What’s the best pond filter?
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- In this video I talk about the benefits of bog filters and why I think they are the best pond filter you can have. Best of all they are easy to build yourself, efficient to run and achieve fantastic results.
In the video I mentioned some other videos, products and resources you can find those below.
Pond formula pdf -ozponds.com/po...
Efficient variable speed pumps (Amazon link)- amzn.to/3NX9U4V
How to design a backyard ecosystem pond with bog filter and intake bay- • How to design a backya...
How to build a backyard ecosystem pond with bog filter and intake bay-
• How to build a DIY bac...
DIY bog filter playlist- • Bog filter DIY videos
Kev, thank you thank you thank you. I’ve watched endless amount of videos trying to get my head around the bog filter / pond thing and only now, after coming across yours and watching few, do I finally really get it. May be a touch of me expecting it to be very tricky but your calm, no fuss way of explaining, along with the exquisite (and beautifully understated) results of your work just clicked straight away. I’m a subscriber for life. Please keep up the the exceptional work and big kudos to you for all the effort you put into both making the videos for us learners and your fabulous ponds. 🙏🏼
Thank you for the encouragement and support 😊👍
Thanks Kev, bought ur PDF out of support !! Glad you made all these videos my turtles are happy
Legend 👍
Just love this channel casual but informative.
Love your passion kev thanks for all your help
Much appreciated 😊
I took your advice and built a big filter for my 5000l pond. I used an old 1000l IBC cut off the lid and filled it with rocks. Bigger rocks first then layers getting gradually smaller and gravel on the top. I have lettuce, strawberries, melons, impatiens, and cala Lilly growing in the filter. The filter also has a system of drain pipes to aid cleaning.
My pond is now crystal clear and my fish are very happy. Cheers Kev thanks for your advice. Top bloke 😉
Very cool. It works every time. Spread the word. No need to buy expensive treatments or off the shelf filters 👍
I am so glad I found your channel. The people that built the pond at house I bought had no filtration set up. Just a pump with fountain, in the corner of the yard with the most sunlight
As I added a waterfall to cycle water and learnt more talking with local stores. I still had a lot of trouble with the green water algae
Draining and donating fish wasn’t helping enough
So I made a make shift stream, got some cheap mesh filters from Amazon I placed in my waterfall, bioballs and a bunch of rocks to fill the stream
Within a few weeks my water is the clearest it has ever been in the 3 summers I’ve lived at this house
I didn’t even do a big bog filter in a tote/barrel with the math you said and I am still noticing a huge improvement
I have recommended your channel to others
I’m glad you did too! And thanks for recommending it to others. You are correct good filtration doesn’t need to be a bog filter (that’s just my favourite), what is important is the surface area available for bacteria and moving water through/ past that surface area. Well done 👍
I built my first bog filter today! I am so happy with how well it is working> I have had it running for about 5 hours and the water is already looking cleaner. Thank you so much for all the information I have gleaned from your website. I feel like I am finally making some progress. Thanks again : )
Great to hear. Well done 👍
Love your channel and content. Thanks for what you do.
My pleasure! 👍
Things always work out once nature kicks in. Thanks Kev, make a great weekend !
You too Dave 👍
I set up my 300 gallon stock tank pond about 4 weeks ago, and I used your bog in a barrel design. It only took about 2 weeks for the green water to clear up! I still haven't put fish in, because I want to make a cover I can put on at night and take off in the day time. There are too many raccoons here for me to leave it open. I am enjoying watching all the tadpoles right now, anyway. lol
Great to hear. I like the cover idea.
I'm also living the stock tank lifestyle. Same size tank. I don't use a cover to protect the fish. They have a couple of caves (a 6in and a 10in wide x 18in long each) that they use for shade and protection. Also 2 water lilies
I like the K1 3 barrel filter. easy to clean and install.
It’s a really good system for a dedicated fish pond 👍
@@Ozponds I think the moving bed ability to convert ammonia and nirites are unmatched. You can feed 20 times a day and you're still good.
I’m about to start the long process of planning out my first pond build. I have all of these feed buckets for our cattle laying around and I’m thinking about trying to use those for the bog filters. I reckon that are about 15 gallons in volume.
