Backyard pond filtration| The basics

[@andreigurandaofficial]

Having plats in the filter gravel is a genius idea I did not think about

[@bbsv13]

Just want to say thank you for the clarity and simplicity of your content. I plan on building a relatively simple pond this summer and other KZbin videos I watched prior to finding you had me feeling completely overwhelmed!

[@Ozponds]

I’m glad it’s helpful. That’s my aim 😊👍

[@paulbarnes3687]

The two gold fish having a game of tug of war at 8:20 made me laugh had to play you again to listen to you 😊

[@Ozponds]

They were loving that earthworm 😂

[@mareelewis7639]

Thank you and once i do my pond in about 6 months i will be talking to you as i love your website and i love how much knowledge you have and how easy you explain it. Thank you.

[@Ozponds]

Ill look forward to it 😊👍

[@StraightOtohGunga]

Love your videos, my pind project has been put to the side for a while due to real life events. 😔 but you keep me motivated and excited in the planning/ limited progress stage

[@Ozponds]

I hope everything turns out ok. Planning is fun, building is stressful, final product is relaxing. That’s how it goes for me.

[@MandyJane123700]

I love my bog filter. So far my pond is much easier to maintain than my aquariums, but I don't have a lot of fish in it, so the bio load is light. Of course, the frogs keep making babies in it, so I think it increases every couple weeks and then evens back out once they mature or die. Probably why the water lettuce has grown huge and covered the pond!

[@Ozponds]

I’d love to set up a heap of aquariums running on 1 bog filter, would be a fun experiment.

[@MandyJane123700]

@@Ozponds It would be great! The water would be so nice. I guess it would be kinda like using a sump filter.

[@Flossy_tops]

Thanks for sharing, I’m learning plenty from your videos 👍🍻

[@Ozponds]

That’s great to hear 😊👍

[@jerrychetty2524]

Thanks again Kev awesome video as always I am just finishing up 2nd pond

[@Ozponds]

Great to hear! I bet it turned out wonderful 😊👍

[@FFTuk]

Hey Kev, your videos are so informative and have inspired me and my 12yr old son to make a swim pond in the back garden. We are still undecided between the really efficient oase pumps here in the Uk, or go the airlift pump method like David Pagan Butler. We will add the wetland bog on the other side of the garden wall fed by the homemade skimmer and bottom drain so it should be fun creating a U bend under the footings of the 2.2m wall! We are practicing by creating a bog filter in a water butt for our garden ice bath. The tap goes off the bottom of the ice bath and I wanted to connect this with flex pond pipe and go through the side of the water butt near the bottom, let the water rise up through the gravel, then spill over into a drainpipe connected to the air pump and back to the ice bath. My question is….finally… why does the inlet pipe on these bog filters always come in at the top, do a u bend then go down to the bottom? Why not just come in the bottom? That would be fine if I could use a pond pump but since I’m using the equilibrium of water in the water butt to the ice bath to drive the water up through the gravel then I can’t have a pipe that goes over the height of the water in the ice bath. If you get my drift. So is it ok to just have the inlet to the bog at the bottom, then have the filtered water at the top of the gravel being drained off? Cheers 👍

[@Ozponds]

Because the bog filter in my ponds always sits higher than the pond itself, therefore if the pump shuts off the water that’s inside the bog would siphon back into the pond, we don’t want that to happen, the bog is trapping muck. Therefore I have the pipe come in over the with an air hole (breather pipe) that will break any siphon. If I come in at the base I cannot achieve this. David uses a down-flow system so this isn’t an issue.

[@FFTuk]

@@Ozponds got it thank you. I think for this mini test run because my bog will be at the same height as my ‘pond’ (ice bath) then it would be cool to use a bottom up bog inside the water-butt with a spill over into a reservoir which is the butt itself then fed to the airlift and back to the ice bath. Still not sure airlifts are worth the effort but it’s been fun building one! For our big pond I think it might be worth watching your ‘big pond bog filter build’ vid again a few times! Thanks for the reply and taking the time to make such awesome content 👍

[@Ozponds]

Let us know the results. It’s always fun experimenting 👍

[@FFTuk]

@@Ozponds yeah will do. I’ll post the link here to my sons account and put it on there. The first version should be done by this weekend, then I have a plumber mate who will help tidy it up. In the Uk trying to get uniseals is tough, and bulk head fixings for tank connecting are a nightmare to size up with the pipe work. So if my mate can make it a tidy job and it works well then it might be worth posting it with product links for UK based bog filter enthusiasts! 👍

[@Ozponds]

Sounds good 👍

[@WesternCenturion]

G’day Kev, always love to see your crystal clear ponds and was wondering how you deal with tanning. You helped me out in a previous video about flow rate and I decided to get either a new slower pump or diversion valve, well it turned out patience was the real answer, water is now clear but has brown tinge to it, think came from from the gravel I used for the filter, waterfall and bottom of the pond. I have activated carbon but nowhere to put it, but stumped on what to do 🤔

[@Ozponds]

I actually don’t mind tannins but if you want to get rid off them bag up your carbon and place it somewhere with flow. Top of the bog, inside the skimmer, places like that.

[@WesternCenturion]

@@Ozponds it’s not a major problem to be honest so not overly concerned, already have the carbon in a bag and next to the outlet pipes of the bog filter but only about 30% effective, I fret too much 😂 thanks again Kev

[@spinningdragontao]

Always great information ! Thanks

[@Ozponds]

Thanks 🙏

[@paulagarrett3758]

Thanks Kev! Getting that initial algae bloom but the pond is not turning green. And my first water lily bloom is up. Yay! Filter seems to be working great! Things just need to level out. I have 5 small comets now, and they are fish-food-dependent. How do you recommend weaning them off the fish food onto the pond life food? I’ve fed them only a little about every other day but they go frantic for the food. Heading into autumn in my part of the world.

