Bog Garden

[Fan_of_Fish]

Is this gunk normal? I vacuum it out and get about 75% weekly during filter maintenance. I didn't design this, I've restored what was here when we bought the house. So I am learning still. Thank you for any insight about the situation.

[Fan_of_Fish]

Oh and I only vacuum from the surface. I'm trying not to disturb the rocks or pea gravel. It also has a silt trap chimney that I have to clean out every 5-7 days. This year I learned there's supposed to be water on top and it wasn't designed with mud, so I removed 7 years worth of decay and a bunch of dead root balls. It's got a decent flow now. My fish are still too small in the volume to see any information in tests. With the exception of spawning and a little hiccup with temps this spring, Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate-0 99% of the time. I just want to make sure I'm not removing a good thing or if it's polluting my pond! I can't get all of it because there are baby water snails and I want them to be cleaners, but this is way more than they can handle yet. It is possible I missed some dead root clumps. There is also a section I couldn't clean because those plants had sprouted while still very cold. Also if anyone has any recommendations for that empty spot! Those tall ones get like 6 ft so I want something short out front. Preferably that grows like mad and uses up lots of nutriets!

[cindy]

They get nasty

I’d pull the plants and rocks out and have hyacinth and water lettuce

[danzcool]

Normal, yeah. healthy, not so much... It should probably have a complete cleaning (all the way through, rinse all pea gravel lava rock) once a year and then similar to what you are doing now every week or 2.

[Angie Jones]

Here is a thread you might find informative. Click on all the links for more info. https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showt...Rocks-In-Ponds!

[BWG]

Normal for a bog type filter. If flow is kept adequate the waste will be processed by bacteria and plants and water will be healthy. Too much waste not getting oxygenated water and you might develop problems. Eventually you'll have to pay the piper and do a clean out to keep the efficiency at acceptable levels. Partial clean outs using a pond vac greatly help. Bogs work best if a mechanical prefilter is used to remove solids. Be careful doing a clean out as disturbing sludge can release hydrogen sulfide and other nasties. Make sure none flows into your pond.

[Fan_of_Fish]

To Cindy, I have those in the pond itself. I built-up the wall of lava rocks right in front of where it drains waterfalls back into the pond and when I get a sample and let it sit, there isn't any sediment and it's clear. It wasn't before I started vacuuming. I'll just have to stay diligent until it is cool enough to do a more thorough cleaning. I also had some snowflake in the pond, but my fish ate them all in this warm weather despite feeding them! Hoping the hyacinths and lettuce start taking off soon. This year they are not exploding I believe due to weather roller coasters and algae overgrowth. It was coating the roots. It strangled a feathery mare's tail too. I have since pulled that up on some rocks at the edgeand it's trying to come back, but my two underwater pond plants are basically near death now.