DIY Filter

[GBBUDD]

The skimmer is a great way to get your water to the bog it will catch the heavy debris before it goes to the bog thus preventing or at least seriously delaying the bog clogging up down the road. The out feed from the skimmer is pumped to some 2" pvc pipe that has slots or holes drilled into the pipe. The pipe is then placed at the bottom of a 12" to 18" deep depression where you simply then add 3/8" pea stone is what is recommended. Over and around the pvc pipe and then plant the surface area with bog plants. yes there's a little more too it but that's the gist of it.

 

[Telion]

How far is your bog area from your skimmer? I’m trying to comprehend how the skimmer feeds the bog area.

It feeds the bog through a 2" hose that runs from the skimmer to the bog about 20 ft away. This pic is likely the best reference. I am standing on the walk out deck and the bog is in the top right corner. But really you can put the bog anywhere, this was an after thought. I did want and do have the skimmer at the opposite end of the waterfall so the water flows toward the skimmer.

 

[addy1]

I filter only with a bog, my skimmer T's into the line that draws water from the pond. I have a leaf basket before the pump and a leaf basket in the skimmer.

Both catch any large debris before it hits the bog. It has been running since 2010 without any maintenance except yanking over growing plants.

Like said above, when I yank plants I smoke up the pond. You can see nothing when I am done. The next day back to crystal clear. No green water, no string algae in the big ponds.

 

[AngelaM]

It feeds the bog through a 2" hose that runs from the skimmer to the bog about 20 ft away. This pic is likely the best reference. I am standing on the walk out deck and the bog is in the top right corner. But really you can put the bog anywhere, this was an after thought. I did want and do have the skimmer at the opposite end of the waterfall so the water flows toward the skimmer.View attachment 114243

So did you bury the pipe that runs from the skimmer to the bog area? My only concern with the bog is we do have cold winters here and my pond is mostly shaded. Having a heck of a time getting plants to spread in my pond. I am researching that a bog should be 1/3 the size of your pond. I’d hate to go through all the work of putting a huge bog area in if I can’t get the plants to grow in it.

 

[GBBUDD]

I'll let addy attest to the pipe as I have not weathered a winter as yet but my pipe is exposed at the bog at this point but I plan to burry it with the fit and finish. but if I don't get to it by winter hay bales and or heat tape " electrical cable wraped around the pipe that heats up. will be installed on the small amount of pipe .

 

[Lisak1]

I’d hate to go through all the work of putting a huge bog area in if I can’t get the plants to grow in it.

Plants will grow in a bog - no question about that. I'm in the Chicago area - our winters are much the same. If your bog would be shaded, you may have to choose a few different types of plants, but in my experience your problem will be thinning them out, not getting them to grow.

How many fish do you have again in how many gallons?

 

[Jack B. Nimble]

Mine is shaded a good portion of the day but, as the rest say not an issue and after you try a few local hardy ones they will tell you which works best.

 

[Tula]

I have an ugly 55 gallon blue barrel sand & gravel filter. Hubby built a nice wooden structure for it and I painted it forest green. His final measurements were off, so the back is open as opposed to closed, but it's not too visible .

I keep thinking about returning some of the water from that filter to a small bog....just have to get myself in gear to do it. I'm reluctant to rip out the boxwoods we planted there.

 

[addy1]

@AngelaM @GBBUDD
I have exposed pipes going to my bog. My skimmer pipe is under the liner about a foot to 18 inches deep on the bog wall shelf, then comes out totally exposed to join the pond water draw at a T that then goes to the external pump. lousy drawing, w = water s = skimmer line p = pond line b=bog

There is around 6 feet of exposed pipes in the winter going to the pump, 6 feet going to the bog.
Winter I pull the pump, open the lines, leave some water in them, never had a pipe break. Some water does drain out, not much. The bog line is higher than the edge of the bog so the bog does not drain. It heads down and enters at the bottom.

Per plants, Our huge maple , that died, did shade part of the bog, the plants did not care. Now that it is dead, the plants are growing about the same. Maybe more. I have had to yank some out a few times this year.

My yellow flag iris was in the full shade, it grew, this year with the tree dead it bloomed better.

Give them water, fish poo, they grow sun, part sun, shade they grow

 

[Telion]

So did you bury the pipe that runs from the skimmer to the bog area? My only concern with the bog is we do have cold winters here and my pond is mostly shaded. Having a heck of a time getting plants to spread in my pond. I am researching that a bog should be 1/3 the size of your pond. I’d hate to go through all the work of putting a huge bog area in if I can’t get the plants to grow in it.

This where i decided to not go cheap and used pvc flex pipe not the hard pipe. The actual piping in the bog (buried under the gravel) is pvc but the line running to the bog is the hose like flexpipe, and the pvc connector to the skimmer is below the frost line. Like using 45 mil epdm liner vs. vinyl or pvc liner some parts of a build cannot be comprimised unless you bury it like @GBBUDD intends to. However being that it will not be under pressure or have water in it that would swell and burst if you could angle it to drain when unused i don't think it would be an issue.

 

[AngelaM]

Plants will grow in a bog - no question about that. I'm in the Chicago area - our winters are much the same. If your bog would be shaded, you may have to choose a few different types of plants, but in my experience your problem will be thinning them out, not getting them to grow.

How many fish do you have again in how many gallons?

My pond is 2,100 gallons. I only have 4 butterfly koi, a goldfish and a black Molly right now. Would it defeat the purpose of having a bog if it’s not 1/3 the size of my pond?

 

[Lisak1]

My pond is 2,100 gallons. I only have 4 butterfly koi, a goldfish and a black Molly right now. Would it defeat the purpose of having a bog if it’s not 1/3 the size of my pond?

I've heard so many different "gotta be's" when it comes to bog building - this 1/3 size is just one of them. Is that one third the VOLUME or one third the SURFACE AREA? Mine is more like 1/10th the surface area and 1/4 the volume and it works great!

I say build the biggest bog you are able to and you will never be sorry!

 

[GBBUDD]

we got absoloutely hammered with rains last night to the point my one inch lift at the pond was not enough and the run off clouded up the pound to the point I couldn't even see the rots to the hyacinth as it floated by. and this morning the pond is crystal clear again you can clearly see across the pond and down 5-6"

 

[sissy]

But what's on the bottom .I put in another 3 inch over flow because 1 was not enough After leveling the pond I had to mess with it again .I figured before I put the bridge on ,do it

 

[Koi4JT]

I am really considering building my own filtration system. I’m currently cleaning all of my filters every two days because there is so much gunk in my pond. I have yet to see crystal clear water all summer. Anyways my question is has anyone used anything besides a 55 gallon barrel for filtration? How do you camouflage it? I’m trying to keep my water garden as natural looking as possible and I don’t want a bright blue barrel next to my pond. I’d like something a little prettier.

Build a bog! It as basically a small, deep pond filled with pea gravel. You pump the water into the bottom and it filters as it rises upwards and then drains into the pond. I have grasses and lilies growing in the top of mine. The bog is where all of the crap you are trying to eliminate collects. You can pull all of the algae from the top gravel easily. Every year I block off the drain to the pond and let the bog overflow, and I use a garden hose to spray the top gravel (while the pond pump continues to push water into the bog) to clean the silty stuff. Then, perhaps every three years, I backwash the bog to clean (not totally) the bottom. The only pond maintenance I perform is adding a chlorine remover when I top off the pond. My pond stays clear all year long.