Enjoy “Living the Aquascape Lifestyle!”

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

4 жыл бұрын

Already lovin it! Life changing, that's for sure. By the way, for anyone who doesn't know who this guy is, he is the owner of aquascape. Go check out his KZread channel. Even a small pond can be a tremendous help to a garden or food forest. I imagine some of you hydroponics enthusiasts could set up tons of wicking beds or flow through hydroponics beds off a small pond of aerated water, and use food plants as the wetland filter via a flow through hydro bed.

@josephtastic

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy so happy other permaculturists have found natural ponding like aquascape ! huge respect Mr. Wittstock, we"ll take the biological element to the next level!

@guitarphongtran

2 жыл бұрын

Learn and learn. Thanks

That is the most natural-looking manmade pond I’ve ever seen. Something that fine deserves trout!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I may swap my fish over to edible fish like trout, tilapia or bluegill/sunfish. I can't do it now because they will all eat the koi fry. I really wanted to multiply some koi and use them to help offset the cost of the pond. Koi sell extremely well. But longterm, I'd love it we could secure meat on the property by using the pond as a survival meat source for self sufficiency purposes.

I bet you were a fun client for this pond service, being so interested in all the elements, the science, and utility of all the parts.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

4 жыл бұрын

It's binary for sure. Either the best client, or the worst! I was definitely very detailed about how I wanted certain design aspects, because for me this isn't just a pond. These are wicking beds, flow through bottom fed aquaculture beds, fish spawning grounds, bordered by integrated swales and hugelbeds, etc. I wanted to maximize edge (such an incredibly important permaculture principle), I wanted to maximize diversity (various depth zones, in various sun exposures, etc). That being said, as "picky" as I am, I also know when to compromise when a true expert (Joe Genovese) tells me that he has experience in one thing and that I really should do it a certain way - different than my plan. As much as I was really specific and particular, I also told him that I wanted him to challenge me if he knew better. Overall, I think we had a pretty great relationship. Ecosystem ponds and permaculture really go hand in hand. Teh stuff aquascape does - while it does have some elements that permaculture people usually don't like (say, pond liners for example), there is plenty of overlap in those 2 Venn diagrams.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

4 жыл бұрын

Just cutting and pasting this here for exposure. It was a previous response about pond liners. I want to get this in a few spots, so that the true hardcore permies out there (I'm one of them) can see my rationale on why I went with a pond with a liner, versus say Gleying a pond, or using recycled billboards and some of the other things people do: (Watcher had a comment saying that the amount of pond liner was off-putting to a hardcore permie) Oh man, I hear you. I am such an extremist so this was one of the hardest things I had to overcome. I HATE plastic, and I buy giant bottles and take them into stores to fill with rice in order to reduce packaging. I'm that guy. However, as permaculturists we have to balance eco fanaticism with realism sometimes. Plastic is terrible, but what's really bad is individually wrapping stuff in plastic, then wrapping bunches of those in plastic, then shipping them in plastic wrapped pallets, etc. Single use plastics are awful. Pond liner? This will actually last forever if it is kept unexposed to sun UV. Similar to soil, we NEVER expose liner. When I first came up with the idea of a pond, I was going to gley it. But then I started being worried about leakage - even pro builders like Geoff Lawton have ponds that leak. I didn't want to put tens of thousands of dollars into a pond and have it leak. I also wanted something the family might swim in. Through compromise with my family (very important), it was pretty clear that I needed to build something that was going to be relatively clean. They all wanted a full chemical pool, and I'm just SO against that in every way. Not just environmental impact, but also just health impact of submersing in chlorine constantly. Then once we started looking into doing something like this pond - which is pretty absurdly extreme, I didn't want to spend tons of money on rock (local, but still, MASSIVE) and build something that would leak down the road, would require constant cleanouts, that would be more trouble than it gave me. I started looking into aquascape and talking to people who have had ecosystem ponds done through them, who have had them for more than a decade, and they all said the same thing - almost zero maintenance. The reason is that they have very healthy ecosystems that stay aerobic. So in the end, considering the absolute monster scale of this project, the cost of the rock and labour (I flirted with buying an excavator for this project then reselling it, but in the end decided it's worth paying for the artisanship of a master builder). After I costed all that in, and talked to experts in this field, I couldn't ignore that I was making a stand on plastic liner that just wasn't smart. Plastic isn't the devil. Waste plastic and single use plastic is. Plastic and engineered products, which do a function, last almost forever (inside their function - not in a landfill), has purpose. These can also be recycled and reused if needed. Just as an example to help illustrate how I ended up coming to terms with this. If I was going to make a biogas digester, I'm not going to make it out of cob. I'm going to go buy a plastic tank. If I'm going to collect rainwater in a large rainbarrel or rain tote, that is made out of plastic and is widely accepted as being a good idea. Permaculture projects all over the place have plastic rain totes. They have hoses and drip irrigation, etc. These aren't made out of hollowed out bamboo, they are made out of long lasting, durable, purpose-built plastic. So yeah, long winded explanation, but I did want to get this all down. Other people may have similar comments/concerns on their own projects. I wanted to explain how I did come to this compromise of using a pond liner and pond pumps. I think they are very justified for a project like this. Imagine spending tens of thousands of dollars on pond rocks, more on labour to install it, then the thing leaks because you cheaped out, or took some fanatical eco-warrior stance that really isn't justified. TL:DR - Single use plastics and long-lasting purpose-built plastic products are very different things. Nobody is going to make a rain-tote out of natural materials - they will use plastic. And I think that's okay, as a compromise, in the right circumstances, and done sparingly.

