How to Build a Bog Filter for Your Natural Swimming Pond! (DIY Natural Swimming Pond Build Vid#6) 

What an encouraging comment... thank you! I’m so glad some of the videos could help or give you confidence in your DIY build👍 I have a lot of amazing bullfrogs that LOVE their natural pond and do so well with the ecosystem and fish! I have one little guy that is my buddy and just likes to watch lol... the big boys I can pet at times too with free music at night lol. So I am not as cold as your climate as I’m in zone 9. When it gets below freezing I like making sure my waterfall is running so as like you say not to burst the pipes or pump... even though there has been plenty of nights it isn’t being run in freezing temps and my setup has never burst from the cold. if I wasn’t running my pump I would make sure the pipes are buried below frost level for your area or insulated to be safe. Hmm the pipes in the bog filter (if the waterfall isn’t being turned on in the winter) ... if they aren’t low enough under the pea gravel from freezing I would experiment with putting a cover over the bog like a tarp or cloth. But I don’t mess with any of that as I just leave bog filter exposed and the waterfall running during the day and evening and some night as I still grow plants in it in winter👍.

Thank you! And in case you didn’t see I also added floating planters and side perimeter planters to add more plant filtration👍

Yes I remove cattail. It is surprising!

Awesome! I hope it helps!!👍

Oh how awesome!!👍 yes I love filtering the pond naturally especially since I love eating a variety of the planted plants in the bog!. So do you have any plants inside the pond with the koi or is it all in a separate bog filter?

@@UnitedRanch i use to have water lillies. They grew good until spawning time, then the koi destroyed it totally. Check my vid from last saturday. The last 15 min might be extra interesting for you. Some bog filter theory.

Awesome!! Nice sketch showing how things work👍

@@UnitedRanch thanks!

Thank you!! Hope it helps😊🤝

Hey I really appreciate that!🤠🤝 I hope they can help!

Thanx for the comment! So no more than 12” was what I was instructed on the bog design I went with. But as you mention there are many different designs out there! I am not sure the original philosophy behind the instructions I received about depth but I do definitely see perks!… the main perk for me is cleanup up with roots and rhizomes as well as access to the piping under the rocks. I couldn’t imagine fixing bog piping or unkept ryzomes deep down into gravel with 5’ of rock/pea gravel on top. The 12” is deep enough for filtration and yet easy to manange excess Ryzomes and roots and piping if need be. On A kind of side note… I went to get water lilies at a ladies house with a 20 year old pond originally 8 feet deep she never unkept cleaning on… when I went there it was about a foot deep full of tangled up lily pad rhyzomes and sediment. Crazy but a good reminder to stay on top of simple upkeep no matter the design you choose😊👍

@@UnitedRanch sure, I can see that. I understood the depth as more gravel surface area for the bacteria and more cleaning. My pond is natural and 4-5' deep and roughly 100k gal. At 12" deep my bog would be too big I think. Was thinking to go deeper to see the benefit of the bog.

Thank you so much for the kind comment!😊… I bought my liner at btlliners.com … they are great👍… I have a vid about which pond liner I chose and install too if you haven’t seen it😊

Great question! Actually the past three years the gravel has stayed with no real muck on top because I let the pond pump inlet pipe rest not quite at the bottom of the pond and let it do its thing. This year I experimented with at times “sweeping” sediments towards the inlet pipe so it can filter more of the organic material into the bog filter.... And I’ve noticed a thin layer of muck at different spot in the bog on top of the pea gravel. It isn’t hard to clean though... just scoop the layer off and fertilize your garden with it.... or some have pond vacuums that have attachments to vacuum rocks but I haven’t used those. But yes the beneficial bacteria that reside in the pea gravel also break organic debris but I think I just gave it an overload this year haha! Obviously the point is to put fish waste and other organic sediments through the pump and into the bog filter but I just think I did too much sweeping lol. Oh well lesson learned and my other plants love it lol!

Yes it should work👍😊… the more heat and sun the more evaporation so if it’s not naturally spring fed (which mine is not) you would just need to fill up the pond water more often (which I am doing now in this weeks intense heat lol!). However there are things you can do to prevent so much water loss!… SHADE is a big one!! So you can put the pond in a shady area or build a pergola over it with netting or floating pond planters or all natural pond dye help from UV rays getting in. Many options though👍… can be fun to design a swimming pond with what you personally have to work with 😊

@@UnitedRanch Thanks so much for the kind reply. Evaporation is super important because all of my water comes from rainwater harvesting and purchase/hauling in.

@@affordabledesertliving3487 oh wow!! In Arizona doesn’t it have thunderstorms in the summer? Do you get rain in all four seasons to collect?

@@UnitedRanch Yes we get periods of thunderstorms and rain. For example last year I purchased a shipment of water in June I didnt need water again until this past February. All because of a wet monsoon season!

Wow that’s incredible! That’s great … what kind of rain storage container do you use and how big is it??

Thank you so much!🤠welcome aboard 🤜🤛. My pond is about 24,000 gallons👍

WOW! Thats Nice!@@UnitedRanch

I actually never have used the flush out pipes yet! I like to once a year clear out any roots around the three pipes in the bog so they don’t go into the slits in the piping. As far as the gravel … if it gets muck or algae on top I can scrape it out but it’s no big deal👍

@@UnitedRanch sweet! so the gravel never gets clogged with muck? Just curious as I’m looking for a design to go with when I build mine an I like yours a lot! 👍

Yes gotta love aquaponics!! Some good info👍...I am all for the natural methods and remedies and trying to utilize and find out the full potentials of Gods creation! I have been doing many experiments with different herbs and veggies and even some succulents in the bog filter and have been learning a lot of the benefits and uses of many bog plants... absolutely amazing!!! That is so cool about your greenhouse! I am planning to build one in the future... did you do a polytunnel or one of glass? I wish you could share pictures of it here but unknown if you are able in the comments.

