Regular Member jsrtist Posted October 20, 2003 Regular Member Share Posted October 20, 2003 I was reading about bog filters today in a koi magazine and was impressed by all the benefits of them. I was wondering if anyone here has used them or knows much about them? For those who dont know its basically a natural plant filter. You take a section either within or outside of the pond and fill it with many fast growing plants, and run water through them. The plants use all the nutrients and eat up waste and ammonia, and also use nitrate so its supposed to really help with algae problems. The plants also give the bacteria a good place to colonize. Some people use gravel mounds to grow plants in and that also is bio material. I was just reallly interested because it can take the place of an external filter. It will be years before I build my own pond but am trying to plan ahead and do everythign right this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted October 20, 2003 Admin Share Posted October 20, 2003 I have read about them and seen them, But I couldnt help you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jetman73 Posted October 20, 2003 Regular Member Share Posted October 20, 2003 Bog filters work very good, especially at clearing green water. Basically the plants suck out the nitrates so that there is no food for the algae too use. If you do put one in I would put it at the top of the waterfall having the water pumped underneath the gravel so it can flow upwards through the gravel and plants and then spilling back into the pond. You could also have a stream filled with plants. It should also only be a secondary filter and not the primary filtration on the pond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Debi0825 Posted October 20, 2003 Regular Member Share Posted October 20, 2003 I use a Bog Filter in my pond and have a slightly smaller version in my winter set up in the basement. It seems to be helping a lot. I didn't have it originally and my nitrites got rather high. I have to test again tonight but it is looking much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Ash Posted October 20, 2003 Regular Member Share Posted October 20, 2003 Yes, I had two mini ones in my pond this year. They were miracle workers. I used mainly hyacinth in mine and left the roots go crazy (I usually trim the roots). Those roots caught so much debris that when I cleaned it out a month ago, there was actually mud in the bottem. I'm definately sold on them, thought I think that I'll always have a filter as well. Mine water cycle when from pump to external filter with UV to two consecutive veggie filters to waterfall. It worked very nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jsrtist Posted October 21, 2003 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 21, 2003 Wow, it sounds like they really do work. Ash what size are the bogs in relation to the rest of your pond? In the article it said it should be about 10% the size of your pond. However it was also suggesting this be used as the only filtration, which I thought was weird. So you guys are saying you would need an external filter as well, in addition to the waterfall? Is that mainly for mechanical filtration? Because it seems that between a waterfall and bog you would have plenty of breeding ground for beneficial bacteria. Anyway thanks for the feedback. I like researching well in advance of my projects! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jetman73 Posted October 21, 2003 Regular Member Share Posted October 21, 2003 JS you have it 100% correct. You should add some type of mechanical filtration before the bog filter. Something that does mechanical AND biological prior too the bog would be very nice. And if you do put the bog in: After the mechanical stage have the water pumped in on the bottom of the bog filter and make it rise through the media and plants before spilling back into the pond. I was a little unclear in my last post. If you do it that way you could also make the bog filter the top of your waterfall. I have seen it done before on a pond and it looked great. If only I had the room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Ash Posted October 22, 2003 Regular Member Share Posted October 22, 2003 Mine were just a bit smaller then 10%. No, now that I'm thinking about it they were about 5%. When I made them I was more going for a place that I could put my plants that my fish wouldn't devour. It just turned out that they made a good secondary filter. I don't know that I'd feel confrotable about having a veggie filter being the only means of filtration. I like having the external filter there that I can control. By the way...definatly spring for UV right away. I never had a problem with green water but this year I got a UV and the difference was unbelivable. I also had a filtration system rated for a pond ten times the size mine actually was...and the veggie filter was new this year. When I was going to stores checking equipment out (before I actually started my pond) a guy tried to sell me on the idea of UV. I walked out of there and said "Yeah right...that's just a waste of money." Now, I'd never be without it. Especially if you are a fish lover...you have to see your fish! If you want to see my pond pics from this year....go here. My pond was only about 18 inches deep, but you can still see the rocks on the bottem! Pond Photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.