The problem with a BOG FILTER

In this video I talk about the number 1 problem with ponds that only have a bog for filtration.
If you want to see how I built my dream pond this playlist is for you- • Dream pond build
If you want to see how the courtyard pond was built heres a great overview video- • Building an ecosystem ...
Or if you want to try a smaller pond with a bog filter, here's how I built the wine barrel pond shown in this video- • DIY wine barrel pond- ...
In smaller ponds I think it's perfectly fine to use only a bog filter.
Heres an amazon link to the cheap pool skimmer nets I like to use to stir up and net out mule inside the pond- amzn.to/47AiCwz
On this page on my website (ozponds.com/po...) you can find the pond pumps that I personally prefer to use on my ponds. So far these are the most affordable and efficient pumps I've come across.

[@aaronbarnes5378]

First, I want to say thank you for your videos. I have gleaned a lot of information from you and others on youtube to accomplish my pond project. I just converted my swimming pool into a pond, 30 feet by 14 feet, approximately 20,000 gallons. I've taken the shallow end and made it a bog filter, 9 feet by 14 feet and around 3.5 feet deep which is about a third of the pool size. I built a manifold from 2 - 4 inch pvc pipe with 1 inch reliefs cut into them to disperse the water. Above them I've placed several plastic pallets then a BUNCH for 4-5 inch rock, followed by 2-3 inch rock and topped off with 1 inch minus, around 12 inches deep. it has been 1 week since I dumped the rest of the rock in. The water quality is green and visibility is only about 12 inches. I am using my 1 hp pool pump to pull the water from the deep end and the skimmer. I'm hoping this will work to clear up the water. But, I don't know how much flow rate the pump is providing. How can I determine whether or not the flow rate is correct for my application? On a side note, I have a couple hundred tilapia happily living in the pool/pond since March of this year.

[@Ozponds]

If you don’t know the pumps flow rate, the only real way to determine flow rate is to fill some kind of vessel and time how long it takes to fill, then do the math.

[@RobSM-au]

Thanks for all your info Kev. Just putting the finishing touches (I hope) to my first liner pond this weekend. I couldn’t have done it without your channel.

[@Ozponds]

That makes me smile. I hope the pond brings you as much enjoyment as mine do for me. 👍

[@jonfranklin9361]

Thanks for sharing. My bog filter has been running since June of 2022. In the winter here in Indiana, I put a greenhouse over my bog filter/pond, add a small heater. It was flowing all winter. Same thing this year. Jon

[@Ozponds]

Sounds awesome 👍

[@frederickheard2022]

Any algae you have to net out will make a fantastic fertilizer for terrestrial plants.

[@banana01ready]

Ramble on! Love the videos man. You're a real inspiration.

[@Constructionjunki]

Thank you for your videos ! I’ve been having a flick through your Chanel all week. Yesterday I made my first big filter. I have six ducks so you can imagine how dirty the water gets, my filtration system was just rubbish at keeping it clean and it was constant maintenance. I did a lot of research on materials and obviously the higher Ammonia levels needed to be addressed as I use the water to grow the vegetables for the quack quacks. Thank you for your fantastic videos and sharing your knowledge

[@Ozponds]

I’d like to hear how it turns out. Many people struggle with ducks and clean water.

[@ranjanty]

That's a beautiful looking pond, I hope mine turns out half as good. After watching many of your videos I think I'm going to make a bog / wetland filter instead of the 2 fifty five gallon drum filter. Keep up the good work and appreciate your videos.

[@Ozponds]

I’m sure you’ll do a great job. 👍

[@johank2214]

When I buy my next house I will use your ideas building a small "swimming" pond. I get lots of inspiration from your videos. Thanks

[@Ozponds]

Awesome 👍

[@daisygibs9420]

I love all your videos and i have used most of your ideas. My fish thank you and i thank you. My pond was pea soup and now since adding the bog filter and barrel filter it is crystal clear. Yes you can see the mulm but i dont mind it. I shut all of the filters down during our Missouri winters just to be safe. Thank you again so much for all the videos and the break down of how it all works.