[@Ozponds]

As the weather cools down goldfish benefit from a more vegetarian diet. If there’s some algae in the pond that will provide them with food, they will also nibble on any insects that land on the water. So you could stop feeding now if you like.

[@paulagarrett3758]

Ok, good to know. Thanks so much!

[@DrumFilterRau]

The drum filter is the most effective, given that it does not need to be cleaned. It has automatic smart cleaning, and good filters have emergency systems and a system that can work without electricity for several hours; when electricity is supplied, the filter turns on and continues its work without any problems.

[@Ozponds]

Your name suggests you might, possibly be biased.

[@DrumFilterRau]

@@Ozponds I have been working with different types of filters for many years, people have not yet come up with a better drum filter.

[@Ozponds]

How much are your drum filters?

[@markfranklin8831]

Great information thanks for sharing ✌️💗👍💯

[@Ozponds]

Thanks for watching😊👍

[@elavynnek4173]

Excellent video, thank you! What thickness of liner would you suggest for a pond of about 8x8m? I will be aiming for as natural an environment as possible, so rocks, pebble, sediment, etc. I also expect my daughter and dog will be wading occasionally.

[@Ozponds]

Always as thick as you can afford.

[@tmputeh1429]

Love your video. Very helpfull. Thank you.

[@Ozponds]

So glad! 😊👍

[@sonjanordahl3158]

Hi Kev. A few plant questions. In the cover shot at the beginning and end of the video there are three spot of vibrant green in the lower left corner. What is that plant? Then just before the lower right corner there is a rock sticking more or less straight up. around the base of it is a green plant with small white flowers. What is that? Thanks. Love your videos.

[@Ozponds]

I think your referring to the scleranthus biflorus & the bacopa monnieri. If you google both of them you 👍

[@polbonetvaquer5175]

Really appreciate your content!! Have you tried to aerate the bog filter? With a venturi or a air pump?

[@Ozponds]

No I haven’t, others have. I’m happy to encourage a range of oxygen zones throughout the bog. Different oxygen zones provide different bacteria. The different strains process nitrogen in different ways. If you want a fully oxygenated filter there’s better options.

[@dudusiagata3117]

Super piękne pozdrawiam serdecznie miłego wieczoru życzę

[@Ozponds]

😊👍

[@ronwilson330]

Hi Kev.. using your bog filtration methods with great success. However like any newbie I would like to expand my existing pond or build another larger one. Have you merged/joined any of your ponds? Or expanded an existing one? If so, some best methods would be appreciated. TIA!

[@Ozponds]

Both times I totally removed the old pond and re dug the new ones.

[@ronwilson330]

I was afraid of that. Thanks anyway.

[@nickgraalman3795]

Hi Kevin, would you use scoria as your aggregate? I have the feeling it will just continue to stain the water red? Have you had any experience with it? Thanks heaps for any thoughts 🙏

[@Ozponds]

I’ve used scoria in multiple ponds and bogs. You can see the results in the videos. It will initially stain the water red.

[@nickgraalman3795]

@@Ozponds okay, so it sounds like you’ll clear up overtime. Thanks heaps for your insights. Thanks for all your tips and tricks!

[@connieriddle5117]

My pond has a liner and is 4 feet x 7 feet x 2.5 feet deep. I figure about 400 gallons. (Hope I am correct) It is two years old and I've had a problem with small cell algae. I want to try the bog filter like you make. I'm thinking 40 gallon filter. and build it like a long box at one end of the tank-pond. 5 feet by 1 foot by 1 foot high. (roughly). Do you think this will work or would it be too shallow? My pump is 400 GPH is that too strong?

[@Ozponds]

No sounds good 👍

[@taniaparker5940]

Hi Kev, we've finally got crystal clear pind water yey. But recently went away for couple of weeks and came home to discover all fish gone, eaten by a fish bird. Any suggestions for this without looking horrible for our pond? 😢

[@Ozponds]

I’ve got the same problem. I’m currently trying fishing line high above the pond so it’s not an eyesore. Will keep you posted how it goes.

[@austinl01]

Anyone ever used large sponge filters for ponds?

[@ranjanty]

Does anyone have a good idea on how to prevent runoff from going under the liner? I had to dig into the side of a hill to build my pond. I did build up the dirt on both sides sorta like a upside down V shape but I'm worried about the middle part rain runoff going under the liner. Thanks in advance for your help.

[@Ozponds]

Can you do a drainage trench?

[@ranjanty]

@@Ozponds I was thinking about using 2 gutters for that purpose. Yesterday I buried a 25ft 2 inch hose going from the skimmer to the filters and waterfall. I had to cut a bunch of tree roots and tunnel under 2 of them. I'm very leary to do anymore digging. I don't think I will ever make another pond into the side of a huge hill , this certainly is labor intensive. I will let you know what I come up with Thanks for your feedback.

[@disartdisart5613]

What about O³ , ozone, do You thing is a good option?

[@Ozponds]

It’s not really the path I want to go down but can it work, absolutely.

[@adiadri6886]

Do you use your iphone to record underwater?

[@Ozponds]

Yes.

[@adiadri6886]

@@Ozponds i am afraid to use mine to tecord underwater🤭

[@Ozponds]

You can buy cases that are waterproof.