They say once the water temps get below 50f the fish shouldn’t be feed and the bacteria pretty much go dormant. However you do want to keep a hole in the ice to allow oxygen exchange. My winters are mild so I run everything year round. I don’t have first hand experience with ponds that freeze over.

@@Ozponds perfect yea i have an airator i run in winter to keep a hole in the ice thanks for getting back to me

I love the idea I’m just to scared to add anything with claws to my liner ponds. Even though the liner is covered with rock and pebble. Where I live we have a burrowing crayfish and I’ve seen it go through heavy duty weed mat in my nursery. I think that’s why I’m so worried.

The common reference to the nitrogen cycle involves converting ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate. Nitrate is left inside the water. Both types of bacteria that are present in this part of the cycle require oxygen. Then there are bacterias that can live in anoxic (low oxygen) and anaerobic (no oxygen) some of these bacteria have the potential to convert the left over nitrate into a gas, thus allowing it to leave the water. But as far as breaking down organic materials that will release “nutrients” they are not as effective as their oxygen loving counterparts. So in answer to your question these other bacteria will live in those low oxygen, no oxygen areas. In my ponds that will be areas within the bog filters, areas with a thick layer of pebble and plant roots. I hope that sort of makes sense. I’ve got other videos where I talk about those types of bacteria.

@@Ozponds I found this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z5-dZrKB2-DUcoU.html. You thought about this for example? You made a special filter with baskets filled with cat litter clay and gravels. I am not sure if this clay is also a special dried or burned. I also used clay in the pond for a different purpose, to plant my water lilies and i believe clay has also nutrients. Without it your filter in that video is very similar to any of your bog filters right? So we do not have to worry about the lack of these bacteria in a bog filter? The nitrosomonas and nitrobacter bacteria will consume the oxygen resulting anoxic / anaerobic environment in another pebble layer for these other bacteria. That is why so important to every gravel layer in the bog filter be 8" thick? I calculated 10", so this will mess up everything by giving too thick anoxic /anaerobic zone in the bog filter or causing other problems? It would be good to know before i fill up my bog filter with gravel :). If 8" is very strict so be it, i do not doubt in anymore ;)

Yes as the nitrosomonas and nitrobacter consume oxygen there are going to be areas of anoxic maybe even anaerobic conditions inside the bog. With that said I have no equipment that allows me to test at what depth of pebble that occurs. If you’ve seen my videos I have bogs that are very shallow less than 6inches deep. And some deep ones 3-4ft deep. Either way I always end up with no or very little nitrate left over. That to me indicates that the nitrogen cycle is being completed. Different pond people have different opinions in ideal depth. I just don’t overthink it.

@@Ozponds Regarding the layer depth, in my opinion its will depend on the flow rate of the water the flow trough the filter. What we need is a flow which the aerobic bacteria will have enough time to strip most of the dissolved oxygen in the water creating anoxic/anaerobic zone for denitrification to occur. If we have high flow rate but small filter the bacteria will not have time to strip the oxygen in the water.

As I’ve mentioned in many vids I like to size my pump at 6 times the volume of the bog when empty. That I find is my sweet spot. But even so I still have various depths for the bogs. I don’t have the equipment to measure the oxygen levels at various depths. It would be interesting but I’m lazy and I really don’t think it needs to be over thought. I’m going to just keep doing what I do. Plenty of surface area, easy way to flush the system and a slow flow. Can’t go wrong 👍

I would think so, it’s just a powerful blend of bacterias and enzymes.

@@Ozponds that's what I was thinking thanks . In a filter setup it needs to be after the carbon though right ?

Well I’d just put it in the pond.

😂🍻