[@Ozponds]

This is great to hear. Thanks 😊

[@BitsOfInterest]

I think I'll just have one pump blast the deep end with jets to push most of the muck to the pumps. The deep end is also harder to clean, so that helps me not having to bother so much 😜👍

[@sweetkoiyo]

Awesome information in this video Kev. Thank you so much for each video you do. I always seem to learn something from each one. ❤

[@Ozponds]

That makes me happy 😊

[@christinaclark2134]

I always enjoy and learn a lot from your videos! And watch them to the end, sometimes twice. Thanks a bunch, Kev. I hope the tree frog tadpoles will one day be very happy with all I've learned here.

[@Ozponds]

Thanks Christina. I hope your tree frog tadpoles will be very happy 👍

[@sharonkinnear5940]

I love my bog filter. And all thanks to you. I’ve had mine running since Jul 2021. I’m going to be building a new wildlife pond with no access to electricity in 2024, so I will be looking to use the same mechanism but with a solar powered water pump. Fingers crossed for the same results. 🤞🤞

[@Ozponds]

🤞 did you watch the videos where I built a solar pond with battery? If you are planing on something similar buy a better pump. My cheap pump has already died. I’ll do an update when the new one arrives.

[@sharonkinnear5940]

@@Ozponds I’ve just watched them. ☺️ My wildlife pond will be a smaller setup, but big enough to attract the resident frogs 🐸. I’ve got my eye on a PondXpert SolarShower 600 Pump, with battery. Nothing complicated, it looks easy to setup and hopefully it will provide enough power for a decent water flow from the pond > bog filter > pond. 🤞

[@silicondave2797]

7:30 Dedicated solids handling filter. Yes please. Even if it is just an add on for testing purposes. What about . . . Pond vac it all into a muck filter that drains into the bog filter and then back to the pond? Had some hiccups and been busy, I hope you have been well. Make a great day !

[@Ozponds]

Yeap love the idea. Just gotta pull my finger out and create something that I like the look of.

[@davethebeard2706]

As always I made it through all of your rambling and quite enjoyed Saud ramble... I agree about mulm , it is good for tge ecosystem in your pond or fish tank. I have several fish tanks and one 12x 17 foot pond they all have mulm and are far healthier than without. Does it look good, noooooo, but I like my stuff to look and be natural as possible so I deal with it, honestly it really doesn't bother me... anyway, thanks for the video Kev!

[@Ozponds]

Glad you enjoyed the ramble and thank you for sharing your experience 👍

[@jerrychetty2524]

My bog filter is working for a year now crystal clear water. Okay I do see that mulm thing but I noticed the fish also feed on it. There's no algae whatsoever

[@Ozponds]

Perfect 👍

[@trevornef6976]

This wasn't boaring at all. Infact it answers the exact question I had. That was wouldn't the debre and poop still just settle at the bottom? Answer is yes but thats ok the pond water still clean.

[@petertaylor6479]

From NZ, love your videos

[@Ozponds]

Thanks so much 😊👍

[@pattywickson9046]

Your info is great mate. 👍

[@Ozponds]

Thanks 😊👍

[@sanfordlopez]

Hey Kev, I was wondering if I could gravity flow into a bog. I have a blue barrel DIY filter with k1 media in it and want to go from the barrel to a bog. Will that work? Or does it need to be pump fed. Thanks in advance for any help

[@Ozponds]

I’ve never done a gravity fed bog but it should work. Well I kinda have.. some of my smaller above the pond filters would easily convert to a gravity fed system.

