Thank you for mentioning that stripping a pond and power washing it to clean it, is a horrible idea. Here in the states, it's becoming a trend with people who own ponds just for show, and not because they love the hobby. They spend tons of money on companies that do this, then turn around and spend more money on products, like you said, to get the pond right again. Quick, frequent maintenance, is all that's required. Great pond maintenance update as always Kev!!! ❤
I think my next project will be building a better skimmer. The one I've been using clogs up too fast. I really appreciated you talking about pond maintenance. When I first started researching bog filters I thought I'd need to take it all down and wash the rocks, but now that I've begun to understand the importance of all that life, I am happy to know I don't need to do that. Plus your tip about using shallow rooted plants in the bog was probably some of the best advice.
5:19 when i do the backflush on my filters, i pour water with the bucket (a few of them ), and that way a lot more muck will come out of the drainage pipe . My dream pond is a swimming pond and has a bottom drain as well. I also have koi fish in it. Last year we chat a bit in the comments section because i couldn't figure it out why i was having tons of string algaes even though the other parameters were spot on. Turns out that tap water or any ground water here in my area is full of phosphates and every time i've added water i was feeding the algaes. Since then i found i cheap product (not harmful to fish or plants) that removes phosphates and starves the algaes. I only add 1 kg ,once every 2 weeks at the beginning of the season but later works ones a month as well.......for my 400000 liters pond. Cheers!
my guess is that here in my region the phosphates are mainly coming from fertilizers because here's a big agriculture area and also people are still raising chicken and pigs on their homestead@@Ozponds
Hey Kev, You can get yourself a polarizing filter for the camera lens. This will help in removing water reflections on the video/images to better show the pond contents.
Another great vid thanks Kev. When I'm draining my bio filter i capture all that delicious muck and water my roses and fruit trees with all that yummy Nitrogen 😋 😅
I just wanted to say that I started watching your videos about bog filters quite some time ago and I never really thought that they would help my pond. Anyway this summer I decided to try it and WOW three weeks and my pond is the best it has ever been THANK YOU. I have just started doing RUclips videos ( I am a bit long in the tooth for new stuff ) but my next video is going to be about how I adapted your idea for a smaller version of bog filters for my Koi indoor ponds for the winter. I hope you don't mind if I mention you and put a link. Cheers
Hey Kev, thanks for sharing your maintenance to the filters and ponds. Unfortunately I don't have an Aqua-scape filter and mine (Pondineer) clogs up daily and have to hose the filter pad every day. I wish I would have known because I would have done something different or used another company to build my pond although I have never had a problem with the water not being clear. Somehow I need to switch my skimmer set up to an Aqua-scape system, just not sure that will be worth the cost. Thanks again for your videos Kev!
The Pond Guy wont be happy 😁 Completely agree though, very overpriced I built a bog filter in a cheap bunnings bin using your guides Water looks amazing and the fish look happy and healthy Keep up the good work
Hey Kev. What is your ideal filter intake set up? I think that is the biggest frustration for smaller pond owners is the intake, they can clog up fairly quickly.
In my small ponds I put the pump in a pot and cover it with a filter sponge. That increases the surface that can get clogged but still allow water through. My mini wine barrel pond with bog filter has been running years and I never clean the pump or sponge.
@Ozponds see that's a simple solution for small ponds I should have been more specific. Let's say you build a pond around 5 feet by 10 feet. Rounded edges, not a box, I hate box shaped ponds, feels un natural versus your very natural style. I like deep ponds. I feel the added water volume plus the ability of the fish to swim deep or under structures gives them more interaction and safety away from predators. We have heron that migrate over us multiple times a year. So I am thinking of making a sump that catches the overflow out of the pond and hiding it under gravel to catch Leaves and other stuff that normally clog up the sponges. Placing the pumps down under a grid holding up the gravel I feel like this would stop me from having to clean the intake sponges every few days during fall. Yes we get alot of leaves blown into the pond. Or would you suggest a better solution?
@Ozponds I have seen them. It's why I am wanting one. But is there a better solution? I started building a diy rolling drumb filter but got side tracked and think it would be better to go with the intake bay. I travel and be away for weeks. The intake bay just seems more reliable. I guess my next question is how do you monitor the water level in the intake bay? My fear would be coming home from a road trip to find my pumps ran dry and burned out, while leaving the filter and upper bog to dry out.
