How to Design and Build a DIY Bog Filter for Crystal Clear Pond Water
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- Опубліковано 24 лип 2024
- This is a video that shows how I designed and built a DIY bog filter for a simple stock trough pond.
Heres a link to my bog filter playlist- • Bog filter DIY videos
Heres a link to the pdf I kept going on about- ozponds.com/pond-equipment/. On that same page you can find a link to the low volt variable speed pond pumps that I'm in love with!
More information at ozponds.com - Навчання та стиль
I always thought plants were really important in a bog filter but i see its more about the bacteria on the rock.
Correct 👍
Happy New Year, Kev! Im building 3 bog filters for a 15,000 liter pond im constructing, and I refer to your videos constantly! Thank you again, so much! Peace, Rich. Santa Cruz, Ca
Happy New Year Rich 🍻👍
What a great channel. Ive searched for pond filtration before and never found you. No idea why. Subscription added!
I hope you like it here. 😊👍
Building my first pond and just binged a bunch of your videos! Easy to understand and follow! Beautiful ponds! Subscription earned my friend!
Awesome! Thank you!😊👍
you and me both
happy new year to you and all your subscribers🎉🎉
Same to you 🍻👍
Love your channel Kev!!!
Thanks 😊👍
Hi, Kev! Glad to see another vid! I've been watching long enough so when you show the different ponds in your yard I already know where the bog filters, pumps, and pipes are and how you built and maintain them... haha
Thanks for the support mate😊👍. Most people don’t watch all the videos.
@@Ozponds Your content is always useful and easy to follow... much appreciated!
@Ozponds I just used your videos to create my pond. I also did the bog filter . I'm from India so it was interesting to set up.
I really like this concrete stock tank. Has a nice charm to it. Happy 2024 !
Thanks Dave. You too 🍻👍
Thank you so much for your step by step explanation; I had a very small pond years ago and am relearning all this. Just bought a 20 gallon tub to create my first bog filter for my little preformed pond, will make a little short stream from filter to pond, and your videos are giving me the confidence to do it! Getting nothing else done! :) Like Randy said earlier, binge watching all your videos. And your pond is breathtakingly beautiful!
I hope you create something that brings you tons of joy 😊👍
Thank you! It is already! 🐠
Hey Kev, I really enjoy your videos and plan to make a bog filter pond sooner now, because I just learned something that you may want to mention to your viewers. I wanted to make a pond that would be big enough for my kids to use as a small pool, so the cost of the liner was preventing me from moving forward. But, I remembered that we have clay soil here where I live, and so I asked a friend of mine who is a soil engineer and he said it shouldn’t be much of a problem to go without the heavy duty pond liner. I have an additional advantage as well, I am in the country and pay for Canal water to service my house. There’s no meter and it’s gravity fed, so if I lose a little bit more water than expected, it doesn’t cost me a dime.
Great to hear 👍
like your video's, and i believe that bog filter are great for natural pond. Myself i got a 57000 liter koi pond and dont think a bog filter can take this over. Its not that it it can not filter it, but it has to be extreemly big to do the same as my "modern filter with modern materials".
Stick to whatever works for you 👍
Kev Bog filters are effective and very easy to clean I'm converted based on my experience with NOW crystal clear water
Once you go bog you never go back 👍
Just finished with DIY bog filter for only 600L pond. Not gonna win an award for prettiest (probably the ugliest) but wanted to get the basics right. I gotta admit my DIY skill was very limited and half of steps were unfamiliar, so at least I learnt something new. I was most afraid of getting uniseal step wrong as I couldn't find them from Bunnings and instead bought them from eBay. I would need to wait another week if I make a mistake.
Huge thanks for convincing me to DIY a bog filter. Sub earned!
(BTW I'm also from SE suburb, likely closer to Melb)
Well done for giving it a go 👍
Man ,great channel to find .. Havnt done a pond in many years .. finally got it done , and built myself a bog filter today too
Nice work 👍
Hi Kev ,i have been watching your videos and am amazed at how easy you make things for us laymen(& women).Thankyou very much for that👍.I have built a small Pond with a water fall(9000Ltrs)and have constructed a bog filter as you have explained .Perfect Thanks .Clear water and happy fish.But recently i have noticed that i am getting stringy algae ,,What is causing this and how can i control it? Thanks Regards Charlie Melbourne
It’s very normal in a new pond. I have other videos showing methods I’ve used when I experience the same issues. Overtime it will find balance.
