Any cheap but effective pond ideas?

[White Elk]

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lol and that may be what my Mother wants in there. Shes wanted Coi from before we got the ducks. So that and maybe a total bottom feeder will help keep things clean enough to keep me from cleaning the filters a couple times a week.



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Get with your local Soil and Water Conservation District.

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/

TY.. I never thought of that. We have a swamp on the property which is spring feed. The swamp feeds into a local Salmon spawning stream down the hill. Would be nice to modify that wetlands into a small pond but not only is it too expensive for us; but I knew I'd have to coordinate with government as to the planning since wetlands are so vital to our local and even global enviroment. Getting building permits for a shed is tough enough lol. But I never thought of using them as an information resource. Nor have I thought that anything I do in a homemade pond (in a backyard) might need to be checked for its enviromental impact. Will check into it!

 

[shy]

My ducks don't really need a pond. They have their "kiddie pool". It is actually like a giant black heavy duty food bowl. I think I got it from TSC a while back. But a kiddie pool would definitely work. I keep the pool, over a bed of rocks. When the water gets dirty, I just dump it and refill. The ducks are quite happy and I don't have to worry about too much about a dirty pond.

 

[dacjohns]

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lol and that may be what my Mother wants in there. Shes wanted Coi from before we got the ducks. So that and maybe a total bottom feeder will help keep things clean enough to keep me from cleaning the filters a couple times a week.



Quote:
Get with your local Soil and Water Conservation District.

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/

TY.. I never thought of that. We have a swamp on the property which is spring feed. The swamp feeds into a local Salmon spawning stream down the hill. Would be nice to modify that wetlands into a small pond but not only is it too expensive for us; but I knew I'd have to coordinate with government as to the planning since wetlands are so vital to our local and even global enviroment. Getting building permits for a shed is tough enough lol. But I never thought of using them as an information resource. Nor have I thought that anything I do in a homemade pond (in a backyard) might need to be checked for its enviromental impact. Will check into it!

You might be able to get some cost share funding.

 

[DuckLady]

We have 2 350 gallon preform ponds from Home Depot. I think we paid about $100 each for them We got a large pond pump that attaches to a garden hose. We use that water in the summer to water the plants and garden. THe water is used twice and it is then easy to lift out and rinse what little water and duck muck is left in the pond.

This summer, we are going to try to get the energy up to move one of the ponds to over the septic tank. It will not only mark where it is, but when it comes time to have it pumped, it won't be as much digging to expose it.

 

[White Elk]

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You might be able to get some cost share funding.

You know.... a number of years ago I knew of a guy who had the gov help him buy his land because he put a wetlands on it. This was in the mountain town of McCall Idaho (which has its fair share of lakes). His business was tractor sales, rentals and repairs. He just had to set the parking lot and buildings a certain distance back from the wetlands, and the wetlands a certain distance from the highway. I don't know the other requirements. It looked great among all the cattle yards. The feds reimbursed him for a small chunk of the land and the county cut back his land taxes. I should maybe check into this for my folks swamp. See what options there are. But I don't know if I want to subject my family to the county lol.

A few years ago a neighbor complained about the mosquitoes and thought our swamp was to blame. There is no standing water in the swamp unless you step in it and leave a depression. It's fed by springs and feeds a salmon spawning creek. And it feeds a whole series of marsh lands down the hill. But we called the county out and they cut a trench along the road that clearly could not drain anywhere. We sit on a hil but the road runs up on both sides of our frontage. Any drainage needed to go under the road not uphill along it!!! So they ended up creating a dangerous trench to foot traffic, and they created a mosquito problem by providing them a nice long trench to breed in. I don't know how far to trust them to do and know whats right and proper. I've other reasons to have lost my faith in local and federal government. Though it sounds on the surface like a good way to subsidize a nice local wetlands. lol From time to time local ducks come to our flat roofed garage and sit in a half inch of water. Maybe that means our region needs some duck ponds lol.

Perhaps other folks here may want to look into this? But we are getting way off topic... sorry.