You can use anything that will hold water. Just make sure that the bog is big enough for the pond size.
Thanks for all of your fabulous content.
Thanks so much Suzanne. 😊👍
Thanks a lot for the information and the links.
My pleasure 👍
Aces as always.
Thanks mate 👍
Thank you
😊👍
Thank you so much for sharing ALL of your knowledge over so many videos. I would really love to hear your thoughts on davidpaganbutler's (not sure if it's really "his" idea) pond filtering system? If you are unaware, to summarize, it's the reverse of your bog filter. Your filter moves water UP through the bacteria/plant area, his moves water down instead. He uses air pumps to generate flow, air enters the pipe deep underwater, which pushes water upward, while also pulling water from the pipe buried under the bacteria/plant/rock area. I love both ideas, but just want your "two cents". Thanks again for sharing so much knowledge!
I like it. I experimented with it a little in a natural (clay) pond. It works good. The only issue I see is that it’s not easy to clean/ flush if needed.
If I understand correctly, bog is just exactly what it says, a barrel with a hole where water is pumped into, rises to the top through gravel or filter media and comes back to the pond?
Yes but it can be made out of anything and made to any size depending on situation. All that is important is slow flow, water moves up through media (usually rock & pebble) that is home to good bacteria and you have a easy way to clean it out.
KeV, for quality water is fish needed? My family would like to swimming in the pond and as vegan we would like to avoid buying fish. Love your videos!!
No you don’t need fish.
Hello mate, thanks so much for the info and effort you put in your amazing channel! Please do tell, if I make the bug filter on the bottom of my pond not separate is there a problem? Thanks cheers.
No issue from a filtration point of view. The only problem is how will you clean/ flush it? You would need to empty the entire pond.
Thank You!!!!I I'm currently bingeing all your videos here in Santa Barbara. Good job!! I care for a 5000 gal koi "formal" pond, with in pond gravel filter. Some other smaller ponds too. Big pain to clean due to access and depth (square pond 4 -5 ft deep) and keep water clear. And now, after many years of just goldfish young fish, the koi decided to raise some of their own, so filter load is increasing.
I have four 250 gal food grade containers which Im thinking of applying your bog filter method too. Also have some 50 gallon plastic drums I might practice on.
Whats your thoughts on the plastic fiber mats instead of rock,gravel, sand?
It would make a big wieght difference as Im thinking of having sort of a "portable" cleaning filter, to back up the in pond gravel one.
Maybe help pull out some of microcloudiness.....
thank you again for your efforts..
I like filter mats but more in high flow applications not bog filters.
Appreciate the response. Do you think high flow rate doesnt let good bacteria get established? More of a mechanical filtration?@@Ozponds
No both will grow good bacteria. High flow or highly oxygenated water can process ammonia and nitrite quickly and convert it to nitrate. Slow flow or lower oxygen can convert nitrate to a gas. It’s quite complex but there is benefit in both systems.
Would you do a video with recommendations for livestock? For example I'm building a duck pond, whereas the whole pond is aimed to be a big filtering system. But I want to pump the water into my chicken run through a trough-like system of pvc pipe. Is it just too unrealistic with the ducks? Everything I've read says you can't filter a duck pond but I don't want to give up
I think it’s possible. My issue is I’m running out of room to conduct more experiments. I would use a combination of a bog filter and a high flow filter. The high flow filter would have lots of sponges to capture the solid waste quickly. That would need to be flush regularly and the bog would still be a once a year thing (bog would also be supersized). I’ve tried to help a few people with ducks in a year or two I’ll reach out to them and see if the system has worked and what they have learned.
@Ozponds thank you so much, that would be wonderful for a follow up. I'll look into converting for a larger bog. Love your content btw!
Thanks appreciate the support 👍
Hi dude you do such amazing work. I am a newbie and teaching myself good or bad. I was interested in your opinions on adding sand to an existing above ground pond with some plants and fish. Is there a benefit to this or no? If so what is the best method for doing this?
I never personally added sand. I worry that it will clog very fast and go anaerobic. I might be overly cautious, but I’m not sure.