@miqf914

4 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I had the best/worst thought, too😆

@miqf914

4 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I agree with this logic. Using fossil fuels to get things done while said feuls are cheaply available also makes sense when one considers the years of labor involved in handcrafting certain things. The near-instant returns on a job quickly and efficiently done shouldn't be ignored when factoring in how to develop our eco-systems.

@ericb.5968

4 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy What are some of the things Joe convinced you to compromise on?

Wow, quite the difference a year makes. Great explanations and great seeing so many of these plans coming into effect

Lots of great info here, thanks for making this!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! I'm honored:)

This is rad! Congratulations on your pond build, I've been a daily swimmer since I was young and always dreamed of having a natural pool like this. Lots of work went into the design and execution. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, I dream of putting a pond in my forest property, but I think it's outside of my budget.

@bele28

Жыл бұрын

if you have clay soil.. all you need is to dig a hole

I am in the process of enlarging my fish pond which I had for the Past 30 years. The present pond is 2800 gallons. I am adding another 12,000 Gals 4 1/2 feet deep. The cost of building a wetland filter is very expensive for me so I decided to build one myself. I purchased milk creates from a farm manufacturer. Each milkcreate tested by the manufacturer can hold 2800 lbs of weight. I reinforced the creates with PVC piping so it can hold an additional 1000 lbs of weight for a total of 3800 lbs. The rocks that will be on top of the creates are distributed evenly across all of the creates so they have plenty of support. I used a 6 inch ABS pipe 10' long and have a cleanout pipe which will come out of the wetland filter so it could be cleaned out with a sump pump. I will be using 3 layers of stone 3 - 6 inch, 2 - 3 inch, and the top surface stone will be 3/4 to 1 1/2 inch stone. I will have a small stream with a water fall flowing into the pond. The ABS pipe like the certerpide is cut out every 3 inches on both sides of the pipe with slits that are 2" x 5" for water flow. Hopefully this will work. It has the same principles.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah it sounds like a solid plan. The aquablocks used here are basically glorified milk crates. I think it will work.

@mikearmando

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Thanks.

love it very nice design.

This is an outstanding run-through of your system. Very inspiring!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@Dimora

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy you probably mentioned his somewhere but I couldn't find it...if you didn't mention it I apologize if this is gauche but... How much did this glorious installation cost?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Quite a bit just north of 200k. Thats mostly due to a few things I wanted, they don't all have to be this much. I wanted an extra deep underground reservoir for water storage in a clean way. Thats for my prepper side. Also, the rock was a very expensive add on. Local wear resistant lime. I could have done granite and saved probably 50k. The look would have been very different.

