Reinventing my pond

[Evguy1]

Yes about 4 feet. I came in a load of blast rock that we got for landscaping a few years ago. When we started the pond my wife said that rock had to be in the pond. Good choice but the guy who placed it had to rent an excavator and it turned out to be too small so he had to hire a much larger one.

 

[GBBUDD]

Just take a rock / brick or a grinder and round the edges takes no time at all your just breaking the sharp edge . slide the brick over the top edge on an angle not flat against the block so your basically just turning the 90 degree corner to a 45 or rounded edge. then place your fabric and there's little chance of a problem down the road leave some slack from verticals to horizontals so if something settles it has material to pull and not stretch the liner

 

[Evguy1]

Got a lot done today, the liner in and then the distribution pipes. I added about 6" of 3/4 drain rock, about 2" under the pipes and 4" over them and then the 12" of pea gravel. My thinking was the 3/4 would not plug up the slots in the pipes. End of the day I got to test the pump out. Still have to plant the bog, hopefully get a start on that later in the week.

 

[Evguy1]

Its funny (NOT) just how fast time goes during nice weather. Have not had much time to work on my ponds yet. Had to reconfigure the back yard to make it usefull. Took 32 dump truck loads out of here, there used to be an 6 foot high bank down to the house. Impossible to do anything with. I still have to finish the fence and build vegi box's.

I did recently get some planting done (still need to remove some from pots) in the bog and see a big difference in water clarity already. I think I will move a few small fish over from the front yard pond. Still lots of cleanup and landscaping to do but its good for the summer.

 

[Evguy1]

Now I need some good pump recommendations for the new lower pond and bog.
This is nothing fancy, don't need high flow to make an impressive waterfall. Just need to move enough water to the bog for filtration.
I want a good quality and efficiant pump, I think submersible so I can leave it running year round like my others. The pond is going to be about 90,000 gallons and the bog is about 25' X 25' X 3' deep. I'm heading to a pond supply place that's about 2 days away in the next couple of weeks and would like to get the pump. They handle: Pro Echo, Atlantic, Leader, Aquascape, Oase and Matala so pretty much all the popular ones.
I don't want to buy more than I need but also want one that will last for a long time.
What sort of flow do I really need??
There is only a foot or so elevation difference between the two.
Hope to keep it clean enough to swim in on the few hot days a year that we get. Maybe add a few small fish to it as well as long as they are friendly. ;>)
The bog currently is just storing water (and tadpoles) that will get dumped into the pond once the liner is installed. The water level of the bog will come up another 8 -10 inches when it's all done. When the water is dumped to the pond I will work on the bog side. I'm also going to add another shelf to the pond and yes clean out all the rock and add about 10" of sand over the whole thing before fabric and liner.

 

[poconojoe]

You've been very ambitious!
Awesome job!

 

[combatwombat]

32 truck loads of dirt is not messing around. Curious to see a before/after of the grading.

 

[Evguy1]

Cant find any old pics of the slope since it was not nice to look at. This is the far end of the slope and only about 3 feet high. The base of the fir tree I think is the best indication of how much was taken out. The top part of the yard was mostly flat but now slopes the whole yard. The fill just went into enlarging the parking lot at my shop, room for more shit.

 

[GBBUDD]

the last pic is where in would have built the pond and stream coming down the slope from the bog.

To move 90000 gallons to keep it clear for swimming is asking a lot thats three times the average swimming pool. i wouldn't go less than two ten thousand one to the bog another for circulation

 

[Evguy1]

The stream is a stand alone feature and a long ways from the new pond/bog so a 10K pump to go from the pond to the bog, what is the circulation part?

 

[GBBUDD]

A pond that has no to little circulation becomes Over loaded with algae's and a breading ground for mosquitos but air lift tubes can do the job as well and for a reduction in price

 

[Evguy1]

I see, I have one of those septic air pumps now for my small pond which is overkill. The whole pond boils although it still creates algae like no tomorrow. I clean the green slime off my 18" X 24" filter pads daily and its thick. Hope to add a bog to that pond in the fall. This picture shows the existing Algae pond out the front door of the house. The stream is in the garden around the corner to the left beside the house and the new big pond/bog is way down to the right just this side of the berm.

 

[GBBUDD]

Looks peaceful but if no filter can you be outside at night. .

 

[Evguy1]

This is the filter that has been here for a few years, it has a UV light and I flush it about once a week now.
I added the pre filter mats in the spillway three years ago and clean then daily. Today I did it twice. I wonder if its the well water that I fill it with, it know its high in Iron. Last summer I did not run the pump so the pond just sat. With the waterfall and fountain not working it did not use much water so not much well water went in and had VERY little algae growth.

 

[GBBUDD]

hope you saw the garter snake before you dropped the lid