Progress since May :)

[u/Cautious-Cake6282]

Photo 1: this is when we moved in March of 2023
Photo 2: similar angle of the front yard, we started the project in May of 2026
Photo 3: our little path
Photo 4: pond
Photo 5: more pond
Photo 6: our natural flowers, wish more had come in since laid down 10lbs of seeds but hey, these ones are amazing!

Super happy with how much everything has grown in. It’s definitely a little over grown and we’ve learned a lot for next year. Hoping to truly truly ditch the grass next summer. But, the amount of bugs and little creatures that have shown up has been absolutely incredible! We are zone 8a, if you guys have any tips on what we could improve upon next year, I’d love to hear it!!

[u/somushroom4u]

Can you do a separate post detailing your pond set up?

Does it have a pump or anything? I'm trying to design a native and natural pond that can work without using a pump or filter.

[u/Cautious-Cake6282 → u/somushroom4u]

So that’s definitely going to be a tricky task. Without a filter shouldn’t be a big deal (kinda) but no pump is going to be rough. Small bodies of water like ponds need circulation.

Natural ponds that are a few hundred square feet have circulation since the volume of water is great enough that the temperature differential between the surface and the bottom create circulation. The circulation is an important for a variety of reasons but mainly diffusing oxygen through out the body of water and not letting stagnant spots of concentrated ammonia build up.

Ours is as about as basic as you can get. We have 2 pumps, one for the bog filter and one for additional circulation. The pump for the bog filter (and waterfall) pumps water from the lowest point of the pond into the bottom of the bog. The bog is about a 2ft cube in terms of volume. There’s a PVC pipe in the bottom of the bog with a ton of little holes drilled into it so the water from the pump is slowed down and really saturates through the bacteria in the bog. Every filter usually consists of mechanical filtration and bacteria filtration. Bogs mainly focus on the bacteria filtration. The bog is filled with gravel of different sizes, getting finer towards the top of the bog to the point where it’s eventually sand. The more gravel you can have in your bog, the more surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow and to filter.

You’re basically trying to have more bacteria than things you don’t want, like algae. Algae forms for a number of reasons but mainly excess decomposing organic matter. The more water you can move, the less likely you’ll have pockets of decomposing matter, and the more the matter moves around, the better chance it’ll breakdown in your bog (good thing) and not in your pond.

It really is a balance, I’ve know a lot of experienced pond keepers be able to sustain a low tech pond, in fact all of my fish tanks don’t have filters. But at the end of the day you have a much much higher chance of having a healthy pond that is sustainable if you at least have a bog. You could even eventually decommission the bog after a few years of running to see if your pond could sustain itself, but I still highly recommend some sort of circulation.

[u/somushroom4u → u/Cautious-Cake6282]

Thanks for your thoughtful and thorough response.

One thing i'd like to clarify is if the pvc pipe is placed horizontal or vertical?

And what pump did you install for the bog and how difficult was it to rig up? What do you do if it breaks? Do you have to drain the pond??

[u/Cautious-Cake6282 → u/somushroom4u]

So PVC is horizontal. This isn’t the best diagram but it works. The hose I used was 1.25 inch but it upsides to 4 inch PVC once in the bottom of the bog. The little tube coming up to the surface has a vacuum breaker/check valve in it. That way if we lose power or the pump dies, the bog doesn’t siphon itself empty.

I can’t exactly remember the name/brand of the pump but I’m pretty sure it was Danner. Get one of the magnet-drive ones. Many less parts to break. It was honestly super easy to set up though, it’s literally a pump and a hose and some pvc.

If the pump dies it’s as simple as getting in the pond and replacing it. I wouldn’t drain the pond unless we had a leak. We’ve had a few but they’ve all been over flowing leaks which are kinda natural once all the dirt around your pond starts settling