Wonderful video, thank you for this I have been new to permaculture and am very excited to see this for my new homestead.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

4 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Jumping down the permaculture rabbit hole was the best thing I ever did. So much fun ahead of you!

That was one of the better videos I've seen on the subject. I really like it a lot, good job. Thanks!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊

Great video. Thank you.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching :)

Muito lindo, perfeito sistema de filtragem, só faltam muitas plantas ,👏👏👏👏

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Gracias

I subscribed, mainly because I actually learned some good pond sht! Thanks!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers, I hope you enjoy the other videos on gardening also.

Thank you

Very informative. Subscribed!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks and welcome

Recommend use of a lapel mic to dramatically improve voice / sound quality

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for reminding me. I have a corded one but I want to get a wireless one. I will pick one up this winter for sure.

Thanks so much for sharing your video, very well done, informative.. so many videos out there that just take up space on youtube that dont offer any real content, so good job.. I will be building one soon..question- why not place the wetland filter at the top of the pond where the upper waterfall starts, and use a negative edge to let the water start the waterfall? also how long would this pond go if you had a power outage or pump failure? cheers

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

We were going to add it up top, but we ran out of room. The only way to put it up top would be to take over a larger portion of the front yard and the missus didn't want that. If the pumps lose power, there really isn't any siphon effect to keep it going, so it will stop after about 10 seconds or so.

Hello..my first time to watching your..good Job..

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊

I love this video. It has so much amazing information. I just have a quick question regarding the wetland filter. Is there a difference between this and an “active bog filter”. I have been doing research and have found some that say having an active bog, with no more then 12” of pea gravel and plants and no standing water will work just as well as the Aquablock setup, for less material cost. If you have any insight that would be great!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

They both work, and are very very similar. I believe the aquascape designs with the aquablocks was an improvement made by Ed Beaulieu. The idea is to expand the active zone of aerobic bacteria.

@justinp7258

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy thanks! I also realized they are using the aquablox to make the void to allow the water to spend “half its life out of the sunlight”. I had forgotten about this and it’s another reason why I love your videos! Thanks again!

Hello from Texas! I am hooked to your channel and listen one every day. Great information! I have 2 acre pond. far end is 16 ft deep. Where should I begin? I planted some water lilies and Lotuses. and in no time the lotus is taking over the pond! But beside that, how I can improve its aerobic water quality? any pointers?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Aerobic water is just any way that you can pump it drop it tumble it splash it. So anything works. Typically the most energy efficient way to do it is with a pump, and waterfalls. Yours is so big though, have you looked into a wind powered, windmill style aerator? The other way would be something like this: www.amazon.ca/Kasco-Marine-2400VFX100-5HP-Aerating/dp/B004FJF7NC/ref=asc_df_B004FJF7NC/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=293001317889&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5080617650107901056&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1002222&hvtargid=pla-492175908939&psc=1

@pbear6251

2 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I clicked on that link to see what you were talking about. I see those setups in a lot of standing ponds all over. Then I checked at the bottom and I saw a really neat idea for at night for highlighting your set up. I just started looking at your site and others tonight and I am going to suggest something my sister might want to do for her back yard. Thanks

You're incredible and insanely inspiring! ☀️ I am currently working to build and ecovillage in Northern Ohio and looking to do a similar project. What building service did you use for the project? It would be great to have a reference with such great results!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! For the pond, look for an aquascape certified contractor in your area. Then look up their past jobs. Not all of them are as talented as others. I could make a pond but even with the same rocks and equipment, I could have never done the pond as nice as Joe did.

@ericgaiser5696

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Thank you so much. Keep spreading the seeds of a beautiful regenerative world.

The deeper you go the lower the oxygen without an air diffuser. If you go with a diffuser try to only run it at night or your pond will become warmer if run 24/7.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Indeed, we have been running ours 24/7 and monitoring the temperature. So far it's still at a nice cool 73 degrees. I will keep an eye on it. We have other challenges which I'm planning on making my next video.

What happens to the pond in the winter? Do you shut the pump off and let it freeze? I just found your channel. Thanks for all the content you make!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Indeed. Pumps off, drain lines and done. Takes about 10 mins. Then it's just a normal pond for the winter.