I did something different, I put the hole filter inside the pond submerged and put the pump inside the filter then room the out pipe if the pump and put it on a raised surface and let it drip back in the pind to originate the water
Although my pump started to slow down a bit after 2 months or so of continuous working, I think it's either I didn't put enough fine filters to filter out the solids, or just simply the pump was cheaper
It’s always fun experimenting. There’s multiple ways to filter water.
Hi Kev , I really like this video it is very easy to understand. The mistake I made on my last bog filter was using invasive plants on the top of it. They completely took over and the flow stopped and overflowed whilst I was on holiday. My pump fell over and luckily stopped whilst my fish still had 6 inches of water. They were all alive when I came back home because of a vast amount of water lettice I had that reduced the ammonia and nitrates . Another mistake was putting the pump at the bottom of the pond and not putting in a T piece to stop back flow. So if I follow this video to the letter when spring comes I should be ok. My pump is very strong though 4500 Litres per hour . My pond holds about 1200 litres. I was going to buy an old wooden whisky barrel for the bog filter .It is said to hold 200 litres of water and be water tight. So if I follow your advice , I could use an overflow system because of the pump being too strong ? I need to stop the pump pulling in baby fish , please could you explain a bit more the type of cloth you used over the pump and how you tied it on to the pump. Thanks very much. 😊🐟🐠🐡🐋🐔🐝🌻☀️🤶🎅
Yes you could direct the excess flow out through the breather pipe, over the surface of the bog. Or you could divert the flow to some underwater, or surface jets to help with circulation.
The cloth of the pump was regular shade cloth (like used in the garden). I simply folded it around the intake part of the pump (the cage is still on) and used cable ties to secure it in place. Hope that helps. Have a great New Year 😊
Yes that helps a lot . Thank you Kev. Have a fantastic new year. I must add that your ponds are becoming more beautiful every year . ❤
Love your videos, very informative! I have a 100 gallon pond with a 1800 GPH pump and a 27 gallon plastic tote to use as the filter. If I have a 3/4 inch inlet and a 1-1/2 inch outlet, can I plumb the outlet into a 1 inch hose line to run to my waterfall feature about 5 ft away? The filter will be uphill slightly from the waterfall and everything will flow downhill. just wondering if there would be enough pressure to get from the outlet to the waterfall with the size reduction. Thanks!
You won’t need to reduce it. If it flows downhill it will just flow downhill, better to keep it larger. The smaller diameter won’t create more water, that’s all that matters when creating a waterfall, the amount of water. Smaller diameter outflows from the bog run the risk of not allowing enough water to escape.
Thank you
🍻👍
Thank you so much for all the amazing videos! I started my pond journey with David's organic pool pdf. So i have a air pump to move the water. So far my regeneration zone is not large enough and it all turned green here in Phoenix AZ. I do not have enough room to expand it so i was hoping use hybrid version of your bog filter design. So i was wondering if I can make your bog filter with this type of pump? or does it not have enough pressure? My idea was to pump water from the bottom of the pond with an air lift to bog filter and it will fall in to into a larger diameter pipe (not connected) that goes to the bottom of false bottom of the bog filter, water will rise as it is being filled in the bog filter and the water will return to the pond with the water fall effect back in to the pond being lower than the water air pump delivering the water to the bog. Wow I hope that makes sense. Thank you again for all that you do for this DIY community!
Theoretically I think it could work. The issue I see is that you want to get the flow rate through the bog within a ball park figure. A variable speed pump just makes it so easy to adjust and find optimal flow. You could turn it off when you swim as to have no electricity inside the water if that’s the concern.
Thank you for all your videos, my Dad made a pond, just under a year before he passed away. It soon turned pea-green, so I started looking for filter options. Your videos came up during my searches - your calming presentations are perfect for me to follow.
I created a mk1 'proof of concept' using a 25litre bucket and kitchen sink drain for a 1000litre (ish) pond (a mere puddle compared to your works of art) 18months ago, based on your videos. It epically transformed the water within about 4 weeks. I've now got most of the stuff to make my mk2, using a 80litre good quality garden dustbin (it seems really hard to find a 100litre good quality bucket here in the UK) this is just so I don't have to dismantle/clean the 25litre bucket every 4-6 weeks lol. I'm not lazy, I'm just economical with my energy. Honest. This time I am certainly adding a drain point at the bottom!
Being able to spot the tiny white label on the pump from 10 feet away is amazing, compared to only being able to see the fish when they were feeding off the pea-green surface - it is like night and day difference.
Thank you, for doing what you do, for doing it how you do and for sharing what you do for simpletons like myself to follow. I hope you and yours have a superb holiday season and a great new year. Thank you again.
