Could This Work With Ducks?

[LLCoyote]

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=202223925&R=202223925

I'm looking for something less tacky than a baby pool out on my lawn. I want them to have enough room to swim and play and I think this is good enough. Question is, if I put this in the ground, (which I'd HAVE to) would my ducks tear it up? I mean, I don't know how I'd drain it. What about filters? Would they take care of it? If someone could let me know or show me where I might find more information I'd love you forever!

 

[Amiga]

My father-in-law gave us a fiberglass pond liner. Much smaller than 700 gallons, but something less likely to get punctured is what I'd look for. I don't know if 20 mil is thick enough to hold up, especially where the ducks would be trying to get out of the pond. Might work, but I'd be hesitant about the liner.

There are some people who have beautiful setups. Have you seen what Hattiegun has done?

Wifezilla has a neat setup.

 

[LLCoyote]

You think they can puncture it underground x.x oh my! No, will I be able to see the set ups if I type in their names in search?

 

[70%cocoa]

I'd get a solid plastic pond intended for fish. Don't bury it - build up the sides with large river stones (like Hattiegun did). Put a PVC drain in it with a valve. Think about where the water will drain to. I drain some of my duckling pen water into a bog garden (ex fish pond with a few holes punched in the bottom and two thirds filled with dirt then planted with bog plants). My big ducks' water is drain to a sump (tub dug into the ground) and then pumped onto the vegetable garden via a filter and then a drip irrigation system. I find it much easier to use the water this way rather than trying to filter it clear. Plus, I don't need to water the garden. The filter needs cleaning every day though. I use the filter and drip irrigation line sold by Netafim.

 

[RAREROO]

Here is Wifezillas thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=146829&p=1

If I were going to use a pond with a liner I would have a ledge aroung the top simmilar to the effect that the rocks around Wifezillas pond. Somthing that sticks out over the water at least 6 inches to keep them from being able to swim at the way up to the liner. And make sure the ledge has some grip so they can climb out onto the ledge so they never come in contact with the liner while climbing out.

And also make sure its deep enough that they can't stand up in it or touch the bottom while swimming. And if you do those two steps so they can't touch the liner, then a platic liner should work fine. If the ledge part didn't make sense, let me know and I can draw a diagram of what I m talking about.

 

[mandelyn]

You definitely want something easily drained. I've seen those plastic pond liners in solid form on CL for $50-$100 for the big ones. Course hard plastic baby pools are $15.

 

[TLWR]

I don't think 20 mil will be thick enough with it being dug into the ground. I think you'd want a thicker pond liner - 45mil epdm would be what I'd suggest.
A filter that comes with that set up won't be enough to deal with ducks. You'd need to drain it, so you'd have to get a sump pump to do that.

I used pond liner to build a pond for my girls last summer.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=496237

 

[grawg]

I was going to suggest looking at TLWR's setup. One thing I noticed with the home depot you linked was the liner is pvc material. From what I remember that might not take to adding a drain as easily as the epdm liner.

Another thing I've learned it anything with "pond" attached to the description is usually more expensive. You can find mag drive pumps on amazon for a pretty good price. For preformed hard plastic you can find livestock tanks for cheaper than the hard pond liners. Only difference is you get an oval instead of fancy shapes.

 

[LLCoyote]

Sorry I haven't been able to respond lately. Here is a problem I'm ashamed to admit... I am not great with a lot of the technical stuff when it comes to a pond. I'd love an above ground plastic pond, but I'm looking for one just a little bigger, or at least the same size as my baby pool. The baby pools aren't working, a plastic one broke, and the snap pools get torn too easily. So that's why I'm lookin at this type of liner. So sorry if I'm over loading you all with questions XD if it makes you feel any better my neighborhood co-op is getting a ton of them too!

they are so sick of me

So a couple more questions:

If anyone knows where I can find a larger plastic pond instead of the small ones could you link me to one on the internet?

If I do get this liner and use rocks, or something to keep them off of this liner, would this mean I'd have to dig an underground draining system and how complex is that?

Also, is there any use getting a filter? What kind should I get? Would I still have to empty it often?

See told you I had a lot of questions. I'm new to land cultivating, and have only had ducks for about half of a year. I'm getting better on the animal side of things but I have a lot to learn about creating an entire echo system like a pond.

 

[70%cocoa]

What about something like this: http://www.plastic-mart.com/category.aspx?cat=41 The bigger ones are close to 700 gallons.

Since you want to use a big pond you are going to have a lot of water. A lot of mucky water. You may get away with emptying it only once a week, but it's gonna be pretty manky by the end of that week.

Filtering is very tricky. Ducks will put a LOT of dirt, sand and plant material into the pond. That will make life very very hard for any kind of filter. You can lessen it if the ducks are unable to reach the ground while swimming in the pond and vice versa. But you will have to raise it up quite a lot to achieve that.

As I mentioned, I use a Netafim greywater irrigation filter for my duck pond water before it gets pumped onto the garden (has to be filtered as it goes through dripperline). Every morning I put about 40 gallons of water through it and usually the filter medium has to be taken out twice each morning and hosed clean. The filtered water is definitely not suitable to be put back into the pond - the filtration just takes the lumpy bits out before it goes onto the garden. A biological filter system would not need the same kind of attention but, IMO, it'd still get eventually clogged up with muck (if your ducks have access to dirt, sand or plants). Still, I know others more intrepid than myself have made it work.

As I see it, your options are:
1. Empty the pond at least once a week and distribute the dirty water to the garden and then refill with fresh water. Distribute the dirty water via a drain pipe to a sump that has a sump pump in it and from there pump it onto the garden. Or distribute the dirty water straight out onto the lawn/ground via a drain pipe. Or build a bog garden next to the duck pond and drain the water into that. The ducks will like dabbling in the bog garden (this is the approach I use with my duckling pen).
2. Learn as much as you can about biological or skippy filters and build the biggest one that your time, wallet and strength can manage. This is your only chance of being able to re-use water
3. Use a much much much smaller pond - which will dramatically reduce the size of the problem.

You also asked about drains. It is not hard to put a drain in. You will need some basic plumbing supplies and a hole saw. If it's too techy you can hire a plumber to do it. It'd take them half an hour to put in a drain at the bottom of the pond, a 90 degree elbow and outlet with a valve you can open for draining. That'd need to be done before you put the pond in the ground. You'd need to dig a small trench to accommodate the pipe coming out of the pond. Make the pipe diamater no less than 2 inches (to avoid clogging).