Exactly right. We only name animals we plan to keep throughout their natural lives (that includes our 16 layers, 4 breeding rabbits and the 3 adult goats). Hope to get some meat birds maybe next year (no naming them) and the rabbits will be mated again later this summer (no naming the offspring). We're pretty sure the 2 female goats are pregnant...depending on how that all turns out, the babes will either get a name or not, still not sure what's going to happen on that one.yes, duck is very much off the table, as is chicken, once you start caring for them. I think it's probably a good idea if you plan to eat something not to give it a name.
Actually I recently became a "fishaquarian" so maybe a few edible fish might be a good idea.
Duckponics system with a grow bed aka Aquackulture
- Thread starter StBob
- Start date
Great job!
We use a similar set up for our koi pond using a 300 gallon stock tank as the koi pond, and a 100 gallon tank as the bio-filter.
We have purchased a second set of tanks to build a 300g duck pond with a 100g bio-filter for that as well - we'll see how well it works!
Cheers'
Dan
Dan,
I looked over the photos you posted and that is one great set up! Tell your wife we're totally impressed. Functional and very beautiful...I like that
Works great if you can keep the ducks from eating the plants. My duck pond is set up with the same theory, but no plants... the dogs and the ducks like the plants in the pond/filter a wee bit too much.
Water is green and poop stays on the bottom and the filter really sucks up the poop, so plants would be very happy in the filter box... if said plants weren't devoured by plant loving critters.
Dan, I can't wait to see what she does with your duck pond.
We have managed to not have any issues with the ducks eating the koi pond bio filter plants - mostly due to the koi pond filter being pretty inaccessible to the ducks. It sits behind the koi pond, and up quite a bit behind the cosmetic stonework.
They know better than to get too close to the koi pond in general . . .an abrupt change of destination always occurs, with my better half 'inspiring' them to go elsewhere in the yard
We also won't have any plants - aside from some occasional duckweed - in the 300 gallon duck pond, and the plan is to have the duck pond bio filter also out of easy reach for them, similar to the koi pond filter setup.
Here is what I got accomplished today . . .
The new duck pond sits to the left of the duckie home, in between some established plants that the ducks don't have any interest in pestering. . . .
The 300 gallon duck pond is temporarily in place. I plan on getting it permanently in place later this week. I still need to lay weed barrier under and around it, and add a few hundred pounds of sand under the tank to make a level, stable base.
Next weekend will be setting up the 100 gallon bio filter, pumps, plants and etc . . . and getting the water in and flowing. Hopefully the week or weekend after that should be finishing stonework and cosmetics, and designing a platform for them to stand on/get out of the tub from.
I'll post more pics as things progress . . . .
Cheers'
Dan
They know better than to get too close to the koi pond in general . . .an abrupt change of destination always occurs, with my better half 'inspiring' them to go elsewhere in the yard
We also won't have any plants - aside from some occasional duckweed
- in the 300 gallon duck pond, and the plan is to have the duck pond bio filter also out of easy reach for them, similar to the koi pond filter setup.Here is what I got accomplished today . . .
The new duck pond sits to the left of the duckie home, in between some established plants that the ducks don't have any interest in pestering. . . .
The 300 gallon duck pond is temporarily in place. I plan on getting it permanently in place later this week. I still need to lay weed barrier under and around it, and add a few hundred pounds of sand under the tank to make a level, stable base.
Next weekend will be setting up the 100 gallon bio filter, pumps, plants and etc . . . and getting the water in and flowing. Hopefully the week or weekend after that should be finishing stonework and cosmetics, and designing a platform for them to stand on/get out of the tub from.
I'll post more pics as things progress . . . .
Cheers'
Dan
Hello Dan. You have a great project going. I'm sure your sucks are going to love it! It sounds like you have done some research on ducks and live ponds. I've been having some probs with a good method of filtering the water when duck poop/pee accumulates. We are running a 700 gallon pond with koi, feeder fish, and once had a ton of beautiful water lillys. Then the ducks decided to claim our pond, eat our koi and all our lillies. The water becomes frothy and bubbly when there's a lot of waste. Could you recommend a good solution to filter the water or deter the ducks from our patio area? Thanks in advance!
