This video came at the exact right time. I"ve topped up my pond 4 times in the last week alone. In fact I had filled it last night and its already down a centimeter or two, and I was getting really worried. Every time I examine the perimeter, its seems fine. A little wicking here and there, but nothing serious. It has, however, been extremely dry, hotter than normal for this time of year, and really windy, as well as the plants are still doing a majority of their growth right now. So that explains all the water loss I'm getting. I have never seen that scale before that shows evaporating with corresponding temperature. I had no idea it increased that much!
I haven't seen stats for aquatic plants, but an adult oak tree can consume up to 100 gallons/day and an adult sequoia up to 500. Now, I'm assuming you don't have any giant sequoias in your pond, but what you do have can still add up to a considerable amount of water consumption!
Thanks ,Kev. A very useful video indeed. As a pond newbie I have thought I had a leak in the past but it was just evaporation. Your ponds are looking great by the way. You have really done an excellant job with them. 😊🏡💕
Great topic Kev. You are 💯 percent spot on as usual. Everyone's pond is going to be different. Once they figure out what's normal for their ponds, it will be less worrisome when they see the water drop. Mine can drop up to 1 1/2 feet in one month due to high winds, and no rain in the summer. It will drop even faster if we have the fountain going all month. Having that smaller stand alone pond, is a great way for newbies to compare what is normal vs a leak. Great idea! Take care and thanks for another awesome update. ❤
I’m a pond newbie and just installed a bog filter with waterfall. After leaving the set up running overnight yesterday morning I strolled into the garden to admire my new creation, only to be greeted by the sound of the pump sucking air…the pond was 80% gone!😢 I traced the problem to a crease in the pond liner beneath the waterfall where the water had been able to escape. I re-layed the liner and now problem is fixed. All part of the learning curve.
0:44 It's pushing 90F this week. This chart seems accurate. Added as needed up to now but I think I am going to do the drip method on a timer. Good video. Thanks Kev. Make a great weekend !
Kev, thank you. Topping up is a concern where we live as evaporation is importante. So it was excellent to have your practice with this particular phenomenon.
Spring in the UK is a nightmare for pond water loss. Even with the rain. My pond is surrounded by low hanging trees and its quite humid. They just consume huge amounts of water, especially at times of the year when everything is growing crazy. Just to add, i top mine up slowly through a three stage filter. Quite cheap and fish don't seem to be bothered by it.
So true, I experienced pretty much everything that you mentioned. Although it was in a different setting combined with my aquaponics system. Luckily my pond area is always at the same water level, no matter how much water evaporates. How I do that? Well that is easy. I have an extra sump tank that is buried in the ground from which I pump the water through the system. I do not pump the water from the pond itself, meaning that my pump is not located inside the pond. The pond water outlet is connected to the sump tank and the water flows from the pond to the sump tank by gravity. My sump tank, made from an IBC container, will change level when the water evaporates or when there is a leak or a blockage, but the sump tank makes it very easy to notice if the system needs more water, or how much water has exactly evaporated. I have the pipes installed in such a way that the level from the pond is always the same, even when the sump tank would be completely dry. If the sump tank would be completely dry the pump automatically stops pumping, no more water would go into the pond, and no more water would come out of the pond. But my fish are still safe. And it can also not auto siphon empty. All the pipes are also buried under the frost line. But it must be said, I have a small pond. This would not work for larger ponds because the IBC sump tank would not be large enough to cover the loss of water by severe evaporation in a large pond. The sump tank went dry one time, it was shortly after I had installed my aquaponics system, and it happened during a severe frost event. My growbed froze up and the sump tank got pumped empty. But the fish in the pond were still safe and doing well. Now I have adjusted the system and the past winters I had no issues with frost whatsoever. Temperature control is a big item in my system. Also heat protection. And over the past years I have applied lots of small and bigger things in order to get a better control over the water temperature. And I am still in the process of upgrading and fine tuning the system. All the small things that I have applied to keep the temperature within the most desired spectrum, and to make the system winter and heatwave proof, all add up. Again a very good video packed with lots of useful information. Well done. 👍
Thanks for sharing your experiences. In a pond setting we can create a negative edge with a storage reservoir. This is the same as a sump, you would size the reservoir at least 2x the water in motion moving through the system.
A flow meter could help identify potential leaks, allowing you to implement auto-topping to your pond systems--and stay lazy 😄; increased flow rates above the normal range would alert you to the possibility that you have a leak. To be sure, if there was enough variation in the data, you could establish baselines for all conditions: Normal, Evaporation, Wicking, and/or Leaking. Oh, and a huge "Thank you" for your channel!
It's hot and dry in Florida right now, I have to top up every couple days. When the rainy season starts, I don't have to top up for a few months, usually. I didn't have a pond at all this time last year, so I was kinda surprised by the how fast the water evaporates! I do check all the hoses and pipes for leaks on the bog regularly, just to be sure.