Very interesting video. I am curious how you might approach a flatland environment (i.e. the midwest U.S.) with a creek running through it if you were also say, avoiding plastic like the plague (the real one!) The creek fills when the nearby river gets high, but water is not always present in visible levels. I am so intrigued by the opportunity to utilize the water, and possibly capture some of it into a more pond like structure for the sake of water retention and possible nutrient source as you mention here... When you speak on the importance of including aeration, it's a bit of a challenge to conceptualize with such flat terrain. My mind goes to thinking maybe creating some kind of a dug out pond at the (decided) end of the creek stream. But that would effectively cut the creek off at a certain point, and I don't know how I feel about that kind of land manipulation. It might be the best bet though, to change height and create a cascading/aeration opportunity for the water. The flipside of that is that the decided pond is going to be relatively low compared to the rest of the earth around it, like a dug out swimming pool effect. Maybe kind of goofy topographic structure? Idk. I also think about what plant - Earth technology already exists that might somehow aerate water? If no plastics are being used, what in nature do we know might make a bunch of air happen in there? I don't know yet but sure am curious. Any thoughts you have are cherished in this curious mind!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Ideally ponds are as high in the landscape as possible. I do like having one lower as well, to act as a final nutrient soak before the water leaves your property for good. Grow tons of biomass around it (cattails and reeds, duckweed, water Chestnut and watercress). Feed duckweed to animals like chickens and turn that nutrient into eggs. Eat the watercress and water Chestnut (and cattail roots if desired). Turn the rest into compost or chop and drop, and cycle that nutrient back up top to higher elevation plants. This way you trap and stop nutrient loss and return it to your land. Ideally pond up top to use for irrigation water. Higher elevation means natural pressurization and gravity flow. For natural aeration, you can tumble this water over rocks, this is the easiest. There are other techniques such as the construction of hydraulic ram pumps. This can be made with natural materials, but is more likely to break. images.app.goo.gl/1K7YiYMF4ZiJ7J4R8 Hydraulic ram pumps essentially turn gravitational energy (potential energy) into pressurized air. This can then be fed to air tools, or sent through a nozzle and into water to aerate it. There are also wind powered pond aerators. Looks like a big windmill, but the kinetic energy of the windmill is turned into pressurized water which is then used to create a flow and splash. Splashing action aerates. As far as diverting any creek flow, I would avoid this also. There are also potentially watershed protection bylaws in effect that you could be breaking. Double check local laws before you do this. Ideally instead your ponds capture natural elevation based surface water runoff during rain events, via swales and ponds and dams newly created on the elevation. Remember that you don't need large elevation changes for swales and ponds especially, you just need SOME. You can effectively create ponds and swales on an inch of elevation change over 10 miles of flat land. The flow doesn't have to be large, it just has to exist. Often what matters most is how large of collection area feeds your area. The limiting landscape for water capture isn't flat land, but rather being on a localized ridgeline.

@wizdomdropzastrology3620

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Thanks for the detailed thoughts, I love that windmill pond aerator idea , that's definitely more our style.

what do you think the advantage is of the water flowing up through the filter from below versus water coming in on top and flowing down with the stones reversed and ending in a reservoir?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

Жыл бұрын

Roughly 1/3 to 1/4 flow goes into wetland versus the waterfall. Then it all ends up in the reservoir below.

When building the wetland filter why did they put another layer of underlayment on top of the liner around 12 minutes? I assume it’s to protect the liner from the rock, but I’ve never heard of someone doing this. Awesome pond

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Yep, you nailed it

@okthanks4792

3 жыл бұрын

Lets Lucy Seems like a great idea to increase the longevity of the liner. But potentially more difficult to clean during a standard pond clean out. Would there even be any reason to ever do a cleanout on an ecosystem pond like this?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Sediment will still collect from leaves and such. Due to the design though, it tends to collect in 2 main spots, which has access to drop a sump pump down and pump out once every few years.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, I'm beyond pleased with how it turned out. I'm really excited for the vertical elements to start growing. The trees around it will really make it feel like a hidden oasis. I saved up my whole life for this, so I am really glad it turned out as it did. Reminds me of going to a trailer at the cottage when I was a kid.

