Duck Pond Pump???

[Massey]

Hi all,

Anyone recommend a pump that I can use that would be able manage the dirt at the bottom of a duck pond???

 

[ChicagoDucks]

I don't know if any combination of pumps or filters are going to help! Ducks bring silt, mud, leaves and such to the water in their eternal search for bugs. It will clog just about anything. If you have an ornamental pond, you may have to fence it off and get the ducks a kiddie pool.

 

[Toddrick]

I have a 1/4 acre pond in my back yard with a waterfall. I researched pond pumps extensively for months, and own three now. Asides from powering the waterfall, I also wanted to clear up my silty water. The pump alone does not filter water, but can handle debris easily. [Just about any pump should be able to run amidst small (1/4"debris), and a lot of people put them on top of a milk carton to prevent them from sucking in too much from the bottom].

If the purpose of your pump is to filter water then it is possible, but you'd need a pre-filter or pump the water into a filtering recepticle. Due to the size of my pond, the latter (pumping water into a trash can filled with activated charcoal 'n stuff) might have helped...but it would require cleaning or replacing the filter too frequently. If you have a small, concrete koi pond or something it would be fairly easy, but not feasible with large dug-in pond, where the dirt and debris would be endless.

 

[Massey]

Thanks for the replies, I'm currently using two kiddy pools that I clean out every day or so but my goal for this spring is to dig a round pond, about 8-10 feet diameter and about 3 foot deep, should be in and around 5000L, I was going to have the pump about 3000l/h pumping the water into 3-4 barrels of gravel,


The barrels will have in them gravel and worms (they will come, couldn't stop them if I tried but Dont want to its great they will be there) which should look after the physical dirt,

But there will also be bacteria in the barrels, this bacteria will turn the ammonia into nitrates and then a second type of bacteria will turn the nitrates into nitrites, nitrites is great feed for plants

so I will have duck weed growing in the barrels, do overall I'm hoping the pong and barrel filter will not only keep the pond clean but also feed the ducks,

So basically that is why I need to make sure the pump will carry small solids, ;-)

 

[Toddrick]

Okay, well that sounds like a lofty plan, but to answer your question, yes, the pumps will tolerate small solids. Most say right on the box that rocks up to a 1/4" will not cause them to jam. The pumps usually even come with a plastic cover that won't allow anything larger than 1/4" through. Pumping water will not be a problem. Maintaining the filters should be your main concern.

I'm using 3000gph pumps on my 8ft high waterfall, and let me tell you, that is a lot of water pumping through there. If your pond will only be three feet deep, then you should probably be looking at something like 750-1000gph I'm guessing. 3000gph is uncontrollable like a fire hose, and will probably just overflow all your barrels.

 

[Massey]

Oh ok Ithought the pump would be ok strength once iI take into account head height, I'll do a bit more looking at it,

 

[TLWR]

My pond is about 1000 gallons with a separate 70 gallon filter box.
I don't recall what the pump is, but I do have to go clean it out now and then when I notice the flow has slowed down.
The pond is under some trees, so I get little sticks and leaves, but we skim the bottom of the pond several times a week so the pump isn't getting clogged with all that stuff.

 

[Massey]

Yeah, skimming the bottom might be something I can add to my maintanence of the pond, just refilling it every dayis not something I want to continue to do,


meant to say in an earlier post too that I'll probably run the pump on a timer like 1 hour on 3 off and then even less at night and I'll be able toto change that depending on the need of the pond,


Oh and ToddrickToddrick just to clear up something there I said 3000l/h not 3000g/h so it shouldn't be too bad,