My goldfish pond

[j.w]

Wow what a neat looking pond set up of your friends! @TheFishGuy

 

[CometKeith]

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.

Hi Addy. I haven’t even begun to think about what I’m going to do with the bog in the winter. In my pond I leave a pump, breather, and air stone running all winter. I‘m sure I’ll need to turn the pump off on the bog in the winter, but I’m guessing it will take a long time for all the ice to melt in the pvc tubing before I can turn it back on. I can take the long run of flexible piping off before the cold sets in but the pipe at the bottom of the bog will get frozen too I assume. It’s 2.5 ft below the grade. Any suggestions?

 

[CometKeith]

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

Hi Tula. Your bog came out amazing! So I wish you hadn’t mentioned string algae. I’m just starting to notice it too in my bog... not enough plants order do I need more pea gravel?

 

[CometKeith]

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?

Hi Lisa. The bog has about 7 or 8 inches of water on top. Originally I was aiming for 4 or 5 but we didn’t put quite enough river rock in because we ran out. I’m close to 12 inches of pea gravel now so I don’t know if I want to add any more. Do you see any issues with the extra water I left on top? I thought it would be nice for the floating plants.

 

[Tula]

Hi Tula. Your bog came out amazing! So I wish you hadn’t mentioned string algae. I’m just starting to notice it too in my bog... not enough plants order do I need more pea gravel?

I wish I knew the answer ! All I know is we had quite a bit of string algae, particularly before the plants really began to grow. We also get string algae on our granite slab water fall, which obviously has fast moving water over it.....so we decided to try raising the gravel level in the bog to see if it helps.

It's too soon to say if it's helping as it just looks better with the new gravel....let's see how it looks in a week - LOL ! Some plants I'd hoped would do well, are barely making it and others are really taking off....it's all kind of a mystery this summer and we're learning as we go

My green taro is pitiful looking, as is the pickerel rush, cardinal flower , bog bean, marsh marigold and arrowhead. The penny wort is fast on it's way to taking over our county ! LOL The water willow from @addy is doing very well and is a lovely plant. The parrots feather is doing well in some areas, but isn't growing vigorously.

What did you pond professional suggest in terms of amount of water over your gravel ? I liked @Lisak1 suggestion to place plants in pots in your bog.....canna lilies and elephant ears would look beautiful....I also like papyrus ( sp?) to get things going this year.

 

[addy1]

I can take the long run of flexible piping off before the cold sets in but the pipe at the bottom of the bog will get frozen too I assume. It’s 2.5 ft below the grade. Any suggestions?

Mine pipes are out in the air, the ones that feed the bog. The bog itself, no clue on how deep it freezes, one winter I had 18 inches of ice on the ponds. But in the spring, March, the plants already start growing before it is even running again. I have never had any issue turning it on when ready. The exposed pipes never stay frozen.

 

[CometKeith]

I wish I knew the answer ! All I know is we had quite a bit of string algae, particularly before the plants really began to grow. We also get string algae on our granite slab water fall, which obviously has fast moving water over it.....so we decided to try raising the gravel level in the bog to see if it helps.

It's too soon to say if it's helping as it just looks better with the new gravel....let's see how it looks in a week - LOL ! Some plants I'd hoped would do well, are barely making it and others are really taking off....it's all kind of a mystery this summer and we're learning as we go

My green taro is pitiful looking, as is the pickerel rush, cardinal flower , bog bean, marsh marigold and arrowhead. The penny wort is fast on it's way to taking over our county ! LOL The water willow from @addy is doing very well and is a lovely plant. The parrots feather is doing well in some areas, but isn't growing vigorously.

What did you pond professional suggest in terms of amount of water over your gravel ? I liked @Lisak1 suggestion to place plants in pots in your bog.....canna lilies and elephant ears would look beautiful....I also like papyrus ( sp?) to get things going this year.

Hi Tula. The only thing he really mentioned about the water is that it definitely does not need to run as a waterfall from the bog to the pond and it didn’t hurt to let the two bodies of water freely mix. Maybe I should try to get more of my pond water in my bog either by pumping it or raising the water level up so it flows in more. Since the pond doesn’t have hair algae at all I’m thinking the bog isn’t getting the benefit of the beneficial bacteria in my filter so I need to mix it more... So much to think about!
i did try two things tonight... I raised up the water a little and brought my air pump diffuser closer to the bog to help mix the eater more. I’ll see if that helps cut down the hair algae. I did notice a 3 inch fish found its way into the bog and was hunting around..... probably eating most the babies!

 

[Tula]

Keith, What is the relationship of your bog to the pond? I know it has a separate liner...does it pump water from pond? Does the pond and bog water mix?

 

[CometKeith]

Keith, What is the relationship of your bog to the pond? I know it has a separate liner...does it pump water from pond? Does the pond and bog water mix?

