet. That will get done tomorrow.

And, last but not least, I added water through the pipes, to make sure all was working. It did!!! I didn't fill it to the point of overflowing, but wanted to get the stuff "wet". Will let the dirt settle tonight and see how it goes tomorrow filling to rest of the gravel, after I finish the outside walls. This way I have another level with the water in the bog to work with.

 

[addy1]

ce drop one area of the bog wall, flush the pea gravel out onto the lawn, you will lose some pond water, but get a lot of dirt out.

 

[CountryEscape]

And I had help today, of course. This bullfrog was on the pond side, on the edge where there will be rocks put to cover the bog inside wall. He didn't seem to mind his pic being taken, but I did crop it. And, of course, my Boston, Denali, was always around. Surprised I didn't get a pic of Yukon in there, but he must have been hunting bullfrogs in the ditch each time I got the camera out.

 

[CountryEscape]

What a great idea, Addy! Never would have thought of that. There is a lot of stuff floating in there, too, which I can net out, but I can get a lot of the dirt flushed out in the grass. I hate to use the pond water to do that with, though. Maybe I will figure out a way to use the hose but that would only flush it from the top. Any ideas on that? I filled a bunch of new water into the pond, knowing that the bog was going to take a huge amount to fill. Just don't think it would be good to add that much more new water to the pond. Or, do you suggest flushing it from the top for now, or just run the water through the pipes and let it overflow onto the grass for a while each day?

 

[addy1]

Flushing from the top won't do much, I would run water through the bottom, can you disconnect the piping stick a hose in and let it run? even block off the piping that come from the pond to the bog and stick a hose in your wash out pipe, it will flow up and out. Did you add a ball valve to be able to shut off the flow from the pond? if so shut that stick hose in wash out pipe let it rip.

 

[j.w]

You did get a lot done today and thanks so much for showing all the details on the bog. I like addy's idea of cleaning out the gravel!
Glad you had friends there rooting you on! Looks like you did a great job CE!