Hey man thanks for the videos!! Is it feasable to us the wetland as a waterfall fall outlet?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely, and I think that's actually the best way to do it. I didn't do it on my property because I have an apple tree up near my waterfall and I just didn't have enough room for it there.

Very nice pond and lay out ....... have to ask what does it cost to run all of those pumps ?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Previously it was roughly $400 per year, which I consider an alternative to the money used to buy chemicals to keep a pool clean. Now that I installed solar on my house, they are free. :)

I'm working on designing my wetland for my pond but need more info on how tall to make it. Where does the top of the wetland sit? Is it right at the water level or slightly above? Would it be ok to do a small water fall from the wetland into the pond? (like a couple inches drop)

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Yes to everything. Wetland should be just higher than the level of the pond. My pond has a little ledge where it overflows, so that the overflow is very shallow (higher velocity and thus carries debris over and out). Having a waterfall go into the wetland is a great idea. We were going to do that here, but the space just didn't allow for it.

I like how you describe all of it. You understand how nature does it naturally and try to design the nature's way best you can. I like people that don't work against nature's ways. I'll be watching more. Shaquille O'neal pond get me into this. I'm now following Greg, The Pond Guy, Atlantis Water Gardens lol, TEAM Aquascape. I'll get my own pond with nice waterfalls soon.

One more question what would happen if I made the wetland filter level with the ponds water level. Meaning there would be no small stream at all running but the water coming up from the wetland filter would be still entering the pond from the bottom of the wetland. Would that be OK?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah thats what I meant. But the wetland if done properly will actually pump INTO it from the bottom. This is because you want to create turbulence and setling of sediment against the flow, as that separates more efficiently from a fluid dynamics point of view. So your wetland pump should pump into the wetland bottom, the water flows up through the rocks in the wetland, then out as a surface flow (at equal level, yes) into the main pond. If for example you pump into the top of the wetland, it will just exit into the pond and the bottom of the wetland will get anaerobic and you will breed pathogenic bacteria.

@mikearmando

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Thank you for your help. Again you have a great pond.

I am slowly starting my small food forest down here in Cincinnati, OH! I really appreciate all the help and inspiration! I want to add a small pond/wetland area to help add biodiversity and sequester water and nutrients to my property. I was watching this video and had a question about the biofilter zone. I was curious if it would be possible to add an area to hold and charge biochar. I was thinking that adding one 55 gallon drum buried and hidden that I could fill with fresh biochar and have the water percolate through the bottom and then into another percolator area with gravel (like the one you have). The idea is that the biochar would help filter the water (just like a drinking water filter) and simultaneously would charge that biochar. After a few months I could harvest that biochar to amend soil and add to compost, and then fill that tank with fresh biochar. Do you think this would have any negative effects on the waters ecosystem? Thank you for any help! I may have a lot of questions in the coming years! Much love!

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

YES! I have been rolling around ideas in my head for this also. I think ease of access is the most important thing. For that reason I was thinking about just a tray under a small waterfall that was removable. However, your idea is likely the best way to get very good microbial inoculation because the water would be slowly pushing up through it.

@Mikewashe

2 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I think can make an insert basket out of hardware mesh with a handle I could just pull the whole basket out for easy harvest. A few flat rocks to cover the top should camouflage it pretty well. If you have any good sources for bare root trees in the US that would be amazing! I think that would be a very useful future video... helping people with where to source good plants and other supplies. That is the one subject there is very little info on.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

If you are in the US, check out Raintree. The reason I don't do that is because I think its ideal to buy local. Not just for environmental reasons, but also because local suppliers often have the best varieties for the area.

@Mikewashe

2 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I will check them out, thank you! I agree with buying local.... but I meant just more of a generalized idea. It is so easy to just go out to the big box stores and grab whatever we can find. I am finally starting to develop a relationship with some local gardening stores and farmers.

