UV Light, what to expect?

[Meyer Jordan]

My personal preference is Egg Rock. It allows for better flow because of the larger void spaces.

 

[vestaviascott]

My personal preference is Egg Rock. It allows for better flow because of the larger void spaces.

Thanks Meyer, what I'm trying to do is fill the voids to force more of the water out over the spillway into the pond. I'm leery of the stagnant/standing water accumulating in the void areas between the rocks on the backside of my fountain basin.

For that reason, I'm trying to decide between the smaller stones (brown pea gravel vs gray crushed drainage rock).

I've seen a video where Eric Triplett used pea gravel for a bog project so I know that will work fine, I'm just trying to determine if the drainage gravel would work equally well (since I like the color of it for my design) and if I should be overly concerned with potential liner damage from the jagged edges vs the smooth edges of the brown pea gravel.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Thanks Meyer, what I'm trying to do is fill the voids to force more of the water out over the spillway into the pond. I'm leery of the stagnant/standing water accumulating in the void areas between the rocks on the backside of my fountain basin.

No matter what is used in the 'bog' the water will exit over the spillway when the 'bog' is full.
The smaller the void space, the quicker the 'bog' will clog. All you are really seeking is some form of substrate that will provide anchorage for the plant roots in order to support the top growth. You are more likely to have stagnant/standing water occurring with smaller void spaces as these will impede water flow/circulation especially when you factor in the plant roots.

But in answer to your question, choice of substrate surface texture would be a decision based on cost and aesthetics.

 

[vestaviascott]

I suppose I just need to fix the slope so that the water doesn't settle in the basin. I need all of the water diverted to the pond, not stagnant in the bog. As it is, I apparently have a low spot at the back corner of my fountain basin. Ideally, the basin should slope towards the pond.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Are you utilizing a diffuser pipe on the bottom of the 'bog' for the inflow? And do you have it positioned in the center of the 'bog'?

 

[vestaviascott]

It would be a stretch to call it a bog and my use of that word above is probably not accurate. Currently, the upper fountain basin is just a basin (only 2 inches deep) where the water from the fountain collects and drips over the edge into the pond. It does have Mexican beach pebbles there, but solely for aesthetics to cover over the rubber liner from view.

I'm probably grossly misusing the word. What I should be saying is "gravel filtration". To the extent its possible to use gravel for filtration in the absence of plant roots in the gravel.

At this point, that's all I'm trying to achieve, some small level of additional filtration, using the gravel as the base layer below the larger beach stones, as well as some way to fill empty spaces in the back of the fountain basin to keep water from pooling there.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Sorry, I thought that you had decided to add a 'bog' to your pond's system.
Now that we are on the same page and are discussing the area with the Mexican pebbles, I will recommend that you leave it as it is. At 2 inches deep, we can't be talking about a very large amount of stagnant water. If you were to look really closely I think that you will find that you do have water movement in that area in question. Yes, you do have biological filtration occurring as it is presently constructed. All submerged and constantly wet surfaces will develop a biofilm and within this biofilm nitrifying bacteria colonize.
To me, you have no problems, however if you are really concerned do a simple check by adding some food coloring to the water flow in the top spillways and observe exactly what your flow pattern is. This is harmless and will quickly fade away.

 

[vestaviascott]

I'm going to give the food coloring test a shot and see if I can isolate where the leak is happening.

 

[vestaviascott]

Man, what a difference a day makes in the life of a pond!

This morning when I fed the fish before I left for the office, the pond was still murky with limited visibility to the bottom. I came home from the office a bit ago and what do you know? The pond has cleared up substantially. I can also see a light skin of green algae building up on the rubber liner.

So, as usual, the sage advise here proves true. Patience! Something that's not my strong suit by a long shot - but I'm learning!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

The aquatic food chain is establishing itself. You are now the proud parent of a healthy population of zooplankton.

 

[vestaviascott]

The aquatic food chain is establishing itself. You are now the proud parent of a healthy population of zooplankton.

Thanks... Off to Google "zooplankton". I don't yet know what it is but I think I like it.

 

[Lisak1]

CLEAR AS A BELL! It's a beautiful thing!

 

[vestaviascott]

CLEAR AS A BELL! It's a beautiful thing!

Exactly! I'm thankful for that.

The only downside is that when the water is this clear it really shows up the fact that I really need to change out my tubing. The clear tubing is a temp setup due to the fact the aquatic center didn't have the black thick wall tubing when I needed it. So, this will eventually be replaced with elbow fittings and black thick wall tubing for a cleaner, more professional finish.

I'm already planning (again) for my next corner fold adjustment to raise the water level. I have to run the dye test to see if I can identify which of my folded corners has a low tip (the end point of the folded tucked liner). As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm losing about an inch of water a day mostly due to a low corner fold that's letting water leak behind the liner.

If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now about the importance of getting these fold tips above the water line, I'd make extra sure I did so. I don't like emptying 3/4 of the pond in order to fix things I could have set right at the outset. Live and learn. Experience is the best teacher.

 

[vestaviascott]

Do you have a Dissolved Oxygen test kit? The only true way to know what your Oxygen levels are at any given time. Relying on fish behavior is risky. By the time they exhibit symptoms of low Oxygen, it is almost too late.
Generally speaking, something in the overall system of a pond has to be seriously out-of-kilter for Oxygen levels to drop below 3 mg/L (the lethal lower limit for Koi and usually Goldfish).

I do not. If you have a recommendation for a test kit, please advise. I'd like to know for certain that the O2 levels are hospitable for the fish.

 

[Lisak1]

Live and learn. Experience is the best teacher.

So true! I learn my best lessons from my own blunders. But to my own credit (ahem!) I have, as a result, learned to really think things through carefully to try to anticipate hiccups and missteps. And sometimes it even works!