[@kcvrules]

I really love a bare bottom setup so I decided to do 2 above ground tank (which is a 1200 litre IBC tank cut in half) with a seperate BOG barrel in middle. Where my primary tank will be bare bottom and second one with a lot of plants to suck in all excess nutrients and a BOG in the middle to do the magic. To run all these all I use is a cheap 10 watt chinese aquarium filter pump. Water enters the BOG via syphoning, also filtered water also goes to the secondary planted tank via syphoning and from there water is pumped to the primary tank. I have kept the intake valve in upper middle section of the tank only. In order to get all the fish waste to the intake valve what I simply did was to introduce few small koi carps (5 -6 inches) which are very active. They swim around through the bottom mixing up and rising all the detrities and eventually helping it reach the inlet.Mine is a small setup But I really hope it may help yours too. Thank you so much for inspiring me to make this. I have learned alot from your videos and more by making it by myself.

[@Ozponds]

Sounds wonderful 👍

[@DrJoeJoeHands]

Thank you

[@kenmcguire2427]

I am thinking about my design for a future pond- It may include a 3 foot long settling chamber- Area 1 would be deeper than the pond for settling heavier debris. If the settling chamber is fed from the deepest side of the pond, most of the mulm would find its way there via gravity and current. Step up about 8 inches to area 2 just big enough for your bucket style skimmer and pump. A small deck or a walkway built over the top of area 1 and 2 would allow maintenance and pump access. Area 3 could be any one of the same style Bog filters you used.

[@Ozponds]

I really like the idea 👍

[@richardlee2488]

I have found significant improvement in settling tanks when they have either brushes or plants in them. Watercress is a big winner as you can keep taking bunches out every few weeks and are directly removing absorbed nitrates from the system. I have also added charcoal at times to absorb nasty chemicals after adding new water.

[@suemacdonald9623]

Your videos are never boring, I have learned so much from your videos, as am sure lots of other people have, they make good sense - thanks for taking the time to make them. What underwater camera do you use? Would love to film my fish underwater

[@Ozponds]

Sometimes a go pro but more often than not I just stick my iPhone in.

[@suemacdonald9623]

Thanks for replying- am assuming phone would have a waterproof cover on, my luck it would break it -lol

[@Ozponds]

Sometimes. If I’m just sticking the camera lens under I don’t bother.

[@cliffordreynolds7407]

I’ve been watching your videos and I was wondering if this type of setup would work in a very dry climate that gets to -14c in the winter and consistently over 28c in the summer

[@Ozponds]

My assumption is that it would, after all it’s just mimicking nature. But because it’s not the same as my climate and my personal experience, I can’t say for certain.

[@isaacws]

I wonder if having an electric trolling motor cycle several times an hour would keep things stirred up? A friend of mine bought and installed a muck buster at his lake place and it worked wonders!

[@Ozponds]

Sounds interesting

[@jodyvollmer4125]

Hey Kev, I have been scouring KZbin for a detailed instruction on how to create and install jets. Do you have a video on this? I need to redo my Pond this year and I really want to install jets for my Koi. Other than using tubing and putting it down 12 inches below the water, I really don’t have any details on what to use for the Jets or how to know how many to use

[@Ozponds]

There’s a jet video as part of the dream pond playlist. It’s there somewhere. I was sort of winging it but they work pretty good. I’m thinking of putting a Venturi at each one.

[@moomoon1410]

Super informative video as always Kev. Thank you. Sorry I am new to all this, few questions I have as always: when you talking about the flow rate, what exactly do you mean? So when rocks and etc are quite clean but water looks kinda cloudy, what do you think could be the cause? I have a 9ftx3ft pond. How would you possibly recommend a diy intake bay if necessary? Could it be inside the pond itself? I don’t have much space in my place. My pond water was very clean and all of sudden not so clean. It’s making me sad because I don’t really know what to do… Bogs have been running since September. Not sure they need to be cleaned yet… I love your contents Kev and thank you for always replying to my questions.😅😅.

[@Ozponds]

Sometimes cloudy is a bacteria bloom. Intake bay can be inside the pond.