Kev .... do you say i need a slower flow rate for my bog in a five gallon bucket or any bog/ bog in a barrel than for a small waterfall ? I was going to use a half wine barrel pouring out into a small waterfall and then into the pond ..i had to tear my waterfall back down because the pond was losing water and i think it was sneaking out of the stream somewhere , when i tore it down the pond didnt lose water .. but i have a little algae problem and im thinking my good bacteria isnt gaining a good foothold is my rate to blame i wonder ? its a small pond ... less than a hundred gallons .. and im using 500 to 650 gph pumps ... should i use one pump for more than one feature to try to slow my rate ? my original pond that was in our yard when we bought the house is crystal clear .. im just trying to narrow down what i gotta recreate from the original small pond to my new pond. whether its too high a flow rate in my five gallon upflow filter or not having pump enclosures with pond sponges for bacteria medium ... a couple pics would be worth a thousand words to describe what i have going on ..
How can I tell? I know nothing about the pond, the size, the amount of fish, how often you plan on doing maintenance. I’ve got many videos showing different sized ponds, how they were constructed, how they are maintained, the fish inside them, the birds that eat the fish, videos on how to design any sized pond or filter (if you like my style). All those hours of videos are here and free. If you’ve watched them you would know that, if it were me a 5gal bucket (as a bog filter) is only good enough for a 50gal pond with low fish numbers. You’d also know that the flow rate for a 5gal bucket bog is around 30gal per hour. You’d also know that, that’s to little flow for a waterfall. So now you’ve gotta decide should I do a high flow filter? (Again I’ve shown how I built one for one of my streams). Then there might be a water in motion issue if the pond is really small, which I imagine it is if you are trying to filter it with a 5 gal bucket. Again that’s something discussed in previous vids. I wish you all the best.
I have heard you're not supposed to use chlorinated tap water to clean filter sponges as it will kill bacteria living in the sponge, instead give them squeezes and rinses in a bucket of pond water. What are your thoughts?
I think in ecosystem ponds the sponges are mechanical filtration moreso than biological, all the other surfaces in the pond are part of the filtration too, and the plants. A bit of chlorine on the sponge could wreck an aquarium but is much less likely to harm a pond that has so many sun powered plants, mulm and other tiny life.
In my ponds the majority of bacteria is inside the pond or bog filter (which has no sponges). The amount on the sponges therefore is minimal and makes very little difference. In my small aquariums I always squeeze out the sponge filters in the aquarium water. So it just depends, like everything.
The sponges would need to be in conract with chlorine water for over 20 minutes to kill all of the bacteria. So a quick hose down won't do any harm at all.
It doesn’t matter. I’ve had dedicated filters that stand alone and I’ve got filters that are the headwaters to a stream or waterfall. The flow rates required are a bit different, sometimes.
@@Ozponds yea, i think i was going too hard for my filter. .i just swapped out to a smaller pump. ..see if that does anything. It never occured to me till I heard you say they have different flow rates.
There should be plenty of life, it’s just not a good life. It will never see the sunlight. You’ve gotta remember that would have been just an egg that made its way through the intake bay and into the pump. It’s got that big living on whatever’s down there.
Хобби
Thank you for mentioning that stripping a pond and power washing it to clean it, is a horrible idea. Here in the states, it's becoming a trend with people who own ponds just for show, and not because they love the hobby. They spend tons of money on companies that do this, then turn around and spend more money on products, like you said, to get the pond right again. Quick, frequent maintenance, is all that's required. Great pond maintenance update as always Kev!!! ❤
Some folk don’t mind wasting their hard earned money or they just don’t know any better.
I think my next project will be building a better skimmer. The one I've been using clogs up too fast. I really appreciated you talking about pond maintenance. When I first started researching bog filters I thought I'd need to take it all down and wash the rocks, but now that I've begun to understand the importance of all that life, I am happy to know I don't need to do that. Plus your tip about using shallow rooted plants in the bog was probably some of the best advice.
Intake bays are really good if you want to lower maintenance.
5:19 when i do the backflush on my filters, i pour water with the bucket (a few of them ), and that way a lot more muck will come out of the drainage pipe .
My dream pond is a swimming pond and has a bottom drain as well.
I also have koi fish in it.
Last year we chat a bit in the comments section because i couldn't figure it out why i was having tons of string algaes even though the other parameters were spot on. Turns out that tap water or any ground water here in my area is full of phosphates and every time i've added water i was feeding the algaes. Since then i found i cheap product (not harmful to fish or plants) that removes phosphates and starves the algaes. I only add 1 kg ,once every 2 weeks at the beginning of the season but later works ones a month as well.......for my 400000 liters pond.