I’m a bit confused water sets its own level. If you mean during building you can use simple spirit levels or even two bottles connected with a hose and fill with water. Maybe I’ll do a vid on the bottle method, I’ve shown the spirit level in most of my builds.
@@Ozponds yes during building I’m confused on how to set level of the pond . Also the water level inside The pond itself how many inches from full should it be etc
Thanks Kev - another great video. Do you have a video on how to find leaks? I think I have one - I’m loosing about 2 inches a week. I use rain water to top up so no biggie but seems like more than evaporation
If you don't mind me asking i am new to this bog filter system and ponds . So not very knowledgeable about the topic. So i would like to know what capacity of pump should i get to make a bog filter for an tank of 1000 litre of water with guppy and shrimps. How much litre/ hour pump should i get .
Thanks for another great video Kev. Just out of curiosity where did you source your valve to divert water from your roof to your pond? Been looking for something similar, was it from the big green hardware store by any chance?
Another good, Kev. What is your approximate annual rainfall? Great minds think alike..... I have a rain diverter, too. I tickled the thumbs up 👍 button to feed the algorithm monsters.
I wanted to ask you if you know of colorful fish, shrimp, and prawn that can withstand outdoor occasional freeze. I recide in texas zone 9b/10a, and i want to make an outdoor recreational pond with fish but i know the occassional freeze that happens every 2 to 4 years could prove problematic.
Most carp type fish can withstand freezing temps. That's Koi, gold fish, comets, sarasas, shubunkin and the like. I'm in maryland and I've rescued them from water only about 16 inches deep with the top frozen over and they were perfectly happy and healthy. There are lots of colorful native species that would work too. All the different types of sunfish are very colorful except for when you are looking at them from above.
@@RodH-pj1py I have sarasas and they are very colorful, they have similar color patterns as koi fish. And they are very hardy and easy to keep. Just as easy as goldfish. Which I also have. You do not even have to feed them. Shubinkins are also very colorful, but they are not as hardy as sarasas and goldfish. I mean, the sarasas and goldfish will survive an owners mistake or some bad weather or short lived moments of undesired water quality, but the shubinkin does not like owners mistakes and bad water quality, so they are a bit harder to keep, especially when you are starting up the pond. Don't let that scare you, because you do not have to be a pond wizard to be able to keep shubinkins. It is just recommended to put shubinkins in your pond when you have a matured eco system, and when there is enough shade for the pond, and enough depth to protect against frost, and enough bog filtration with a matured colony of bacteria and enough plant life to deal with the nitrates. In my country the ground frost line is about 2ft deep, and the recommended minimal pond depth for gold fish and sarasas is a little over 3 ft. I am in the Netherlands, much further up north, and my fish survived many winters, even the fish fry (babies) survived the winters without any problem at all. So in Texas I think that heat protection is much more important factor. Because gold fish and sarasas are not so much a big fan of very warm water. But you can solve that by going deeper with your pond, and to make the pond large enough, and to create shade with water plants, lili pads, Louisiana iris, and trees or fences, and by smartly planning the location from your plants and trees so that they block as much sun as possible during the hottest hours of the day. Hopefully this was useful for you. Sarasas are a joy to watch. You will not regret it when you buy them.
@@RodH-pj1py Keep your focus on keeping the micro organisms happy and alive, and learn what kills them. Learn about that. If you do that your fish and plants will be healthy as well. The biggest factor for keeping the micro organisms happy is that they do not like big sudden changes of any kind, and they need lots of surface area. So whatever you do with your pond, do it slowly and in small quantities at a time. And do not expect instant results. Everything goes very very slow, the good and the bad things. And you can't speed it up. People intent to overreact when they want to fix a problem. Try to prevent that. And do not add all kind of powders and minerals in large quantities, and especially not at the same time or shortly after each other. It is very easy to fall into the extra and unnecessary expensive additives trap. Mineral clay is useful if you have a pond with a pond liner, but you have to read and follow the instructions when you apply it. Sometimes I add a sniff of epsom salt, about half a teaspoon for about a 1000 gallons, and that's it. But you do not need to buy the exotic expensive brands. That's all marketing. A good bog filter with lots of iris plants, preferable yellow flagged iris if you can get them but Louisiana is easier to source for you, will provide you all the microbes that you need. You will have no need for expensive microbial additives. And I would recommend a variable water pump. You can slow it down during the winter, or pause it when you have to do some maintenance. Or speed it up if you think that an increased flow rate would be better. And on top of that the variable pumps are much more energy efficient.
Not really. I get bombarded by emails. I just don’t have time to help people one on one. Better to spend my time creating content that can help plenty of people.
