duck pond issues

[jynxster]

So now I have this 350 gallon hard shell pond, you know the type, solid and made to go in the ground. I talked on here before and found the best way to clean this is; I installed a typical bathtub drain in the bottom and attached to the outside bottom of the drain is an L shaped PVC pipe , attached to that, is a garden hose adapter made of PVC; the entire thing sticks out about 5 inches from teh bottom side of the ponds deepest part. I plan to use gravity to drain and fill this pond regularly. I will set it on a slight hill in the duck yard, and attach the garden hose to it so when emptying it, I can use the water to water various trees and plants.
Today I spent yet another 150 dollars on a nice submersable pond/fountain pump; I dont think the water should set stagnant; would be better if it keeps moving. I was so excited to get the pond going the duck LOVE it. I put the pump in the bottom of the pond and withing 4 hours there was barely a trickle visibly. Took it out of the pond, took the pump apart and cleaned all the grass and duck funk out of it, plugged it back in and ""voo-a -la" works great again. This pump was made for 300 to 500 gallon ponds so, heres the question....How do I keep the water flowing in the pond without clogging up the pump so fast? Im thinking of placing the pump in a coffee can riddeled with holes ?????? Any good ideas appreciated thanks fellow ducksters.

 

[duckyfromoz]

There are a few members on here that have fantastic set up with ponds for their ducks- sadly for me I am not one of them and just dump out 3 kiddie pools on a daily basis ( in winter it goes down to one pool) . It keeps the grass nice and green through summer though as I can move them all over the yard.

Have a read through some of these threads while you wait for an answer from someone with experience with ponds and pumps.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=320654&p=1

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2525915

 

[TLWR]

You'll need to routinely clean the pump/filter. It will get clogged quickly in the pond with ducks.

Mine is set up with a pump to move water into an external filter box and then the water falls back into the pond from there. But if it was both pump and filter in their pond, it would be getting nasty much quicker.
I'd almost suggest returning what you have and getting just a pump and another small preformed pond and use the 2nd pond as a filter that the ducks DON'T get into - just let it do its filtering job. Look up info on Skippy Filters - you'll want to be able to get the water into the filter pond, have some filtering material (we use the blue ac filter pads and a few bags of lava rocks). All the lit says not to clean out the filter, but it is kind of nasty, so we do when we clean the pond every 6 weeks or so.

 

[Amiga]

I've opted for kiddie pool and concrete mixing pan, but may soon be putting in something larger, so thanks for posting progress.

Seems you'll need to use something as a filter around the intake for the pump. I suppose you could try biodegradable mat material that can be composted along with those lovely nutrients. In our tiny fish pond many years ago we had a filter that needed to be flushed regularly. I used the water on the garden.

 

[KansasKid]

I myself and many others have experimented with all kinds of pumps and filters, No matter what type of pump you have, you will need to gravity filter it before the water gets to the pump otherwise you will have to clean it ever two seconds and run the risk of it burning up and electrocuting your ducks. Even with some type of gravity filter like a sand filter from a pool pump or a skimmer box like mine you will still need to rinse the filter every so often but is much safer, less hassle, and works better.

 

[jynxster]

Thanks for all the responses. I sat the pump in a spagetti strainer and weighted it down with pebbles So far the pump is working great what a simple idea. I alsobought 3 koi for the pond today, I will put some size rocks in the bottom so the koi can hide LOL Lots of good ideas. Im told the koi will eat alge and bugs and mosquitoes on the surface.

 

[KansasKid]

I would be careful letting the ducks have access to the pond. Too much duck poo can be toxic to the koi.

 

[70%cocoa]

If you need to replace the pump in future don't get another pond/fountain pump. They are not up to the task of dealing with duck water. Get a pump known as either a sump pump, bilge pump or dirty water pump that will hand solids of at least 1 inch. They don't filter the muck out - they just pump everything straight through. Use a wide diameter garden hose as the outlet - at least 3/4 of an inch. Duck water needs heavy duty equipment