Hi Tula. I have a pump in the pond pumping water into the bottom of bog. I just brought my air stone a little closer to the bog to try to get the surface water to mix a little more.

 

[Tula]

Hi Tula. I have a pump in the pond pumping water into the bottom of bog. I just brought my air stone a little closer to the bog to try to get the surface water to mix a little more.

I'm assuming somehow the water from the bog, remixes with the pond water...not through a spillway or through the walls ( which have a liner ) ....maybe just flowing over the top a bit? However it works, it seems to be working!

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Tula. Yes. The wall is very slightly lower than the pond water and there are small openings between the limestone on the top. Also there is one opening in the liner that is higher than the gravel but lower than the top of the wall that lets water and small fish through! I can't believe how much string algae is in the bog. I'm hoping as the water lettuces grow it will shade the bog and use up some of the nutrients in the bog. I would think that since the pond water is going through the biological filter the string algae should be totally eliminated not just in the pond but everywhere including the bog, but something about the water going through the bog reduces the beneficial bacteria and lets the algae grow!?! So 4 options 1) Do nothing and see what happens as the wl's grow 2) add more gravel or rocks but what would this do and I'm afraid I will be going over the 12 inch rule about pea gravel? I'm guessing the algae would still slime on the top of the rocks 3) Plant more plants and hope it uses up the nutrients that are feeding the algae, but this never works in the spring to combat string algae so why would it work now 4) push a lot of water from the pond to the bog and see if I can get the bog water to mix more with the pond water. I have done this somewhat already and only succeeded in making my pretty pea gravel dirty and nothing else.

 

[addy1]

add more gravel or rocks but what would this do and I'm afraid I will be going over the 12 inch rule about pea gravel? I

There is a "rule" to keep the pea gravel between 12 and 18 inches, mine is 2.5 feet deep and works great. That rule is just want someone wrote up cause it worked so why use more gravel.

Plant more plants and hope it uses up the nutrients that are feeding the algae, but this never works in the spring to combat string algae

With my bog and the plants I don't ever get string algae, I think you will be the same once your plants grow in. You need it planted with plants that will grow fast and fill it in. I have some of the small sweet flag, it , so far, has grown real slow.

I have done this somewhat already and only succeeded in making my pretty pea gravel dirty and nothing else.

Your gravel will not stay pretty dirt/ muddish stuff will collect on the surface unless you clean it a lot.

push a lot of water from the pond to the bog and see if I can get the bog water to mix more with the pond water.

I push a lot of water from the pond though the bog, keeps the pond in perfect shape. Actually all of the water except a small amount goes through the bog.

 

[Lisak1]

I'm gonna agree with more plants. And yes, your gravel won't always look "pretty" but if you have enough plants you won't see it anyway.

It's interesting that the string algae is popping up in an established pond, but you did do a lot of stirring up with all your reconstruction and plant removal so it makes sense. I wouldn't blame the bog for the string algae developing - when I get it, mine always grows on my waterfall. Does it like moving water? Is that where the nutrients are gathering? Not sure. And your bog is so new that the bacteria hasn't really had a chance to colonize yet... I think it needs more time to mature.

Your bog also functions a bit differently in that it's more a mixing of bog and pond water than a waterfall or other outflow, so it will be interesting to see how it develops. I've seen the in-pond style of bog used successfully in swim or recreation ponds, so they definitely work.

 

[Tula]

Could you add more plants for now, whether in pots or in the bog itself, and see if it helps? I think koi produce a ton of waste and you also have gold fish.

I'm trying to be patient with our bog, not easy. When we had a lot of string algae I removed it my hand, cause I don't like to look at it. I'll try to take some unclose pictures of our bog, so you can see we too have algae

 

[CometKeith]

There is a "rule" to keep the pea gravel between 12 and 18 inches, mine is 2.5 feet deep and works great. That rule is just want someone wrote up cause it worked so why use more gravel.



With my bog and the plants I don't ever get string algae, I think you will be the same once your plants grow in. You need it planted with plants that will grow fast and fill it in. I have some of the small sweet flag, it , so far, has grown real slow.



Your gravel will not stay pretty dirt/ muddish stuff will collect on the surface unless you clean it a lot.


I push a lot of water from the pond though the bog, keeps the pond in perfect shape. Actually all of the water except a small amount goes through the bog.

Thanks Addy for all the great advice. I'm getting a new pump. Do you think it would hurt if I used a little stronger pump for the bog? I think the one I'm using is under 1500 gph and the new one is 2000 gph. The hose has a pretty long run from the pump to the bog so I'm guessing the head is reducing the volume of water going through it quite a bit. The bog is still has a lot of very dark green algae on top. Almost half of the bog is that way now. The water lettuces are slowly spreading out but i'm sure I need more plantings. The pond water is very clear so that part is good.