[@Brad-lt4lw]

Hey Kev ..lm about to install my pumps into olive barrels and am wondering if l need to run the hoses through uniseals?

[@Ozponds]

Olive barrels in the intake bay? There’s no pumps in a bog filter. If the water level is higher than the plumbing then yes uniseals. But I would have the holes above water level so no need. On my dream pond I have the barrels below water level and I don’t like it. It’s good from an easy to hide perspective, but it makes access really awkward.

[@westonwaterson960]

Any disadvantage to a Bog filter that’s bigger than the 10-15% you recommend? I have two large stock tanks, one that’s 300gal and one that’s about 100gal with a slightly smaller surface area. I’d like to repurpose them and pond & bog. The smaller is around 30cm deep and the larger is about 90cm

[@Ozponds]

Bigger is always better.

[@scottdaniels3033]

Do you ever have to open up the bog to get rid off dead roots or other build up?

[@Ozponds]

I haven’t removed any rock and pebble if that’s what you mean, just the odd flush out when I think it needs it. I try and only use shallow rooting plants inside the bog so they are easily thinned out.

[@Earthstein]

Excellent information and video confirmation. Thank you so much. Can you do these videos in English sometimes? 🙂

[@Ozponds]

😂 sorry I only know Australian. That’s all they teach in the public schools here.

[@Earthstein]

@@Ozponds I'll still follow and listen to your great advice.

[@MandyJane123700]

I don't mind the mulm. I have been getting into more natural fish keeping over the past year or so. I used to think everything needs to be clean, but I don't think that is good for fish now. I have a large pleco in my container pond, and she keeps the mulm and detritus stirred up. I wonder if dojo loaches would do the same? I think they are cold tolerant (but I don't know how cold). I know the one I have in an aquarium keeps everything stirred up and the filter gets most of it.

[@Ozponds]

I’m the same. I keep learning more and realizing how many mistakes I’ve made in the past. I think you are right to explore different combinations of livestock to help maintain the balance. In my ponds I’m really going to start focusing on an abundance of shrimp. Hopefully they will graze the biofilms and… well I know the fish will graze on them.

[@MandyJane123700]

@@Ozponds I was thinking about putting shrimp in the pond, but I need to check which ones can live in my climate. I did put a heater in the pond, so my pleco can stay warm, but it's not going to keep the whole pond at tropical temps... although it has done a good job so far. I guess next week will be the test, it's supposed to get about 40 degrees one night. My pleco will just camp out on the heater. lol

[@Ozponds]

Our water temp gets down to around 5C(40f) the air temperature gets a bit lower. Deep water won’t freeze but shallow water might get a thin layer of ice from time to time. I keep common cherry shrimp outdoors year round no issue. But recently I’ve been collecting native shrimp from various local creeks. I’m sure your pleco will be quite happy on his heater.

[@alexandrucostache1642]

Hello. your videos are very interesting. I would like to know if it is possible to make a bog filter with booton drain because I have already pulled the pipes on the floor and lead to the filter room

[@Ozponds]

Yeap no problem. Just make sure the water inside the pond is well oxygenated.

[@alexandrucostache1642]

​@@Ozponds Thank you. is work on progress😊

[@unitedwestanddividedwefa-jd1zy]

I noticed that since I set up my aquarium (I know it's not a pond) but it is a 75 gal tank that I set up last year & right after it was set up it wasn't long after I had gotten really sick & ended up in the hosp for 6 mons & after I had gotten out & was recovering from my health issues another 4 mons I couldn't get to my aquarium. Husband never did anything to the aquarium but feed the fish & here it is 7 mons from the hospital & recovery & I still haven't gotten around in cleaning the aquarium I do keep the filter cleaned & being we're about to remodel the cabin my aquarium is in I've got to break the whole thing down but I can say this 4-sure. No algae of any kind the water is clear no build up of any kind no smells but PLENTY of Ramshorn snails so maybe that's the reason that the tank is as clear & clean as it is I hate to break it down just to start all back over again but I have no choice.