Thank you for the links to the submersible water pumps. I have an approx 2000 Gallon pond, I plan on building a bog filter in a stock tank, do you recommend the hugger 800gph or should I get a more powerful pump? Thank you! I have goldfish, koi and rosy red minnows in the pond.
The filter will like be 110 gallons.
Always depends on the filter size. You’ve got koi so I’d go a 20% bog. That’s 400G. I’d use a pump around 2400G. If your stock tank is smaller it’s obviously a smaller pump, but you may then also find that the filter is inadequate over time.
@@Ozponds Thank you! Really glad I found your channel!
Hello Kev! Thanks for all the info! Do you use those variable frequency pumps on swimming ponds as well?
If you call something a swim pond you won’t be allowed to use submersible pumps, at least where I live. I don’t have any swim ponds, I have a pond that is quite big and sometimes I need to get in it to conduct maintenance. My electrician friend says that those pumps are completely safe, much like low volt lighting but the regulations still wouldn’t allow it if it were a “swim pond”. Sorry for the strange answer but I don’t want to get sued. I know aquascapes here in Australia sells a 36 volt low volt variable speed pump for use in their “recreational ponds”. At the end of the day you need to make your own assessment on the risks.
Would a IBC tote turned into waterfall/bog filter work .. thinking of putting 2 together and piling up the dirt around and making a water fall
It’ll work. 👍
@@Ozponds thank you 🙏 love your channel it’s being a big help in our ongoing efforts
How would you design a bog filter with multiple pumps? Just in case one goes off, it would be good to have several of them running, and you can further adjust the flow by switching some of the pumps off. I wonder if there are any tricks I need to consider.
Here’s a link to a bunch of videos I made when building my dream pond. It has 4 pumps and an aerator. It should give you some ideas on how to configure your setup. It has two seperate bog filters which is a great redundancy. Dream pond build
czcams.com/play/PLJ8Cv9jCFTGTGNyEFuhQvGZpeejmEpkCN.html hope it helps.
Any thoughts on adding mud from the swamp to the bog filter to speed up colonization of the bacteria? I've almost finished digging out the pond (10' x 15' x 4' not including intake / bog) and hoping to have everything running by the end of the long weekend.
I wouldn’t do it. Sure you’ll get some good bacteria but the mud is full of nutrients. It’s an algae bloom waiting to happen. Add some water from an existing healthy body of water or some plants. Not mud.
Does the bacteria die when you completely drain the bog filter for cleaning?
Some is lost but you want to flush the bog with your pond water, the aim of the flush out is to remove sediments not the bacteria. The bacteria grow on the rocks so a lot will still remain inside the bog. If you use chlorinated water you risk killing them off.
Hi Kev ,thank you for another great video. I still don't quite understand how you size the pump. Say you had a bog filter as big as 70 litres your pump would be 6 ×7 so 42 . But 42 what ?
😊🐟🐡🐠🙋♀️
For most situations pump should be sized at 6 times the bog volume. If bog is 100 litres pump is 600 litres. If bog is 1000 litres pump is 6000 litres. Even then I still like to have a variable speed pump so I can make adjustments if needed.
@@Ozpondsis this liters per hour Kev?
Correct 👍
@Ozponds Thank you so very much. Also Kev I went to donate at your site and it said I had to use pay pal but I don't havexa pay pal account. Do you have that facility that I havecseen before where it says Buy me a coffee . Or similar. Or another way of donating please ?
🤔🐟🐡🐠☀️☀️
You can use a card. It will just ask you for an email address, but you don’t need to actually create a PayPal account. Or you can use the CZcams super thanks button. I appreciate your support.
When creating the bog space, can I be cheap and use old milk crates, or will that bite me in the fourth point of contact later?
I never used them but many others have. It’s a decision you need to make.
czcams.com/video/Yt78tGMHL6E/video.html
@@Ozponds Wow. Great video. Thanks. I think I'll roll the dice. 😄
Let me know your results 👍
Hi , is one single bog filter that you using? Is that enough?
Or there are mechanical filters too? (Sponge filters)
Depends on the size of the pond. My larger ponds have either an intake bay or skimmer to help capture large debris. Small ponds just a sponge over the pump.