Maryam
Maryam
- Thread starter
- #16
Hi Maryam, your garden looks stunning - no wonder the ducks enjoy paddling on the pond taking in the views! Dan answered in some detail above about his set up. Mine is somewhat different so I will give some details here. Which works better I don't know. I suspect the key to success is ongoing care and maintenance and checking pH/ammonia/nitrate balances so the plants (and ducks and fish) thrive. There is so much information on the internet on aquaponics, almost as much info as there is on ducks and chickens.
Firstly here is a brief description from an Aquaponics system for fish converted to an Aquackulture system for ducks.
Flood and drain style grow beds
Water is pumped from the duck pond up to the grow beds which contain the plants. Water then flows through the grow bed consisting of expanded clay balls and is gravity fed back to the duck pond The water level in the grow bed is controlled via a syphon arrangement that alternates the flooding and draining of the grow bed.
Floating raft style grow beds
Water is continuously pumped from the duck pond up to the grow bed. Plants are grown suspended via clay balls in the water-filled grow bed. A bio-filter converts ammonia to nitrates which are utilised by the plants. Clay balls are used to provide aeration to the plants roots.
I have the second type. My small 50g (200L) pond has 2 ducks and no fish. My pump (Laguna Maxflow 4000 lph) runs at 500g/h (2000L/hr). The clay balls about 1/2-1 inch (1-2cm) in diameter. They can be bought from an aquaponics shop or online. The idea is that the water from the duck pond is high in ammonia but low in the nitrites/nitrates that plants need. The bacteria in the clay balls breaks down Ammonia into Nitrates. The plants then use this as fertiliser which cleans the water which returns to the pond. The bed also serves as a mechanical filter so that solids should settle in it (thus requiring total cleaning every year or two I suspect). You can also add worms to it which will break down the solids into "worm tea" which is what my worm farm produces. The plants sit in the liquid (not in soil) like they do in an aquaponics system.
That's the theory at least. I have only just got everything set up and working and planted my first veges 2 days ago (see photo - the green shoots are beans which sprouted in the packet because I bought them about 2 months ago). I have just poured on various vege seeds (lettuce, carrots, corgettes, beans, leeks, rhubarb, beets) and stirred them in. I'll see what grows and thin them out later.
Here is the "before" picture of the grow bed. You can also see the pipe where the water flows in and then out.
You might already have a pump for your waterfall (? I think I see at the front of the pond) that brings water back up. Maybe you could just sink a stock tank in the ground in the garden and make it part of the existing circuit and fill it up with garden plants as Dan has done. You would need an extra pump though I guess. Mine pumps water up into the tank (the pump sits in the pond) and gravity brings it back down.
As far as stopping your ducks eating plants I lost all mine in the first couple of days and gave up. I now fence off areas of the duck&chicken enclosure so the grass can grow back which works. They temporarily got access to my goldfish pond, which is now behind a low wire fence, and in a couple of hours had destroyed most of the plants but the fish were still alive.
cheers, James
Firstly here is a brief description from an Aquaponics system for fish converted to an Aquackulture system for ducks.
Flood and drain style grow beds
Water is pumped from the duck pond up to the grow beds which contain the plants. Water then flows through the grow bed consisting of expanded clay balls and is gravity fed back to the duck pond The water level in the grow bed is controlled via a syphon arrangement that alternates the flooding and draining of the grow bed.
Floating raft style grow beds
Water is continuously pumped from the duck pond up to the grow bed. Plants are grown suspended via clay balls in the water-filled grow bed. A bio-filter converts ammonia to nitrates which are utilised by the plants. Clay balls are used to provide aeration to the plants roots.
I have the second type. My small 50g (200L) pond has 2 ducks and no fish. My pump (Laguna Maxflow 4000 lph) runs at 500g/h (2000L/hr). The clay balls about 1/2-1 inch (1-2cm) in diameter. They can be bought from an aquaponics shop or online. The idea is that the water from the duck pond is high in ammonia but low in the nitrites/nitrates that plants need. The bacteria in the clay balls breaks down Ammonia into Nitrates. The plants then use this as fertiliser which cleans the water which returns to the pond. The bed also serves as a mechanical filter so that solids should settle in it (thus requiring total cleaning every year or two I suspect). You can also add worms to it which will break down the solids into "worm tea" which is what my worm farm produces. The plants sit in the liquid (not in soil) like they do in an aquaponics system.