[@Ozponds]

Sounds like you set up a great little ecosystem 👍

[@unitedwestanddividedwefa-jd1zy]

@@Ozponds I'm sorry I'm just getting back up with you I've been busy working on my cabin trying to get it livable again from the mice that took over while I was in the hospital for 6 months, it's been a long battle. Yea I believe it is, I still haven't gotten around to break it down yet but I will have to do it so I can do the ceiling & it's in the way I don't need no accidents in the process.

[@andydawson2101]

Just been watching your videos and I like what you do, I have an 8ftx8ftx 3 1/2ft deep pond which is 10 yrs old i do not keep koi(cannot afford it) i have 2 ghost carp, Stunning barbell about 14inch, a grass carp about the same size and 8 goldfish I am not planning on adding more fish.i need advice for my refurbishment of the pond next year I am considering a gravel filter into an upper bog filter then fall back into the pond. The pond volume is 1800 gallons and my flow rate is 2000gph.the bog will be 8ft long 4ft wide and around 13inches deep sitting over the pond. Would this setup be ok as under gravel filters seem to be taboo amongst fish keepers. There will be a settlement chamber and clean out pipe in the bog filter.the reason for wanting to build this way is I have a blood disease and it's slowly eating my joints away and the pond as it is at the moment is getting to be a little to much for me so a little bog cleaning once a year is a better option for me thanks for reading this essay.

[@andydawson2101]

Sorry I just read my post I want to add an under gravel pond filter not a barrel filled with gravel.

[@Ozponds]

I love bog filters. But I’m super biased.

[@tjlow629]

How do you get plants to grow from the substrate with goldfish? Mine tear up everything - even my lilies.

[@Ozponds]

Dunno. Never had that problem. But my ponds are very lightly stocked so there’s lots of other foods available. Maybe that helps.

[@c42cly]

Is the stuff on the bottom just a result of the clearer water allowing more light to penetrate to the deeper bits

[@Ozponds]

It’s lots of things broken down. Leaf material/ plant material makes up the most of it.

[@RalphBacon]

I'm intrigued at this point in the video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpnCqqGkodx9asU ) where you show some "grass" or "moss" covered rocks, which must be false, and I'd like to be able to cover my filter in a similar way. Have you any details of that green material, please?

[@Ozponds]

It just took me to the start. I’m not sure exactly what you are referring to. But there’s no fake plants.

[@RalphBacon]

@@Ozponds Around the 7:15 mark, you show the pond from above, so it something you have outside the pond, not in it!

[@Ozponds]

I bet it’s the scleranthus biflorus. Google that 👍

[@RalphBacon]

@@Ozponds You were correct (as if there was ever any doubt)! Yes, a living plant that looks like it's made from paper mache (Papier-mâché) or something! Oh well, my search for a suitable pressure filter cover continues... Great channel, very pragmatic information too. 👍

[@Chris-bm5qd]

05:37 I couldn't find the link.

[@Ozponds]

What did I say it was a link to?

[@RobertKaucher]

I made it that far!

[@Ozponds]

Are you sure you didn’t fall asleep halfway through…and just wake up right at the end?

[@RobertKaucher]

@@Ozponds I normally make it to the end of your videos! And I never fa...😴

[@Ozponds]

😂👍

[@user-ic5bh4gp2i]

👍👍

[@Ozponds]

🍻

[@suzannemoran7281]

Hi ,I think that you can keep a pond too clean . Keep back some biological areas. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@Ozponds]

Right on 👍

[@suzannemoran7281]

You are awesome Kev. You give away all of your knowledge for free and help so many people. But not only that, you are making sure that fish are better looked after and that they live in wonderful conditions. 🎉

[@brendanukveteran2360]

The Living Bible IMHO

[@MarekLabrenc]

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[@Ozponds]

🍻