ducklings and pond (new filter pics pg2)

[rainplace]

you're still having sediment issues aren't you, Wifezilla?

I'm gonna go ask you questions in your thread

 

[rainplace]

This morning I started reworking my filter.

This is what was underneath the filtering medium and getting through the leaks without getting filtered:

The next picture shows the setup at the bottom of the rubber trash bin I'm using. The pump hose comes in and is attached to a T. On either side of the T is a small length of pip attached to an L. The L's go different directions so that I can get a swirl going to help stop sludge buildup. On top of this I used hardware cloth (I may have to go with a bigger squares but it's what I had) so that the medium won't interfere with the swirls:

I forgot to take a picture of the filtering medium after I put it in the new bin, but here it is when it was in the barrel. I'm wondering if I need to get a thicker medium.

Now another bit of hardware cloth with some broken bricks on top so the medium doesn't float:

I looked over the pump and noticed that indeed it did get clogged with feathers and grass so I wrapped it up in hardware cloth:

It's currently running, but before I spiff everything up I'm going to see if I need to do any more work on it. The bin needs to be cut down, and I'm going to be moving it back, but I'd thought I'd show the process in case anyone found it useful:

The ducks just bring in so much stuff! I really thought the digging the pond out was going to be the toughest bits, but it appears it's going to be the filter. I hope they know how much I love them

 

[rainplace]

Last week my pond suddenly went from murky to chocolate in color. I can no longer see the feet of my flock when they are swimming, that's how bad the color got. I thought I'd wait it out and see what happened next since it didn't seem to bother anyone including the cats. Yesterday I had a short power outage and looked inside my filter since the water had drained out. There was some good things going on in there, but the sludge was about 1.5 feet deep... it had managed to make it up past all my filtering material.

I did some more research last night and am going to make some tweaks to my filtering system this week. First thing I need to do is add oxygen to the filtering process. This has two benefits. 1. The beneficial bacteria I want to cultivate love oxygen. I saw bloodworms (midge larva) in my filter and I know they like low oxygen. And 2. the oxygen will help me separate out the solids from the water. I'm going to catch my solids in a sump that will have a valve for me to empty weekly. I think I can put the stuff I collect in the sump into a worm bin.

Here's a diagram that sort of shows what I'm talking about it. It was drawn by bentaz over at backyardaquaponics.com
full url for the thread I picked this up from is:
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5987&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=prefilter

I think I'm getting way more solids than he is from my ducks and geese than he is from his fish. So I'm going to collect my solids in a separate chamber. I don't use bioballs with my setup either. I may change out my current media to nylon scrubbers, but then I'd have to start over from scratch. If you want to know why check out this link:
http://www.wernersponds.com/biofiltermedia.htm

I still haven't fixed my run-off issue either. The duck-house is almost done so the next project is to finish up the pond.

Things to do:
remake the filter
make top of pond level
add gravel around pond
add growbeds
add plants
make pretty

 

[Scott]

Nice set up. I'm trying to work on a small duck pond right now myself, and I like some of the ideas I got from yours. I got a large, black 50 gallon plastic tub that I attached a sink drain to the bottom. I was going to sink that tub into the ground and then attach a pvc pipe to the bottom that drains away from the tub. Or I was just going to build a concrete pond. I can't decide which. With the concrete pond, it would be very difficult to have a bottom drain, but also easier to dig. I dunno yet...

 

[rainplace]

I don't know if it would be that much more difficult putting a bottom drain in a concrete pond. It's just a little extra digging for your pipes isn't it? I also think concrete ponds are better looking.

I've looked over your setup before and it's aesthetically pleasing, so you may want to go with concrete pond. On the other hand Wifezilla's pond is also very nice to look at. A lot of the ideas for my pond came from her thread here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=146829

 

[Scott]

Quote:
I agree that a concrete pond is better looking. And if done correctly, can look very natural which would be ideal. I would ideally like the duck pen/aviary to look very natural. It is going to be built to left and parallel to the chicken house. The problem is, I'm not sure how I would attach a bottom drain to the concrete. I had a pvc runoff drain near the top of the concrete pond so that it would never overfill from rain water. I keep changing my mind on what i want to do. Even if create more work now, I want something that in the long run will take minimal up keep. Time will tell.

 

[rainplace]

Dave Holderread gave me this idea when we were discussing ponds. Attach the piping to the drain, with the top of the pipe at pond level. When it rains the water will go into the pipe and out the drain. When you need to empty the entire pond just remove the pipe from the drain.

As far as attaching the drain to the cement pond, I think you just have all your drain works in place before you pour the cement. I'll look up the pictures I saw of this and post them.

 

[Scott]

Makes sense. With a pond as small as I have planed, it will have to have a drain. That idea would kill two birds with one stone... runoff and bottom drain in one. I like the idea. That would be great if you come across some photos.

 

[rainplace]

Hrmm... I was wondering how cold it gets where you are. If it gets too cold your concrete could crack due to heaving.

I looked for those pictures but it seems like I cannot remember the search criteria I used.

 

[Scott]

Thanks for looking nonetheless. I've wondered the same about the concrete, but i think it should be fine if it is relatively thick.