Has anyone used the quilt batting for quick cleanup?

[Miami Al]

@Miami Al the best teacher is experiance . Share what you would do differently . Why can't your bog keep up.

The reality was I had an algae bloom and I lack the patience for letting it work its way through the process, it would probably all be fine in 2-3 weeks.

I also have a tanin problem from over feeding and leaves.

The bogs are providing excellent biological filtration. I checked my pond water, it is fine. My fish are fine, everything is fine. The bogs do their job.

A natural ecosystem has ebbs and flows. I didn’t like the water being pea soupy.

I want more polished water.

I have the skimmer feeding the bogs, does the job. I have the bottom drain feeding an aqua scape urn filter. I could just rip the biological material out and stick filter pads in there. I just don’t want to go digging.

The idea of this external filter box is more mechanical filtration without needing to reach into dirty filters.

If that works the urn filter is going to be my activated charcoal filter.

I have also overstocked the small pond, and I like having the extra fish, so I think I just need some extra filtration.

The said the filter box arrived and I haven’t installed it yet, waiting to see what leaving the pond alone for a week did to the algae bloom.

 

[GBBUDD]

nOT SO SURE ABOUT THE ACTIVATED CARBON THOUGH, how big is your pond .Pictures are pricesless

 

[Miami Al]

I ran quilt batting for a few days, cleared up the algae bloom. I then went out of town for 5 days, and it's still clear. Filter is sitting in my dining room. I like the idea of the sponges + UV light. I dislike the idea of something to maintain.

The water is brownish, I don't like that. I'd like it to look clean.

The Nitrate/Nitrite levels are near 0 (whatever is the lowest color on the strip). The bogs are absolutely doing their job.

I'm torn, I love how low maintenance it is. I want less brown water.

I think I'm building this with lots of PVC quick connects so if it's too much work I remove it. I do think I just need more mechanical filtration, I have more biological than I need. The UV to kill algae is tempting.

Alex

 

[GBBUDD]

Uv kills the existing algae but as it dies it becomes food ... For the next round of algae.... endless cycle.

 

[Miami Al]

But with lots of plants and the bog I would hope that the dead algae feeds the plants instead of becoming more algae.

 

[GBBUDD]

All depends what you call lots of plants. . My bog after 4 years is so dense I rip stuff out at least three or four times a year. And then I have plants and moss everywhere. I don't see green water but I get the fuzz algae on the rocks a little thicker than I like this time of year but nothing is growing at the moments.
That and I don't go crazy in the fall trying to get all the leaves out anymore, as the frogs then have know where to bury under and wait out the winter. I just started scooping some of them out recently. As some pockets of the ice are starting to open up.

 

[Miami Al]

My bogs have about 12 plants. There are another 11 in the pond.

Total Pond: 270 gallons, 28 sq. ft. of pond surface area.

Small pond.

No freeze, in Miami area.

 

[Lisak1]

I always say if you can count your plants, you need more.

But plants won’t remove tannins which is what it sounds like is causing the brown water. Activated charcoal works for that BUT if you have a constant source of tannins you might be fighting an uphill battle.

 

[Miami Al]

I always say if you can count your plants, you need more.

But plants won’t remove tannins which is what it sounds like is causing the brown water. Activated charcoal works for that BUT if you have a constant source of tannins you might be fighting an uphill battle.

I don't disagree. The bogs are pretty full, I had to thin them out, I'll get fresh pictures.

The "in pond" plants.

My new approach has been to place them in 1 Gallon pond fabric ponds with pond soil and a nice layer of pea pebbles. I've been adding them a few per week.

The only reason I know the count is I pulled each of the little plastic aquarium pots out and replanted them in the gallon/fabric part, and I ordered the pots/soil last week.

Taking advantage of being in Florida, I just buy pretty looking plants from aquarium stores, they are growing nicely.

 

[GBBUDD]

Do a 1/3 water change every other week problem solved no uv, no carbon, a small pond like that you can easily manage in that manner stir the heck out of the pond before the water change get as large a flex hose as possible to empty the water thats mixed up as quick as possible

 

[Miami Al]

The other day, I ran the quilt batten through for a few days, swapping it out daily, and water cleared up. I then tossed an activated carbon "packet" into the filter, and left town for a few days. Water is clearing up.

Well, I put the new filter in, and within about 2 hours (enough time to turn the water over 4 times), already seeing an improvement in clarity. I flushed the sludge from the bog pots, put the new filter in, and things are looking great.

I have some more ponds and pond soil arriving tomorrow, planning to add a few more plants. But I expect that this won't be the near zero maintenance of a pure-bog pond, but I anticipate it going back to super low maintenance with great clarity of water.

 

[Miami Al]

Water looks beautiful, 100% visibility.

I stuck some batting in the urn to clean up remnants. My activated charcoal system is a pouch I bought for $8 at a pet store, but it's clearing up. Will pull batting out when I get home tonight, but it was a night and day change within 2 hours.

 

[Miami Al]

So it’s working great still. I’ve been tossing the remnant batting in just to use it up and few hours later it was turning pretty black (dead algae presumably).

I had to leave for work too early to take pictures but everything looks amazing now.

I did a test run of cleaning the new box filter, took < 2 minutes and extremely painless. Very happy with this change.

I plan to start playing with the urn filter to work on better filtration.

I now feel fantastic with my dual systems-
Skimmer + bogs keeps water always safe for fish
Bottom drain + box filter + urn filter let’s me polish the water to be all pretty

I believe I now have the best of both worlds of the gardener approach and koi approach.

I added three more plants yesterday.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

It's great to hear that you've found a workable system that keeps you & your pond happy. It also just goes to show that there is absolutely no one 'right' way to have a pond. Every pond is different, every ponder is different and we've all got to find the best way for our own systems. Good for you to keep trying different options & combinations until you hit on what works for you. Happy ponding!

 

[Miami Al]

It's great to hear that you've found a workable system that keeps you & your pond happy. It also just goes to show that there is absolutely no one 'right' way to have a pond. Every pond is different, every ponder is different and we've all got to find the best way for our own systems. Good for you to keep trying different options & combinations until you hit on what works for you. Happy ponding!

Thank you so much! I do believe that the big system championed here is so totally fantastic for a low maintenance situation. The fact is I could turn off my redundant filtration system and everything is fine!

I also was fine when I didn’t add too high a fish load and over feed them… but it’s not just a hobby, they are my pets too!