Dirty water again

[GBBUDD]

you keep showing your pond but not the filter. i only saw mention of three pads but what type are they who makes them or the filter? a picture would be great.

a bog is very easy to build . the difficulty comes in with how you want it to look. A Heavy duty trash can, can make a quick bog. rubber maid makes this which would be about the right size for a bog for your pond.

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You run the plumbing from one of your pumps thats pushing 1500 to 2000 gallons per hour, run the piping up over the top down to the bottom where you split off to two pipes that run across the bottom that have slits cut in the pvc. You then fill the tub with peastone or 3/8 to 3/4" river rock now the hard part is you do need to drill a couple holes probably 3- 2" holes and get bulked fittings to penetrate the tube where you want the water level to be.
Now you need to keep in mind with this set up you need to make sure the three pipes don't get blocked and the water rises up over the top of the container

 

[Donna F]

You sure do make the bog sound easy. And your pictures are beautiful and inspirational. I definitely need to take time to read the information and learn.
The pipes clogging is a big concern. That is a constant battle with my skimmer. I have a lot of leaves and acorns are a huge problem.

My filter is similar to this. It's over 10 years old. I bought it after several failed attempts at a DIY filter.

https://smile.amazon.com/Xtremepowe...=1657033971&sprefix=pond+filter,aps,78&sr=8-5

Yeah, I should have taken a pic when I was cleaning it , but I didn't. It's inside the box/bench that is visible in some of the pics. The filters are not the original. I just bought random koi pond filter material and cut it to fit. There are 3 layers of different density.

The UV light kept shorting out, so I long ago stopped using it and got this.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00474BFOU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also have a basic skimmer. You may be able to see it in some of the pics.

I just need to decide on the best move to make and go for it. It's not the first time I've felt overwhelmed by this ongoing project of mine. I'll figure it out.

 

[GBBUDD]

The hardest part to building a bog is one the containment area /digging or the tub or wood or concrete frame. And then hauling all the bags of rock. Or even with a skidsteer its keeping the stone free of soils.

as to how to stop the animals from puncturing the liner you'll need to get the liner below water level would be my guess . but now that you have some leaks was it may be to late.

 

[poconojoe]

Concerning all the muck buildup in your filter. I find there can be a lot of buildup of muck throughout the Springtime until the pond rebalances from winter. Once the beneficial bacteria and the plants finally "wake up" from the cold weather, there seems to be less buildup.

 

[addy1]

It will take some work, but I would start at one spot, remove those top landscape edging. Pull the liner back a bit and dig a shallow shelf. Do it slowly around the entire pond. You then lay a few rocks on your new edge, up and out of the water.

This will hide the liner and if something is falling in and damaging the liner to get out, the liner will be covered at the top edge.

 

[Donna F]

It will take some work, but I would start at one spot, remove those top landscape edging. Pull the liner back a bit and dig a shallow shelf. Do it slowly around the entire pond. You then lay a few rocks on your new edge, up and out of the water. View attachment 152355 This will hide the liner and if something is falling in and damaging the liner to get out, the liner will be covered at the top edge.

Awesome, thanks. Very clear and easy to understand. That's what I need. LOL

 

[Donna F]

One more question. At some point in the past I read something about rocks in the pond causing or making the muck worse.
So I got the rocks out of the water as much as possible.
I have searched and I can't find the post again. Everyone else has rocks all in and around their ponds. And now I'm adding gravel and plan to finish around the edges with rocks in the water.
Apparently I mis-read or something - maybe it's the type of rock?
Does anyone know what I might have misunderstood? Is there anything I need to know about rocks in the water?

Thanks

 

[GBBUDD]

It will take some work, but I would start at one spot, remove those top landscape edging. Pull the liner back a bit and dig a shallow shelf. Do it slowly around the entire pond. You then lay a few rocks on your new edge, up and out of the water. View attachment 152355 This will hide the liner and if something is falling in and damaging the liner to get out, the liner will be covered at the top edge.

They now look like walking fish much better than the previous lol

 

[BKHpondcritters]

One more question. At some point in the past I read something about rocks in the pond causing or making the muck worse.
So I got the rocks out of the water as much as possible.
I have searched and I can't find the post again. Everyone else has rocks all in and around their ponds. And now I'm adding gravel and plan to finish around the edges with rocks in the water.
Apparently I mis-read or something - maybe it's the type of rock?
Does anyone know what I might have misunderstood? Is there anything I need to know about rocks in the water?