That's the theory at least. I have only just got everything set up and working and planted my first veges 2 days ago (see photo - the green shoots are beans which sprouted in the packet because I bought them about 2 months ago). I have just poured on various vege seeds (lettuce, carrots, corgettes, beans, leeks, rhubarb, beets) and stirred them in. I'll see what grows and thin them out later.
Here is the "before" picture of the grow bed. You can also see the pipe where the water flows in and then out.
You might already have a pump for your waterfall (? I think I see at the front of the pond) that brings water back up. Maybe you could just sink a stock tank in the ground in the garden and make it part of the existing circuit and fill it up with garden plants as Dan has done. You would need an extra pump though I guess. Mine pumps water up into the tank (the pump sits in the pond) and gravity brings it back down.
As far as stopping your ducks eating plants I lost all mine in the first couple of days and gave up. I now fence off areas of the duck&chicken enclosure so the grass can grow back which works. They temporarily got access to my goldfish pond, which is now behind a low wire fence, and in a couple of hours had destroyed most of the plants but the fish were still alive.
cheers, James
- Thread starter
- #17
Hi Dan, great work on the duck pond!
I was thinking about the way the ammonia from the fish/ducks needs to be broken down into nitrates for the plants. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrification) the first stage requires NH4+ (Ammonia) to be oxidised into Nitrite (NO2-) and then further from Nitirite to Nitrate. This needs to be in the presence of Oxygen (O2). One way to do this is with aerobic bacteria. In my growbed the bacteria sit on the surface of the clay balls and water is oxygenated when pumped. How does this work with your filter? One of the major issues identified by the installers was to make sure there were no anaerobic bacteria present(they even emptied and cleaned the duck pond first before refiling as the duck muck had been sitting in the bottom all summer). Particularly if growing veges to eat.
Do you do anything special to oxygenate the water? The health of your plants and lack of an ammonia smell indicates your system is healthy and working. Another tip I was given is to add worm farm worms which will break down some of the solids trapped in the filter. Have you tried them? I am just off to the hardware store now to buy some.
cheers, James
I was thinking about the way the ammonia from the fish/ducks needs to be broken down into nitrates for the plants. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrification) the first stage requires NH4+ (Ammonia) to be oxidised into Nitrite (NO2-) and then further from Nitirite to Nitrate. This needs to be in the presence of Oxygen (O2). One way to do this is with aerobic bacteria. In my growbed the bacteria sit on the surface of the clay balls and water is oxygenated when pumped. How does this work with your filter? One of the major issues identified by the installers was to make sure there were no anaerobic bacteria present(they even emptied and cleaned the duck pond first before refiling as the duck muck had been sitting in the bottom all summer). Particularly if growing veges to eat.
Do you do anything special to oxygenate the water? The health of your plants and lack of an ammonia smell indicates your system is healthy and working. Another tip I was given is to add worm farm worms which will break down some of the solids trapped in the filter. Have you tried them? I am just off to the hardware store now to buy some.
cheers, James
Sorry I've not replied in a few days - family came in from out of town, and the recent wet weather has slowed my project advancement this last week 
Maryam - a bio filter (my better half researched it as, and refers to it as, a 'Skippy Filter') similar to ours would definitely help in your situation (it couldn't hurt).
The filter is a separate unit from the pond, and you would need to find a location for the set-up near your duckie pond. It isn't a complicated thing to build, and ours has worked incredibly well thus far as a KOI pond filter.
Since the filtering media and a large portion of the filtering plants are in the actual 100 gallon bio-filter tank, and not the pond, the ducks should likely not make much a meal out of them (you will need to make it difficult for the ducks to get to the filter plants easily, as you might a garden or specimen plants). I would suspect that any plants and/or fish that you put in the actual duck pond with the ducks will simply be considered 'treats' by your littles
Mind you - we are currently experiencing these great results with the 14 or so koi/goldfish, 4 frogs/tadpoles and 4 large water snails in the 300 gallon koi pond. Since we don't have the duck pond set up yet, I cannot tell you first hand that this will definitely work with ducks. The set-up for our duck pond will be nearly identical to the koi pond - a 300 gallon pond and a 100 gallon bio-filter, just with two ducks in place of the fish/etc.