Thanks so much for your kind words. Hearing stories like this makes doing videos so rewarding. I hope you and your family also have a great holiday season. I’m so glad you get to enjoy your Dads pond 😊👍
@@Ozponds As I am now a live-in-carer for my Mum, I am certainly doing my best to keep the house functioning and the garden presentable. Having your superb videos to help with the pond is a massive help.
One other 'problem' we encounter with the pond is 'Nelly the Elephant' (ha, my Dad named the water feature thing) keeps getting clogged up with tiny dark red/brown 'worms' - gazzillions of them. Nelly is a plastic elephant, fed by a pump and water comes out of the trunk. The worms are tiny, less than 3/8" 10mm long at the absolute most. From a distance, it looks like one gooey mass which builds up and pretty much stops the flow of water. I clear the tubes when it happens and it will take a couple months to come back. I added some sticklebacks and roach to the pond to compliment the carp which slowed it down. It doesn't happen during the winter. Just curious if you have ever heard of such a thing? Not sure if they are a lavae or bloodworms. I fix classic cars, I'm not a worm guy. I totally understand if you do not have these things in your country.
I’m not sure what the worms are. I would assume you don’t need to feed the fish if they are present.
Possibly Tubifex worms? They like to live in drainage water, sewers and ditches etc. Water birds spread them on their travel. @UkMackers
And yes they clump together.
Nice vid, thanks for sharing. The stock tank seems to be filled rather high with substrate, curious on the reason.
It has a false bottom kind of like an underground filter in an aquarium. The idea is that water can flow all around the substrate, sort of like in a river. It should act as additional filtration so I can really keep lots of fish in this pond.
Thank you so much for all the good advice. Just a question; is there any type of stones/bricks/rocks that should not be used in the barrel? I was thinking that the material could disperse some kind of chemicals in case it is not natural rocks. I would like to decrease the overall weight. Stones of light concrete or leca blocks (if it is called so in English) would decrease the weight considerably and also provide more surface.
I use anything I can get. It’s just surface area we are after.
I just thought I would share I have purchased the PDF checklist for the cost of a coffee from StarBucks and it was the best little investment I have made so far for my first "pond building adventure". I went to Home Depot tonight after work with my PDF and got everything I needed to build the bog starting tomm. Thanks Kev! Glad I made the purchase as it's going to help a ton!
Tip: I used one of these online volume calculators to do all the math for me. I'm an artist/creative so I love math for what it is/does but hate doing it. HA HA! Happy Ponding 🐟
Thanks for sharing mate 😊👍. Good luck with the build.
Excellent advice. I'm probably going to need a new pump in the next few months. It's always good to remember not to put it on the bottom of the pond. Also, I love my ugly bog filter!
What sort of pump will you get?
@@Ozponds I've been using a pool filter pump (because I already had it), but I think when this one wears out I will get a proper pond pump. I probably need one about the same size as the one you used in this video. My pond is 300 gallons, so that's pretty close to 900 liters.
I have been using the tetra ( big green) solid handling pond pump. I have had ponds for 27 years now or so….It doesn’t clog and the suction stays even. In the other ones if they clog in an area the suction is greater on the other side. So sadly I had baby turtles get their legs sucked up and they drowned. I have never had that happen with the tetra solid handling one. Only time I use the others is if the water is sucked somewhere else like in a skimmer etc.
I have one that sucks from the skimmer to the bog and the tetra one sucks directly from the pond to the filter then bog. That way I have double the cleaning, the bog and the filter but it all still flows up through the bog. Just. Thought. Never had problems with them.
And far less maintenance on the pump, no net bag is needed. They are amazing.
@@Sea-cucumber1151 I will look into getting one of those. I don't know anything about which brands and styles of pond pumps are good.
Great video! Lots of useful information and straight to the point. I'm having trouble understanding the, "breather pipe" that prevents siphoning. It seems like it's just an open T and water being pumped down to the bottom of the bog would just escape rapidly on the way in from the pond. When the bog is being used and water is being pumped to the bottom of it. How does it not escape out of the breather tube? Thanks!
Sometimes it does and you might need to add an elbow fitting and a vertical pipe.
@@Ozpondsthanks for the quick response! I still don't understand. If the pump is supplying enough pressure to push water up through the bog, how does it not? Just find the easiest way out through the breather tube and 100% of it. Just rush out of that open pipe. How can it be a pressurized system in any way if there's an equal size pipe just open there? What about another option like a backflow valve?