How many gallon pond is this. I have a pond that is 9,000 gallons and thinking of adding a wetland section. How big of a wetland space would I need for this size pond? Do I go 4 feet deep?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Mine is 20k (just the pond itself), but also have 2 streams and the underground reservoir, so total water volume is probably close to 27k. My wetland is 4 feet deep, roughly 6 feet by 8 feet wide/long. You don't have to go 4 feet deep, but I would go at least 2 to 3. The deeper the more roots and filtering. Actual water depth is about 3 to 5 inches.

Would that wetland be the ideal nursery for fish once there is more plant cover? It's my dream to one day have my own pond.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely.

Is there Anyway to do a natural filtering system with no pump involved? Does a pump have to be on 24 hours if the variety of fish don't need created o2? I have a gourami pond and it doesn't have a filter or pump.. The fish are doing well but the water is murky, I do have loads of plants in it.. Thank you

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

I'm not a super expert on pond stuff, I'm still learning it. But I do know a lot of people use a windmill powered aerator. This is probably the most elegant solution, but requires you to have a giant windmill somewhere. I didn't want to mess with my bird population, so I went with pumps and solar panels instead.

@miskyloo887

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy thank you for the feedback..

I wonder what would be necessary to setup a bog as a wild rice bog.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Never done it so I'm not sure. However I do know that rice fields ideally get drained prior to harvest, so I would include a method to drain the area.

Do you have access points in case of clogs or punctures on your pipes?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

9 ай бұрын

Yes, although, of course it's limited. For clogs, they would travel and get stuck at elbows, restrictions, and I can get at every one of those. Punctures would be more problematic.

Thank you for this brilliant video. I'm a conservationist getting some land for the first time in my life. Popular landscapers are going to hate me for refusing to use their stock plants and stone companies will hate me for refusing to buy their tasteless minerals! Everything will be special order or collected myself. Most videos encourage the wrong things, people hate shade even though it takes so long to restore it once land has been cleared, and the videos waste a lot of words which yours doesn't. Question: You mentioned allowing runoff to flow into the soil. It's difficult to get any information on growing bog plants either where there is no pond or beyond the edges of the pond (search for "sunken garden" and all you get is in-ground vegetable gardens that are not wetland-related). Are you saying you allow the pond/waterfall to "leak" to irrigate the land? If so are you pumping in water from an outside source or is it self-contained? The ground where you mentioned this looked like rock dust or hardpack rather than soil. I may have other questions in the future.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Hey! Glad you liked the video. Hopefully I can learn a bit off you also. Please post comments anytime you have them, we can be a good resource for eachother. The pond overfills during intense rain events, and that's it. All the water coming into the pond is rainwater collected off the metal roof and solar panels, so it's perfectly clean. I also have a first flush diverter on the line. The overflow however would be a mix of fresh rainwater and also nutrient rich pond water. It's really ideal to release into a swale, spread out, and used as fertigation. The area that I release it looked like hard packed dirt in this video here, but thats only because we had some erosion before the plants took hold, and all that erosion ended up washing out down there. It's only about an inch thick, and was on top of grass, and that whole area is grass again. I since put in more garden beds on contour down there, so that whole lower area can accept and hold a lot of water, slow it, hold it, and soak it into the soils, where it will minimize future erosion. That whole lower area is carefully crafted and designed to be a series of very shallow swales and overflows to the next swale, etc. We got more rain this last year than I can remember in decades, and the whole area just slurped it all up. It's amazing.

@lenrely2033

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for answering. A couple of people have told me it's simpler to treat the pond and garden portions of a wetland garden as separate things to keep the filtration system from clogging up with dirt. Now I don't even have to put those two things near each other, the pond can be in full sun and plants like trillium can go in the shade. The only thing I'm wondering now is what would naturally grow in the floodplain you describe if there's going to be flooding anyway.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

Right now I have water loving plants like elderberries, willow, paw paw, various lillies, etc

For a koi pond, do you think a wetland is more efficient than a profidrum? Do you use a UV light on your system or any mechanical oxygenation?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

I don't know if it is more efficient. I'm sure a human based design can make a more efficient filter, but it's absolutely less work, and does the job more that well enough. I have seen enough mature ponds with wetland/bog filters to say they have crystal clear water. I even know people who have had their pond water tested and it is potable. Not sure I would go that route myself, but something like a Berkley filter would do the trick for sure (for consumption, which you didn't ask, I'm not sure why I took it there). I don't use a UV light or any mechanical oxygenation, just the tumbling waterfalls. I want to keep it as simple as possible, with as few sources of failure as I can.