@@UnitedRanch this is the first greenhouse aka the test. It’s made out of polycarbonate. After the outdoor entertainment area is done I’m going to rebuild it because I’m going to add geothermal for heating and cooling. Are you on any other social media platforms?

Oh nice how do you like the polycarbonate?? Yes geothermal sounds very interesting in research.... I was thinking along side my greenhouse having a large area that holds manure which can get real hot with a black pipe running through it... both ends of the pipes would be inside the greenhouse on opposite ends with one end having a fan blowing air through the pipe to the other side carrying the heat of the manure. What do you think?

Yes I have United Ranch on Instagram and TikTok!

@@UnitedRanch I like the poly but I have to take it off in the summer months because it gets to hot even with screening up to block the sun. This winter it was 4 degrees out and sunny. The greenhouse still reached 90 by Kim’s morning! May I ask what state and climate zone you’re in? I strongly encourage you to watch the video in the attached link ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZD_3_gsgsnk.html I like Russ Finch so much I went to meet him. If you like what you see, I definitely encourage you to meet him. As far as your greenhouse and the heating option you talked about. I’ve seen people claim it works but I personally haven’t done it. In theory it should work since compost piles do get very warm. The only potential issue I can possibly see, if the composting pile isn’t big enough,. Potentially the cold air coming in from the greenhouse could possibly cash the compost temp to decrease. If that happens, it could stop the compost pile all together. my thought are give it a try and stru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZD_3_gsgsnk.html

The link to the Pond Pump I use: 👇👇 maxpropondpumps.com/legend-low-rpm-series/maxpro-legend-low-rpm-110-hp-7000-gph-external-pond-pump-mpl7000 I have a whole video of my pump setup you can watch as well👍

@@UnitedRanch the link doesn't load anything. Idk if the link is bad or my internet.

I live in western WA state. Zone 8

Great concern! Honestly I’ve personally found there are quite a bit of plants that are labeled as “invasive”.plants that thrive in a bog and spread through the underground rhizomes and such. If you haven’t seen my video of my winter bog cleanup I would recommend it because last year on my first real cleanup I first observed lizard tail spreading its rhizomes all over and even some starting in the piping... so I wanted to get rid of all them until I found my beautiful cannas and iris and lilies and such spreading as well haha (even though not quite as much)! So I have kept them but I remove unwanted rhizomes around my piping in the winter time when they are dormant. Don’t get me wrong there are definitely water plants like water hyacinth that spread very rapidly and can take over a pond if not upkept or contained! Another one I fully tried to remove last year is cattail (which I didn’t plant) because not only does it spread rapidly though rhizome it also spreads through the 220,000 seeds in one hot dog like seed head! It’s a shame though because every part of the plant is useful! I’ve also (so far) stayed away from the reeds like horsetail reeds but I love papyrus and they are labeled as “non invasive.” I hope some of that helped😊

My swimming pond is about 50 feet by 26 feet not including the bog👍

How bog is the bog

Also why do I see 6ou on every video on these

I just replied to your comment in the digging video regarding the expense👍! So in harsh climates you can still have the bog but you would need to take more care of the plants such as the rhizomes in order for you to regrow them in the spring and not keep purchasing new plants. I live in zone 9 so I am able to leave my rizhomes In The bog and some of my plants are evergreen like the flag grass and some creeping Jenny and plantain and such. Canna Lilly, some other lillies, iris, taros have great rizhomes you that crazy flourish in the bog along with many others! There are definitely ways out there to preserve the rizhomes! The ones I cleaned out this winter I just dried in a bucket of aged manure on my deck and when spring temps hit i started watering and they starting coming up again but there are various ways to do it😊! Have fun looking up awesome cold hardy plants for the bog!! And come spring you can plant a lot of veggies in the bog for seeds or consumption which I think is way cool!

@@UnitedRanch Thanks for your responses! I know we have lots of perennials around here, but there are also so many annuals here that are perennials where you live so thought I’d ask what you used or recommend for northern climates. I love growing in my gardens, and wanted to build a natural swimming pond, but had no idea what a bog was until I saw your video 😂 so didn’t know what kind of plants needed to go in there to help filter water, have a healthy ecosystem, etc...so interesting! Very cool! I appreciate the help and will need to do some research on that! Thanks again! 🙌🏼

Oh Awesome!! Yes it’s super cool Gods design in the ecosystem and us being able to mimic it! It works👍... yes I have a variety of edibles in my bog as well and veggies and even some succulents! It’s really us finding the plants that like moist planting media and can handle that moist environment and thrive! Right now I have a leek , oregano, carrot tops, Jerusalem artichoke, beets, lemon balm , celery in the bog thriving. Oh tomatoes are good too! You can also look up aquaponics to get ideas of plant edibles and such that like the water media! They are all being fed those healthy nitrates created from the beneficial bacteria that resides in that pea gravel!👍

@@UnitedRanch very cool! Never would’ve guesses that tomatoes could be planted that way!

Yes so cool!😃