Duck Pond/pool pictures

[furbabymum]

So this is the plan. It's been modified a bit. I figure I'll put a slight wall up so I can put some pebble gravel in the bottom of the bio filter. I don't plan on cementing the biofilter as I intend to do for the rest of the pond either. We have a layer of clay so when we dig up the pond I'm going to use the clay to line the bio filter. I plan on getting some parrots feather for under the water in the deepest part. I plan on floating plants above that and all rooted plants to be on the sloped side. Some of them need less water than others. I looked through the duckponics thread and if I can find some attractive and cheap plastic pots like she did I may put a few on one end with cattails in them and run the water through them and then into the biofilter. So far I have water hycanith, parrots feather, pennywort, duckweed, and pickerel rush.

I'm thinking I'll do an algae scraper eventually as I saw in another thread but have no plans for it right now.

While I do plan on pumping the water into the biofilter at one end I didn't plan on limiting where it left. The small wall between sections should keep most of the sludge from going into the duck part is what I figure. Any other tips?

 

[furbabymum]

Furbabymum, I think that would work. If you can make the vegetation about 50% of the size of the pond that'd be even better. I think your indicated depths are good - 4 feet for the pond and 2 feet for the biofilter. With the plants, in the biofilter I am guessing you will have plants with roots in the soil - you want it quite well populated with plants. You could add another area after the biofilter that is also fenced but just water and have in that area plants that have their roots in the water (i.e. floating plants). These will help clean the water too. You can have these pretty densely packed too. With the biofilter I'd pump the water in one end and then let it come out via gravity at the other end. You do not want much of a slope anywhere - in fact the biofilter can be completely level.

How may ducks are you thinking of?

Tweetysvoice, I think it'd be fine to have some water splashed into the middle and end parts of the biofilter. I think it'd cope with that.

I forgot to add that I'll have 9 ducks. I figure by not cementing the biological filter I can expand it as I need to.

 

[furbabymum]

Dang I forgot the water celery. Have water celery as well!!!!!

 

[furbabymum]

PS. Who loves my expert use of Pain.

 

[70%cocoa]

PS. Who loves my expert use of Pain.

LOL, I do! Very sophisticated. You mean Paint, rather than Pain, I'm guessing, though it probably was a bit painful at times

What you're planning there is more of a 'natural pond' type arrangement rather than a standard biofilter, but I do think it's worth a try as you have planned it. To do a 'proper' biofilter you'd build the wall up between the filter and pond so it was higher than the water level, you'd fill the filter area with gravel to a depth of two feet, and you'd feed in dirty water at one end using a pump and have clean water coming out the other end. The gravel would be planted with lots of reeds or similar. The idea is to maximise the time that the water is held in and treated by the biofilter, so that's the advantage of having the water running lengthways.

But even a system, as you're proposing, with an area off to the side that is heavily planted and that also contains floating plants, would also help a lot in removing nitrogen and keeping the water clean. Make the planted area as big as you can. Might also be good to have a small fountain arrangement to help oxygenate the water, somewhere in the system. Make the pond as deep as you are able because this will keep the temperature down and will help prevent algae etc.

 

[furbabymum]

LOL, I do! Very sophisticated. You mean Paint, rather than Pain, I'm guessing, though it probably was a bit painful at times

What you're planning there is more of a 'natural pond' type arrangement rather than a standard biofilter, but I do think it's worth a try as you have planned it. To do a 'proper' biofilter you'd build the wall up between the filter and pond so it was higher than the water level, you'd fill the filter area with gravel to a depth of two feet, and you'd feed in dirty water at one end using a pump and have clean water coming out the other end. The gravel would be planted with lots of reeds or similar. The idea is to maximise the time that the water is held in and treated by the biofilter, so that's the advantage of having the water running lengthways.
But even a system, as you're proposing, with an area off to the side that is heavily planted and that also contains floating plants, would also help a lot in removing nitrogen and keeping the water clean. Make the planted area as big as you can. Might also be good to have a small fountain arrangement to help oxygenate the water, somewhere in the system. Make the pond as deep as you are able because this will keep the temperature down and will help prevent algae etc.

Ha. Missed that T dang it! I meant Paint. lol

I saw a very cheap aerator on ebay that I'll look into buying after I research if it's worth it. We can go plenty deep as we have a tractor but cement is $$$$ so I think we'll stick to 4 feet.

I figure with this arrangement when the plants really start taking off they'll just grow through the fence and become duck food. Win win!

 

[Bridgertrot]

My duck pond is still a work in progress but it's just a blue kiddie pool. We did however cut a drain into it, set it on top of a wood pallet, and have about a 3 foot clear tube running underneath with a valve we can open and close. One thing I'm curious about though...it will only drain if the hose is held lower than the water level (gravity and such). We have the option of connecting a hose to the end and I'm wondering if we had a longer hose would it drain out if I was to walk around watering the yard with the garden hose? I hope that makes sense lol. Or does it always have to be lower than the pool?

 

[70%cocoa]

Bridgertrot, unfortunately, as soon as the end of the hose that you are holding is above the top of the water level, the water will stop coming out. It won't make any difference how long the hose is. You would have to use a pump to get it to come out while you were walking around watering the garden.

 

[MyBlackHen]

Hi everyone,
I am getting my first ducks soon and I love all of your ideas for duck setups! I have a question - duck poop water (LOL) is not "hot" like chicken poop and can be used directly on plants (so I've read). Can you overdo it though? Is it something you should use once a week or less, not every day? I have a lot of gardens so I figure I can drain my kiddie pool once a day and then rotate which gardens get the water ... but I just wanted to know how much is too much. Also, is it going to stink???

Another question I have - do you all lock your ducks up at night in some kind of housing to protect them from predators, or do you just rely on your enclosure to keep them safe? We have chickens and we lock them in their coop at night where they still have free access to food and water. But I've read that ducks don't like to be locked up, and if you do it should only be for a minimum number of hours - but with no food or water because they make such a mess. Any thoughts on this? The enclosure that I am making for my ducks won't be too secure (good enough to keep them in and to keep dogs and such out - but racoons, possums, etc will be able to climb the fence and there is no top).

Thanks!

 

[Kevin565]

1. I use duck poop all the time with no special accommodations. If it's from the pen it goes into a compost pile. If it's from the kiddie pool it's drained directly into one of the gardens.

2. I lock mine up at night with no food or water. They aren't always content but they are safe. Which is the most important thing to me.

Hi everyone,
I am getting my first ducks soon and I love all of your ideas for duck setups! I have a question - duck poop water (LOL) is not "hot" like chicken poop and can be used directly on plants (so I've read). Can you overdo it though? Is it something you should use once a week or less, not every day? I have a lot of gardens so I figure I can drain my kiddie pool once a day and then rotate which gardens get the water ... but I just wanted to know how much is too much. Also, is it going to stink???

Another question I have - do you all lock your ducks up at night in some kind of housing to protect them from predators, or do you just rely on your enclosure to keep them safe? We have chickens and we lock them in their coop at night where they still have free access to food and water. But I've read that ducks don't like to be locked up, and if you do it should only be for a minimum number of hours - but with no food or water because they make such a mess. Any thoughts on this? The enclosure that I am making for my ducks won't be too secure (good enough to keep them in and to keep dogs and such out - but racoons, possums, etc will be able to climb the fence and there is no top).

Thanks!