My goldfish pond

[CometKeith]

Great job on the bog! Fun to see babies, uh oh tho, hope you have a lot of people who need some fishies for their ponds near you? Craigslist and nextdoor.com to the rescue!

Thanks JW. The big trade off was when I bargained with my wife that if she allowed me to build the bog I would get rid of that giant clump of sedges I had in the front of the pond. I’m so glad I installed a bog instead of upgrading my pump and filter again. Because I had so many of the items from past projects that I needed to build it like the block, limestone, pump, and 45 mil liner I only needed to buy the river rock, pea gravel and schedule 80 piping. I think I spent on materials about $300 total. Re the babies... It’s really hard for me to give goldfish away to be going into someone’s goldfish bowl

 

[CometKeith]

I love it! That bird's eye view is the best!

I took one picture on the first day of each month for an entire year from our upstairs bathroom window. You could do that from your balcony - it's so fun to put the pictures side by side and see the changes from one month to the next.

Lisa. I took this picture this morning. It’s from 2.5 stories up! So my biggest problem now is the floating water lettuces I put in the bog are doing horribly. No one is eating their roots like the main pond, but the bog water is too clean for them to get much nutrients so they aren’t really growing. I think it would be counter productive to pump pond water in the top of the bog just to grow the wl’s and get the top of my gravel dirty. I already have so many pumps going already... two recycling water both making a lot of splashing, one external pump for the bead filter, one for the bog, and an air pump!

 

[Tula]

Another plus of your bog location is it seems to get extra sun

 

[Lisak1]

It may take a while before you bog can support plant life. But rest assured you're moving in the right direction! I wouldn't worry too much about it - it'll happen.

If you want to get some plants growing in there, maybe try a few things in pots with dirt. Some elephant ears or papyrus would love it in there if you want something big. The dirt will help keep the plants fed and the bog will water them. We saw a discount table at a few of our favorite nurseries last week that I had to pull myself away from - go grab some stragglers and give it a go!

 

[CometKeith]

It may take a while before you bog can support plant life. But rest assured you're moving in the right direction! I wouldn't worry too much about it - it'll happen.

If you want to get some plants growing in there, maybe try a few things in pots with dirt. Some elephant ears or papyrus would love it in there if you want something big. The dirt will help keep the plants fed and the bog will water them. We saw a discount table at a few of our favorite nurseries last week that I had to pull myself away from - go grab some stragglers and give it a go!

Hi Lisa. There are actually about a dozen plants growing in the bog. I bought 9 dwarf sweet flag plants that I planted that I got from William Trickler. I was a little surprised how small most of them were but hopefully they will grow. Also I had some very similar plants in my pond that I saved when I pulled out my big sedge. I planted them by the gray pvc pipe to help hide it. My wife is kind of a minimalist and she likes the idea of just having one kind of bog plant and the water lettuces. May at some point I’ll try to sneak something else in if I can find something nice. So I‘m actually getting pretty excited about the bog. It has a different feel from the pond. Besides the baby fish I noticed a nice size snail found its way in and was cleaning the top of the pea gravel. Also I saw some birds using it as a bird bath this morning which makes sense because I saw a big white feather in it the other day. I guess they are really picky and like the really clean water it produces better than the pond. Now I’m starting to think that if I ever get frog eggs or baby tadpoles again the bog would be the perfect place to put them so they can grow without being eaten!

 

[CometKeith]

Another plus of your bog location is it seems to get extra sun

Thanks Tula. It gets mostly morning and afternoon sun and some midday sun but our building is south of it so it gets shaded for a few hours. Do you think the sun helps the plants grow or makes it filter better? When I planted a few plants in it the other evening I couldn’t believe how warm the water was in the bog. It was actually hot!

 

[addy1]

Mine is full sun, it actually warms the pond water to a extent, but also really cools it when we turn cold. Another reason I turn everything off in the winter. The bog plants love sun, at least mine do.

 

[Tula]

My bog gets a lot of sun. Plants are doing well but we also had quite a bit of string algae. We've raised the gravel level to see if it helps with the algae.

 

[TheFishGuy]

My bog gets a lot of sun. Plants are doing well but we also had quite a bit of string algae. We've raised the gravel level to see if it helps with the algae.View attachment 131915

amazing pond and bog! great variety of plants youve got going in there

( do you think a 1200 gallon pond would be enough for 2 koi? )

 

[Tula]

amazing pond and bog! great variety of plants youve got going in there

( do you think a 1200 gallon pond would be enough for 2 koi? )

I have 4 koi in 1700 gallons. I have to work at filtration as they produce a lot of waste. I wish they had even more room to swim.....a 3000 gallon pond would be nice. However we'll not be expanding and I'm committed to my four, as we've had them 16 years.

2 adult koi in 1200 gallons would probably be ok, but not ideal.....and you'd have to have good filtration.

 

[TheFishGuy]

I have 4 koi in 1700 gallons. I have to work at filtration as they produce a lot of waste. I wish they had even more room to swim.....a 3000 gallon pond would be nice. However we'll not be expanding and I'm committed to my four, as we've had them 16 years.

2 adult koi in 1200 gallons would probably be ok, but not ideal.....and you'd have to have good filtration.

thanks so much for the advice I currently have 2 baby koi in 600 gallons ( YIKES! ) and since I am commited too not giving up my babies I am planning an expansion starting in a couple of weeks to make a nice home for them

 

[Tula]

thanks so much for the advice I currently have 2 baby koi in 600 gallons ( YIKES! ) and since I am commited too not giving up my babies I am planning an expansion starting in a couple of weeks to make a nice home for them

One thing I do that is really a pain, is lower the pond water in late summer and gather up all the offspring and rehome them. It is a long day and not an easy task, but I have 2 females and 2 males so there are babies and pond isn''t big enough to support them all.

 

[Lisak1]

I bought 9 dwarf sweet flag

Ah! I see them now! Plants are great for hiding so many things!

I understand your wife completely. If I had a big bog like @addy1 I would have lots of plants, but since mine is only 24 square feet, I keep it simple. My latest favorite is canna lilies - they LOVE the bog and have tripled in size. They give me lots of green, big blooms and are simple to yank out in the fall.

How deep is the water on top of the gravel again?

 

[TheFishGuy]

One thing I do that is really a pain, is lower the pond water in late summer and gather up all the offspring and rehome them. It is a long day and not an easy task, but I have 2 females and 2 males so there are babies and pond isn''t big enough to support them all.

I have honestly never had any fish breed in my tanks or pond, so I dont really think breeding will be a problem, but if it becomes one I have a great family freind with a 4k gallon pond, and another 1k gallon pond, AND a natraul bog pond, ( their backyard is literally paradise with a sweet view ) so I am sure he would be happy to take some offspring!

below are some pics I snapped while at their place:

the 4k gallon pond w/ some of his amazing fish

the wildlife pond with the stream, and the bridge going to the coffee shack

the 1K gallon pond w/ a stream that connects to the stream that goes to the wildlife pond, and a view out from the coffeeshack

the veiw of their vegtablegarden, and being able to see out on like half of the city, and the pathway that goes into the backyard, with a wonderful little beach shack and patio

Ik this yard is like a dream! and it cant be explained at all w/ pics, I wasent even able to capture the litterally bamboo garde ( 6ft tall bamboo IN COLORADO, wwhich a little water feature ) or, all of his filtration ( all his ponds are connected, with a 500 gallon in ground filtration stock tank tub!!!!

okay okay, sorry if that got a little carried away

 

[Tula]

Your friend's back yard is incredible, truly an oasis !