@@Ozponds sponge over the pump plus bog filter, yes?
Yes, although not all my ponds have bog filters, but most do.
i m about to build a new 30'000 liters pond, how strong should be the pomp?
Depends on a few things. What type of filter? How big is the filter? How many fish? This is why I make lots of different videos. That way you can build the perfect pond for you situation. If you don’t care about learning and you want the stock standard response 30,000 litres worth of pumping capacity for a 30,000 litre pond.
@@Ozponds I want to built a bog filter at least 20% of the size of the pond. max 15/20 big koi. I m thinking about if a pomp of 30'000 liters is not to much strong?
Could be that’s why I make the videos so that you can make an informed decision. I can’t work out the math for everyone’s pond. That’s up to each individual. I just provide the information that works for me.
Kev is there an issue with oversized bogs? I am thinking of growing edible veg from the bog.
For most people no. But growing veg requires plenty of nutrients. When I’ve done aquaponics I find that you’ll end up with deficiencies and need to add certain nutrients like iron, magnesium, etc. In a normal ornamental pond it’s ok if the plants aren’t vigorously growing, it’s actually a good thing as we want to reduce nutrient loads to reduce algae issues. So in a bog growing veg you probably don’t want it too big in comparison to the fish load. You will still probably need to add nutrients and you will need to monitor water quality. And of course all that depends on how much food you want to produce.
@@Ozponds way to expand on the cycle. I have to go study then test
Will be very rewarding if you can find success. There’s a French man who lives in Melbourne. His name is Jonathan, he had been experimenting with aquaponics in bog filters. I can’t remember his channel name. Try searching Melbourne aquaponics on CZcams. Good luck 👍
Can I get away with a bog 10% the size of the pond if I have an additional, connected smaller pond that will only be for plants? So my plan is these things connected in order:
Bog filter, 450-gallon pond with only plants and tadpoles, then a 2000-gallon pond with a conservative number of goldfish and koi. The only reason I ask is I’m having trouble finding a stock tank bigger than 250 gallons (10% of my total planned volume) where they will ship to my area without a ridiculous shipping charge. But I do want to do this right. Thank you!
It always depends. What are your expectations and goals, what sort of animals do you want to keep. For just a few goldfish a 10% bog is fine.
bog filter
All day 👍
@@Ozponds haha. i love your channel. so i knew it was bog filter... thats what the largest aquarium museums use!!! its the best proven method.
Amazon link is taking me to breast pumps 😂
😂 really? That won’t help with your pond. I’ll check it out and fix if necessary 👍
I got taken to a hygger variable speed pump.
🐠🐟🐠🐟👍🏻🍻
Nice new graphic mate. 🐸🐟🐢🌾🐠🍻😊👍
Maybe, just maybe .. all those left over face masks from that whole stupid covid thing could be used to turn into a filtration system. 🤔 Hmmm, leave it with me, I could be onto something here.
😂 do it. They would certainly trap sediments you’ll just need to be able to flush and rinse them off easily.
@@Ozponds Stuff dat, there's so many of the mungrels I'll just just toss 'em and replace 'em . The environmentalist's will love me 😜
😱
Hey kev. Would you suggest shutting down the pump while cleaning the bog out? Let the debris settle before flushing? Or doesn’t it not make a diff? Thanks mate
It’s best practice to shut it off and then, hose of off over the surface of the bog as you drain it, that’ll help push all the gunk down into the base of the bog where you can then remove it. If I’m doing a little flush I just leave it running, but remember I’m lazy 😉.
@@Ozponds would I expect to see a significant amount of muck being removed if my filter is working correctly?
Not necessarily. It all depends on the pond and how often you are flushing the system. If there’s no muck…well there’s no muck.
@@Ozponds thanks kev. You should do more videos focusing on plants and different kids of fish. Pros and cons. I’ve watched all your videos. Haha.
Appreciate the support. At the moment I don’t have many fish. The cormorant has pretty much wiped out all my outdoor ponds. I’m sure there’s some natives left in the dream pond but I won’t be getting in there again until summer.