Cheers!
Great to hear you’ve found a solution. I made a video a while back on phosphates in tap water.
my guess is that here in my region the phosphates are mainly coming from fertilizers because here's a big agriculture area and also people are still raising chicken and pigs on their homestead@@Ozponds
What's the name of the product that you use to remove the excess phosphate from the water?
I’ve tried a product called phoslock. I’m not convinced it did much.
Not sure if it's a requirement in QLD, but in NSW we're required to install rainwater tanks. I use them instead of tap water. No Phosphates.
Hey Kev,
You can get yourself a polarizing filter for the camera lens. This will help in removing water reflections on the video/images to better show the pond contents.
Thanks for the tip. I
Kev! Nice content as usual! I cleaned my filters and the water is crystal clear, again. I am very happy. Fish happier. Thanks Kev!
Great to hear 😊👍
Great video, Kev. You have really created a beautiful oasis to frolic in. 😊
😂
😊 I do like a good frolic
Thanks so much Kev😊
Dances with Wolves and The Postman were pretty long movies 😆
As a kid when we hired dances with wolves at the video shop it came on two vhs tapes.
Another great vid thanks Kev. When I'm draining my bio filter i capture all that delicious muck and water my roses and fruit trees with all that yummy Nitrogen 😋 😅
Perfect 👍
Thanks and make a great day !
You too Dave 👍
I just wanted to say that I started watching your videos about bog filters quite some time ago and I never really thought that they would help my pond. Anyway this summer I decided to try it and WOW three weeks and my pond is the best it has ever been THANK YOU.
I have just started doing RUclips videos ( I am a bit long in the tooth for new stuff ) but my next video is going to be about how I adapted your idea for a smaller version of bog filters for my Koi indoor ponds for the winter. I hope you don't mind if I mention you and put a link. Cheers
Great to hear. I hope you can help other people see the light 😉👍
Hey Kev, thanks for sharing your maintenance to the filters and ponds. Unfortunately I don't have an Aqua-scape filter and mine (Pondineer) clogs up daily and have to hose the filter pad every day. I wish I would have known because I would have done something different or used another company to build my pond although I have never had a problem with the water not being clear. Somehow I need to switch my skimmer set up to an Aqua-scape system, just not sure that will be worth the cost. Thanks again for your videos Kev!
Only one of the filters was aquascape. The rest were very cheap to DIY.
Thank you
😊👍
The Pond Guy wont be happy 😁
Completely agree though, very overpriced
I built a bog filter in a cheap bunnings bin using your guides
Water looks amazing and the fish look happy and healthy
Keep up the good work
Great to hear. 😊👍
Hey Kev, thanks again for another great vid!
What vacuum for the pond do you recommend?
I'm in Victoria as well.
Thanks.
I have an oase 4. I’m not sure I recommend it though. I haven’t tried any others so I’m not much help.
Hi ! Really like your landscaping around your ponds ! What's the name of the "moss like" plant at 7:45 ?
That’d be scleranthus biflorus 👍
Hey Kev. What is your ideal filter intake set up? I think that is the biggest frustration for smaller pond owners is the intake, they can clog up fairly quickly.
In my small ponds I put the pump in a pot and cover it with a filter sponge. That increases the surface that can get clogged but still allow water through. My mini wine barrel pond with bog filter has been running years and I never clean the pump or sponge.
@Ozponds see that's a simple solution for small ponds I should have been more specific. Let's say you build a pond around 5 feet by 10 feet. Rounded edges, not a box, I hate box shaped ponds, feels un natural versus your very natural style. I like deep ponds. I feel the added water volume plus the ability of the fish to swim deep or under structures gives them more interaction and safety away from predators. We have heron that migrate over us multiple times a year. So I am thinking of making a sump that catches the overflow out of the pond and hiding it under gravel to catch Leaves and other stuff that normally clog up the sponges. Placing the pumps down under a grid holding up the gravel I feel like this would stop me from having to clean the intake sponges every few days during fall. Yes we get alot of leaves blown into the pond. Or would you suggest a better solution?
If you cant tell I am a big fan of yours. You need a fun logo and merch
That’s a perfect solution. What you’re describing is an intake bay. I’ve got at least two videos on how I’ve made mine.