Thanks

Rock in the pond vs no rock in the pond. You have just brought up one of the most hotly debated issues in pond keeping. Some people swear that gravel/rocks in the pond exacerbate a build up of muck. Others (I am in this category) have gravel & rocks covering every single inch of liner & have absolutely no muck build up at all. What is it that causes the difference in these experiences? I firmly believe that it simply comes down to the fact that every pond is different - no two can be absolutely identical. Different filtration, water flow, external debris load, wildlife bioload, fish population, size, design, depth, etc... etc... etc...

I personally like the look of a gravel bottom & rocked sides/shelves/edges. Others don't. I would not have a pond with exposed liner showing because (to me) that isn't esthetically pleasing. I don't want to see 'man made' stuff, I want to see natural materials. Others have differing preferences when it comes to the look of their ponds. So, what I guess I'm rambling on about & trying to say is this: Build your pond so it's pleasing to YOU. Rock or no rock? Either can work, so just do what works best for you.

 

[YShahar]

One more question. At some point in the past I read something about rocks in the pond causing or making the muck worse.
So I got the rocks out of the water as much as possible.
I have searched and I can't find the post again. Everyone else has rocks all in and around their ponds. And now I'm adding gravel and plan to finish around the edges with rocks in the water.
Apparently I mis-read or something - maybe it's the type of rock?
Does anyone know what I might have misunderstood? Is there anything I need to know about rocks in the water?

Thanks

There are definitely pros and cons. Here's a thread that discusses the issue in depth: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/pros-and-cons-of-rocking-the-interior.31265/#post-495244

I started out without gravel in my pond, but that's only because the gravel that I have is full of pointy bits and flint, and so has to be washed and filtered one handful at a time. So I'm going very slowly, filtering it whenever I have a free moment and tossing a few handfulls into the pond. One reason I like a lot of gravel is that it provides a tremendous amount of surface area on which nitrifying bacteria can grow, thus cleaning the water and making it safe for fish. Some people even add perforated PVC pipes under the gravel, through which the water is pumped (sort of an "in-pond bog filter").

But I think whether to add rock depends a lot on the type of filtration you have. For example, if you add a bog filter (even a small one) and your skimmer is working well, then the amount of muck will be minimal. You definitely have enough rock in your existing waterfall to create a beautiful overflow from a bog. You'd want to think "horizontal" rather than vertical -- making a lined depression with sides high enough above the pond to allow you to overlay the bog liner over the pond liner with no fear of leaks. @poconojoe has a great thread showing how he built his bog. You can use your existing waterfall rocks to line the bog and build a natural looking overflow into the pond.

If the skimmer doesn't seem to be doing its job, instead of buying a new one, you could just create an intake bay. This is a very simple DIY, especially if you have enough extra pond liner to enlarge the hole where your skimmer currently sits. If you don't, you could use a rubber tub located inside your pond to do the same job. The main idea is that you'd have the pump located inside the intake bay, with water being pulled in through a narrow opening near the surface. Ideally, the tub/bay should have a false bottom. I used upside-down milk crates of mine, shown below:

The garbage bin in the photo houses the pump and has slits carved around one side near the bottom, to force the water down toward the bottom of the tub / bay.

Then, on top of your false bottom, you add some gravel, put the pump inside the container (with a hole near the top for the plumbing) and voila! Instant skimmer!

Another reason to add rocks to the pond (and not just around the edges, is a purely aesthetic one; the pond looks more natural, and you can add little planting pockets among the rocks by pouring in a bit of gravel. Here's a recent photo of my pond in progress, which shows the areas that have been rocked in vs. those that have yet to be rocked in.

Big difference! The work is going slowly, as I'm doing it on my own, and as a 60 year-old granny, I'm less fit than I once was! But you can definitely see the advantage of having the edges fully rocked in.

 

[GBBUDD]

View attachment 152389

Big difference! The work is going slowly, as I'm doing it on my own, and as a 60 year-old granny, I'm less fit than I once was! But you can definitely see the advantage of having the edges fully rocked in.

Your photo above truely looks amazing!

The entire plan and design came out second to none.