Using Duck Aquaponics to filter pond water and produce duck feed?

[Fuhoo]

I'm currently in the planning stage of adding ducks and a small pool/pond for my backyard and have been doing a lot of research into keeping the pond clean from the nasty duck poop.
We've owned ducks before and yeah, they muck it up fast.

Which is what brought me to researching Aquaponic systems. Now those use freshwater fish, which are a bit less messy than ducks but more importantly are not common carriers of bacteria that could be harmful to humans... Which can be transferred from the water into the plant.
But I still believe their systems and knowledge could still be useful for the purposes of a clean pond.

Reading through this interesting study I found: (LINK), they're using a sort-of Aquaponic system but on a grander scale where the filthy duck pond water is used to feed Water Hyacinth, cleaning it significantly before it is reintroduced to the pond while the Water Hyacinth is collected and used to supplement the feed of the ducks who in turn produced more eggs that were of higher quality.

This got my curiosity going on how this could be downsized into for someone to use in a backyard, and came up with the diagram below:

Please excuse the shoddy MS Paint diagram, but I think it helps get the point across.

The lowest point in the system is the pond itself.
The pump is placed inside a skimmer, prevents large debris (feathers, leaves) from blocking the pump while also keeping the ducks safe from the pumps suction (saw a video where a guy's poor duck got it's head stuck inside the pump fitting and died!).
The water is then pumped into a solid separator, like those used in Aquaponic systems, to remove the large solids (aka sludge). More about all the different types here: (LINK).
The filtered water is then poured onto grow beds filled with soilless media. I mentioned Water Hyacinths because of the study but I suppose it can be whatever. Just make sure that no human is eating this stuff, to be safe.
The water, hopefully clear now, falls back into the pond.

Anyone here tried to make a similar setup? Any potential issues, concerns, or thoughts with the plan above?
I really am interested in ways to preserve water and reduce the amount of work that goes into caring for ducks, while making sure they get spend comfortable lives with access to clean water.

 

[Fuhoo]

Here's an interesting video I found of someone using a very similar setup, difference being his grow beds being empty of any media.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I have a couple of aquaponic systems (with Tilapia) that have been going for over a year. I had fleeting thoughts of duckponics. It is possible. The problem is that only a few fish produce enough waste for me to grow several plants. The amount my five ducks produce would be enough for a grow bed the size of my house. So, I settle for growing veggie snacks for the ducks with the fish waste and watering my garden with the poopy pool water. I get great tomatoes!

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I use a pump that I put the intake hose into the duck pond when they are not there, use the other end to fill buckets or water my garden. The pond then fills itself from a large pond that has clean water coming from the stream that feeds from snow melt and rain falling on the mountain behind the house. The filling is done from a 3" plastic pipe I have at the top of the big clean pond and feeds into the bottom of the much shallower duck pond. The downside is I have to stop the ducks going into the clean water pond, which is so gosh darn attractive to them (and they are so cute I am not great at scolding them)

 

[MerryMeridional]

I have a couple of aquaponic systems (with Tilapia) that have been going for over a year. I had fleeting thoughts of duckponics. It is possible. The problem is that only a few fish produce enough waste for me to grow several plants. The amount my five ducks produce would be enough for a grow bed the size of my house. So, I settle for growing veggie snacks for the ducks with the fish waste and watering my garden with the poopy pool water. I get great tomatoes!

I tried to do duckaponics but found the same as you. I was trying to DIY filtration and such. Whether to buy parts and piece it together yourself or buy actual filters big enough to deal with the waste, it will be (in my case, prohibitively) expensive, for the grow beds I would have using.

I keep a submersible pump in their pond and pump it directly to the adjacent garden as fertilizer. I have the pump discharging out a standard garden hose so I can water pots, go over the fence into the grass, etc. I have a hugely productive garden. My tomatoes were huge and prolific.

 

[MerryMeridional]

My dream is to have property with a natural stream I can use to keep clean swimming water for my ducks. Lol, dream big right?

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I have a hugely productive garden. My tomatoes were huge and prolific.

Yup, suddenly I am an amazing gardener... Try squashes (butternut and spaghetti) if you haven't yet. Just like tomatoes they are very duck poo friendly. But I think you have to stop on the tomatoes when you want them to ripen. I had a weird problem last year that they kept growing but wouldn't turn red (or yellow on the ones that are meant to ripen yellow.) I. Going to test that next summer.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

My dream is to have property with a natural stream I can use to keep clean swimming water for my ducks. Lol, dream big right?

I am in Quebec Canada and there are many many properties like that here. You just have to choose one with no flooding issues. (In my case the house is on higher ground, water drains around and goes to another stream that then goes to a marshland to takes up the excess)

You can absolutely have your dream of a clean stream... I'll keep you in my prayers.

 

[Fuhoo]

I use a pump that I put the intake hose into the duck pond when they are not there, use the other end to fill buckets or water my garden. The pond then fills itself from a large pond that has clean water coming from the stream that feeds from snow melt and rain falling on the mountain behind the house. The filling is done from a 3" plastic pipe I have at the top of the big clean pond and feeds into the bottom of the much shallower duck pond. The downside is I have to stop the ducks going into the clean water pond, which is so gosh darn attractive to them (and they are so cute I am not great at scolding them)

have the pump discharging out a standard garden hose so I can water pots, go over the fence into the grass

I considered that but tbh I'm not too keen on using duckpond run off on any plants I intend to eat myself. I've had an unfortunate encounter with some gut bacteria and it taught me a painful lesson after days of trips to the clinic and hospital fees. It's been nearly a year and I still can't drink coffee (amongst many other foods and drinks) without a stomach ache...
Better the ducks eat it than me.

buy actual filters big enough to deal with the waste, it will be (in my case, prohibitively) expensive, for the grow beds I would have using.

I'm currently working on a separate project so not much time to do a detailed part-list/cost analysis but I've been reading up on pond filtration and from my basic number-crunching the biggest costs would probably be the pond (PT timber, liners, pump). The filters I mentioned in the opening post can be made with a plastic barrel, pvc pipes and fittings, and a plastic plant container.

I've been reading up about bog filters, wouldn't you be able to just fill up the grow beds with cheap Hydrostone? It's porous and can help filter out and left over residue ( I think).

Here's a few videos I found with a similar system where he uses Lava Rocks as grow media. Seems to have worked pretty well for them in terms of filtration and reducing the amount of algea.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

but tbh I'm not too keen on using duckpond run off on any plants I intend to eat myself. I've had an unfortunate encounter with some gut bacteria

Very sorry to hear about that. I hope it settles out for you, those are some of the hardest illnesses (molds are also scary)

If you could add the idea of compost into the solution it might lead to an easier path.

Something like this:
Instead of trying to filter out the poo, let gravity do the work
(Filtration is the act of sorting one thing away from another, usually by size or form, gravity does it too, by density). By using the equivalent to a tailing pond you can settle the poo into a hole in the soil. Once the soil is saturated you move to a different hole, let the compost process break down the material safely.