@Ozponds I have seen them. It's why I am wanting one. But is there a better solution? I started building a diy rolling drumb filter but got side tracked and think it would be better to go with the intake bay. I travel and be away for weeks. The intake bay just seems more reliable. I guess my next question is how do you monitor the water level in the intake bay? My fear would be coming home from a road trip to find my pumps ran dry and burned out, while leaving the filter and upper bog to dry out.
do you have separate video of this beautiful small eco pond?
There’s videos on how all my ponds were built and maintained 👍
Is there a diy substitute for a $4-500 pond vacuum for those of us with only one pond to clean?
I’ve seen a few on RUclips. There’s a few cheap siphon type ones that plug into your regular garden hose and there’s always just a trusty net.
Kev .... do you say i need a slower flow rate for my bog in a five gallon bucket or any bog/ bog in a barrel than for a small waterfall ? I was going to use a half wine barrel pouring out into a small waterfall and then into the pond ..i had to tear my waterfall back down because the pond was losing water and i think it was sneaking out of the stream somewhere , when i tore it down the pond didnt lose water .. but i have a little algae problem and im thinking my good bacteria isnt gaining a good foothold is my rate to blame i wonder ? its a small pond ... less than a hundred gallons .. and im using 500 to 650 gph pumps ... should i use one pump for more than one feature to try to slow my rate ? my original pond that was in our yard when we bought the house is crystal clear .. im just trying to narrow down what i gotta recreate from the original small pond to my new pond. whether its too high a flow rate in my five gallon upflow filter or not having pump enclosures with pond sponges for bacteria medium ... a couple pics would be worth a thousand words to describe what i have going on ..
I have no idea what’s going on. All I can really do I show people what I do.
@@Ozponds I could summarize by asking if it's a good idea to use my upflow filter to feed my waterfall?
How can I tell? I know nothing about the pond, the size, the amount of fish, how often you plan on doing maintenance. I’ve got many videos showing different sized ponds, how they were constructed, how they are maintained, the fish inside them, the birds that eat the fish, videos on how to design any sized pond or filter (if you like my style). All those hours of videos are here and free. If you’ve watched them you would know that, if it were me a 5gal bucket (as a bog filter) is only good enough for a 50gal pond with low fish numbers. You’d also know that the flow rate for a 5gal bucket bog is around 30gal per hour. You’d also know that, that’s to little flow for a waterfall. So now you’ve gotta decide should I do a high flow filter? (Again I’ve shown how I built one for one of my streams). Then there might be a water in motion issue if the pond is really small, which I imagine it is if you are trying to filter it with a 5 gal bucket. Again that’s something discussed in previous vids. I wish you all the best.
@@Ozpondswell said Kev, you have heaps of Info out there.
@@adrianzmajla4844 well ..that's just it.
i got ponds ...not time to watch heaps of videos.
I have heard you're not supposed to use chlorinated tap water to clean filter sponges as it will kill bacteria living in the sponge, instead give them squeezes and rinses in a bucket of pond water. What are your thoughts?
I've been told that same thing, it does make sense
I think in ecosystem ponds the sponges are mechanical filtration moreso than biological, all the other surfaces in the pond are part of the filtration too, and the plants. A bit of chlorine on the sponge could wreck an aquarium but is much less likely to harm a pond that has so many sun powered plants, mulm and other tiny life.
In my ponds the majority of bacteria is inside the pond or bog filter (which has no sponges). The amount on the sponges therefore is minimal and makes very little difference. In my small aquariums I always squeeze out the sponge filters in the aquarium water. So it just depends, like everything.
The sponges would need to be in conract with chlorine water for over 20 minutes to kill all of the bacteria. So a quick hose down won't do any harm at all.
Should we not combine a filter and watetfall?
It doesn’t matter. I’ve had dedicated filters that stand alone and I’ve got filters that are the headwaters to a stream or waterfall. The flow rates required are a bit different, sometimes.
@@Ozponds yea, i think i was going too hard for my filter. .i just swapped out to a smaller pump. ..see if that does anything.
It never occured to me till I heard you say they have different flow rates.
I live with another bloke, it's my duty to clean the toilet. Don't talk to me about Pond Maintenance! 😣
🤣 oh no!
😮
There is no way to save the fish? Poor guy. Must be very dark there.
i hope you can rescue that fish stuck in the filtration. Not much of a life to live in there
There should be plenty of life, it’s just not a good life. It will never see the sunlight. You’ve gotta remember that would have been just an egg that made its way through the intake bay and into the pump. It’s got that big living on whatever’s down there.