It just works. Try it. Or do it another way you think will work. I don’t know how to explain it adequately but I’ve got many bog filters in use.
thanks much
You're welcome
Happy New Year Kev! I installed a bog filter 6 months ago and the water is sparkling clear. Unfortunately, I am having a problem with green moss on all the sides of the pond. Do you have any ideas how I can reduce the moss growth? I am so thankful for your great videos and I have learned so much. Thanks again Kev 😎
Algae or moss? My first piece of advice for algae in a new pond is always patience. You can scroll through my previous videos and see lots of different things I’ve tried over the years. Algaecides, encouraging good algae, beneficial bacteria, hydrogen peroxide. Every pond is a bit different so you kind of need to find the solution that works best for you. Hopefully those videos will help you make a more informed choice 👍
Thank you Kev I will cruise through your previous videos. It is winter here where I live so I will prepare for a Spring solution. @@Ozponds
Thanks for another inspirational vid Kev! I wanted to get your opinion - I have a 100L pot pond with ~10 white cloud minnows and a 20L bog filter on top following your design. A canister filter powers it. I want to temporarily remove the bog for some modifications, any chance of a cycle crash from this? The canister will remain in place
You’ll be fine 👍
Great video, have watched it a number of times when making my own. I’m not sure if I have the glow rate right, bog filter is 75 litres, free standing pond is 440 litres and flow rate is 360 lph is the flow rate too much?
No it’s fine 👍
Thanks for the good videos kev. quick question, i was thinking about fabrication a bog filter but have iot in 2 stages, going through mechanical filtration first then into a bog filter before back into the pond. would you think this would be pointless and the bog filter alone would suffice?
I’m actually thinking of making a video on this. It really depends on your goals if you want the pond super clean the more filtration the better.
@@Ozponds. i want what would be best for the fish really but clean is nice also. i am a fabricator so i was thinking i should just make an all in one, didn't know if there would be a down side to it. thanks for the reply, much appreciated.
No downside only upside 👍
Hi there. Excellent video.
Just a question, is there a flow rate you would consider 'too slow'?
I’m sure I’d know it if I saw it. I’m not sure how I would explain it. 🤔
I am doing a bog filter following your videos for a 1600ltrs pond. So I put 160 LTRs water in a tank to know where to cut it. And then drained the water with the pump I have.
It took 40 minutes to get rid of the 160 LTRs...will that do or bigger pump?
Thanks.
I’d give it a try and see what happens. If you already have that pump it doesn’t cost you anything to try. Changing the pump over in the future is easy if necessary.
@@Ozponds Will do. Thanks a lot for your time
Do you need a breather pipe if you use an in-line Sump Pump Check Valve between the pump and the bog?
As long as it stops the siphon that’s fine.
Just put my bog in a barrel together, thanks to you. Quick question, do you still need the breather pipe if you installed a check valve from the pump? I put my breather pipe too low and now just want to cap it, figuring I’m fine since I have a check valve anyways.
If the check valve works you’re good.
Check valve will eventually fail.
If the breather pipe doesn’t have a vacuum breaking one way check valve, what forces the water to the bottom and not just out the breather pipe?
The water seems to prefer to travel on a straight line. If it is an issue use a valve or an elbow. I have other vids showing both set ups 👍
So if i used a barrel/water butt as a bog filter. To clean it would just be a case of opening the valve to empty it whilst filling the barrel with water rinsing it through until the water coming out is clear? If that makes sense 😂 thanks
Sounds good 👍
Has anyone tried carniverous plants like Utricularia or venus fly traps in a bog filter? If you had smaller stone toward the top, and the proper substrate on top of that, I think it would create the right conditions. The only thing I'm concerned about is there might be too much nutrients for them.
Kev, when the filter is operating and there is some resistance to the water flowing into the bottom of the filter, what stops it taking the easy path out through the breather?
I’m not sure exactly. If you watch when the pond was built I actually talked a bit more about the breather pipe and how you can add a vertical pipe if too much water comes out the breather. For some reason the water prefers going down the straight pipe into the base of the filter as opposed to taking a 90degree turn. But if the filter is becoming clogged and it’s hard for the water to pass through the media in the bog more water will definitely come out the breather. I’m sure there’s a way it could be calculated but it’s too much for my brain.
@@OzpondsNormally I could explain this, HAHA, but on this night at this time? I'm too boggy. Ha pun intended, happy new year everyone.
Can you use a bog filter for a backyard swimming pool?
Yeap
So if I set up my bog filter in a place where we get harsh winters, should I drain the bog so it doesn't crack when the water freezes?
If you make it out of material that would crack I’d say, yeah.