@babu7141

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Thanks! So, the only power you use on your pond is for your pumps?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

That's correct, yes. Oh and the lights which are only 1W each.

@babu7141

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Thanks! It doesn't look like you have a bottom drain in the deepest area of your pond? How will you deal with sediment which builds up there?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

If you look st some of the earlier pond videos you can see a snorkel centipede system that I show. I can drop a solids pump down there and suck it all out. The bottom is kind of an fake bottom, it is about 4 feet of large river rock, and acts as a sediment trap.

Hi what size pump are you using for your wetland filter?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

AquascapePRO 7500. Rated at 7,500 gallons per hour at a 5′ head height. Rough cost $1700 Canadian.

@mikearmando

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I am not sure what pump size to use. My wetland filter is 7x12 I have two large centerpids about 12 feet in total length. The head is 2 feet will be feeding from the intake bay 20 feet away. Have any recommendations for pump size. I was thinking on 4500 GPH but not sure.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Should be fine, if possible use max size piping that attaches to the pump.

@mikearmando

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Thank you.

How do you get on with ducks crapping all over the place (pollutants etc) and using it as home?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

Жыл бұрын

The plants eat it. It's just like a normal pond. Normal ponds exist. This one is like that, but with more design aspects to keep it cleaner, like the wetland filter, etc.

I would like to pay for a design. How to make contact with the the engineer

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Contact info is in the description of my more recent videos. Just keep in mind that I can only take on so much, as I still work full time, and have already booked a few consultations for this coming spring. Part of this was just to see what kind of market there is out there for this sort of thing. Do a couple projects, see if my services are proving value to people, see what the revenue stream may be, so that if I ever did decide to leave my job for this, I have an idea of what it would be like.

But there’s ponds around here with fish that don’t have moving water and they look great

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

The ones that look great likely have flows in and out, and the in is filtered naturally through sand and such underground.

Is this a pre-filter for potable water?

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

It can be, but there are some bacteria that this will not take out. So if your pond is susceptible to giardia, I would definitely recommend getting a Berkey filter or something similar before drinking. Boiling can also never hurt, and can deal with stuff like lupus.

@IandiBoats

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy i wand to create a 3 stage pond system leading to under ground water storage. Mass collection pond, wetlands then the pre-filter pond. Then build a 3ea 55 gal filter using sand aggregate and bio char for drinking water. I just bought a property with electricity but no water or septic. I have 100' elevation front to back and over 5 acres to work with. Currently all covered with trees. Zone 10. Tropics

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds incredible!

Do you take interns ? reddit got me here and now i'm hooked

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

That's awesome. I don't myself, I'm just a dad with a day job, this is my hobby. Maybe onendaybif I retire and go into business selling fruit off the forest I planted. There are other places that do, like up wwoofing. If I were younger I would wwoof under Geoff Lawton in Australia

This is just a large scale biological filter using rocks and plants instead of sponges, plastic balls, and filter fabric in a large plastic container. Nice tutorial though.

that is still a mechanical filter, the rock and other material inside the wetland filter, is your biological filter

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Yes technically correct. The rocks perform some mechanical filtration (I was talking more about a traditional engineered filter). Another aspect to the rock is biological filtration though, because of the biological sludge that forms on the surface area of the rocks, which is basically bacteria, phytoplankton, etc. The more surface area the more biological life that attaches to it. So its not just the roots and plant's doing the bioligical filtration but also the microbiology on the rocks.

@elsonsti

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy if the wet land filled with water hyacinth, it will be a monster bio filter.

@elsonsti

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy i just love how natural does its job. its way more elegant than nowadays engineered pond with mats and filter media all over the place.

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

3 жыл бұрын

Indeed!

Unfortunate that one cannot follow for fee. 😕

@CanadianPermacultureLegacy

2 жыл бұрын

If you are curious, I do have a membership program that you can subscribe to. It helps support that channel. I'm not sure if that's what you meant.