@@Ozponds Thanks, after reading it again, my question kinda answers itself. Lol
I have a koi pond about 8,000 gallons that goes to a 55 gallon sand filter that my brother made pump is round 4500 I got another pump 5,000 gph to old smaller pond about 4x4x12 that is big filter got 1inch pipe along bottom with holes drilled in got it tee off goes to 20 gallon barrel bottom fed with same rock set as you show that spills into waterfall into bog then bog spills into big pond. Also have big barrel split to feed 20 gallon barrel all have flow valves. Big has around 8 inches of pea gravel and lava rocks also 20 gallon barrel plus filter and bio balls. Only problem is I can't drain my bog don't really want to dig an 8ft long trench pond also has concrete bottom with lots of rocks. Can I get any suggestions with pictures on how to clean maintain it please, also put liner on top of concrete. Thanks
Did you check out my other bog filter vids?
I seen a brief note about it but I'm little slow to catch on need little more direction some more equipment more specific to my dilemma don't have much imagination.
I do find your videos very helpful
Love your videos do you get everything for the bog filter from Bunnings
You can get most of it from Bunnings. Not the uniseals, olive barrel and I wouldn’t buy the pump there. But all the plumbing- yes.
Be careful when you buy PVC pipe and fittings from normal hardware stores as they usually sell DWV pipe which is not compatible with PVC pressure pipe fittings and uniseals. I bought pipe, elbows, tees from Bunnings then ordered a tap/uniseal online, they are different OD's even though they are all 32mm.
Be careful when you buy PVC pipe and fittings from normal hardware stores as they usually sell DWV pipe which is not compatible with PVC pressure pipe fittings and uniseals. I bought pipe, elbows, tees from Bunnings then ordered a tap/uniseal online, they are different OD's even though they are all 32mm.
Bunnings also sell pressure pipe. Good tip though, household plumbing (DWV) is different to irrigation (pressure). You can use either for the bog filter but it will change the uniseal needed. Rob bobs backyard aquaponic shop has a great little chart that shows what uniseal you need for the different pipes and sizes.
@@Ozponds You must have different stock in AU compared to NZ, they only had DWV in my Bunnings and it was double the price I ended up paying for pressure pipe and fittings from an online retailer. If anyone from NZ reads this, try irrigation express (does limit you to 1m lengths of pipe).
Also Kev, one day I'd love to see more detail about how you fit your flexible hose to the pressure pipe. I know you sort of explained it in this video but I couldn't find the right fittings. I ended up putting an elbow on the top of the downpipe and jammed the 25mm hose in. It does work but your solution looks cleaner.
I need help. My pond water coming out from the breather pipe before it going to the filter
Add a vertical pipe. 👍
What can ypu do to keep frogs and snakes away from above grpund ponds
Remove the pond.
Is there a reason that you can't just put the inlet near the bottom of the barrel? Vs having all the piping going up, just to go down.
Yes. It makes it too hard to prevent siphoning.
Ah ok. Would a one way valve suffice to avoid the siphoning then?
@@mollycalhoun9787 I find they fail or don’t work in low flow applications. That’s why I come over the top and have a breather hole. But feel free to experiment 👍
@@Ozponds ah ok! I'm just getting back into having a pond and need to get a filter sorted out :) I also just enjoy learning, and my brain comes up with questions it needs answers too lol.
Oz I just built a bog but where the water goes into the bottom of the bog I noticed lots off air bubbles only at one end at the intake.
Is that a bad thing ?
I don’t think so. Probably just air getting sucked in via the breather pipe.
Thank you
I paid for the PDF but never received it.
If you aren’t re-directed when you pay you need to send me an email. Follow the instructions on the website and I’ll fix it up for you 👍. I can’t do it from UA-cam.
@@Ozponds How do i find your email? "Get in touch" on your website just has a donate option and a UA-cam link.
@@Ozponds I also sent you my email via facebook messenger, but never heard back.
I don't understand the diagram. It looks to me like water would stop rising through the filter medium, as soon as it became easier for it to just exit directly from the breather pipe onto the top of the bog.
Edit. Ah...I was thinking of the pond being dug into the ground, and the barrel being sat on top of it.
I'm still confused by this
Inlet piped water is under pressure.
.
🍻
*Promo sm* 🏃
Not sure what that means..but thanks for the comment 🍻
rewatching this. i wish i'd subscribed earlier. we put our filter right at the bottom, yes muck get's stuck to it a lot...and once our outlet was attached to a flimsy metal to hold it in place and all our water drained and 98% of our koi we had for over 10 years died. i was so furious with my Dad (the koi pond is really his baby) Gonna change a lot of things this summer including adding a bog filter.
Maybe an intake bay or skimmer also.
Thank you
👍