However, I am very positive that I can get this functioning well - with us ONLY having 2 ducks. If we had more than two ducks, I'd be less likely to think the 100 gallon filter could keep up.
I'm sure there will be a bit more maintenance with the duck pond than the koi pond - making sure any 'floaties' (leaves, grass, etc) that get into the pond are removed quickly, to lessen the work the filter has to do, but since it will mostly be a 'light load' of duck poo, it should be pretty easy to maintain.
Note - we will be covering the area around the duck pond with weed barrier, and a stone base so that the ducks will not be able to muddle around the pond and introduce much extra matter into the system - the intention is to keep the load on the filter to only what the two ducks 'produce'.
We'll see soon enough. My new pump for the duck pond is in transit, and a few more hours of assembly over next weekend should have the duck pond up and running.
StBob - the bacteria are in/on the bio filter media - the filter media works similarly to the clay balls in your setup - maximizing surface area while catching/filtering larger particles.
In our setup, the water is oxygenated through cavitation/churning at the intake port to the bio-filter - water is pumped from the pond into an open PVC down tube in the center of the bio-filter - drawing air in with the water. The water is also oxygenated as it flows over the two steps on the waterfall.
My better half does add a 'good' bacteria mix to the water every so often (monthly perhaps?) but, it's late at night here (I work nights), and I do not know where she keeps the bottle, so I'll have to post what it is later.
EDIT: found the solution that she uses, it's called Microbe-Lift Thera-P - as noted, she doesn't use it often, just as an additional support for the pond/filter/fish.
I do not believe worms would work too well in our set-up, due to most everything being submerged, not just wet/damp. I'd think I'd end up with lots of dead worms, and even more load on the bio-filter with the extra decaying mass
Cheers'
Dan
Maryam - a bio filter (my better half researched it as, and refers to it as, a 'Skippy Filter') similar to ours would definitely help in your situation (it couldn't hurt).
The filter is a separate unit from the pond, and you would need to find a location for the set-up near your duckie pond. It isn't a complicated thing to build, and ours has worked incredibly well thus far as a KOI pond filter.
Since the filtering media and a large portion of the filtering plants are in the actual 100 gallon bio-filter tank, and not the pond, the ducks should likely not make much a meal out of them (you will need to make it difficult for the ducks to get to the filter plants easily, as you might a garden or specimen plants). I would suspect that any plants and/or fish that you put in the actual duck pond with the ducks will simply be considered 'treats' by your littles
Mind you - we are currently experiencing these great results with the 14 or so koi/goldfish, 4 frogs/tadpoles and 4 large water snails in the 300 gallon koi pond. Since we don't have the duck pond set up yet, I cannot tell you first hand that this will definitely work with ducks. The set-up for our duck pond will be nearly identical to the koi pond - a 300 gallon pond and a 100 gallon bio-filter, just with two ducks in place of the fish/etc.
However, I am very positive that I can get this functioning well - with us ONLY having 2 ducks. If we had more than two ducks, I'd be less likely to think the 100 gallon filter could keep up.
I'm sure there will be a bit more maintenance with the duck pond than the koi pond - making sure any 'floaties' (leaves, grass, etc) that get into the pond are removed quickly, to lessen the work the filter has to do, but since it will mostly be a 'light load' of duck poo, it should be pretty easy to maintain.
Note - we will be covering the area around the duck pond with weed barrier, and a stone base so that the ducks will not be able to muddle around the pond and introduce much extra matter into the system - the intention is to keep the load on the filter to only what the two ducks 'produce'.
We'll see soon enough. My new pump for the duck pond is in transit, and a few more hours of assembly over next weekend should have the duck pond up and running.
StBob - the bacteria are in/on the bio filter media - the filter media works similarly to the clay balls in your setup - maximizing surface area while catching/filtering larger particles.
In our setup, the water is oxygenated through cavitation/churning at the intake port to the bio-filter - water is pumped from the pond into an open PVC down tube in the center of the bio-filter - drawing air in with the water. The water is also oxygenated as it flows over the two steps on the waterfall.
My better half does add a 'good' bacteria mix to the water every so often (monthly perhaps?) but, it's late at night here (I work nights), and I do not know where she keeps the bottle, so I'll have to post what it is later.
EDIT: found the solution that she uses, it's called Microbe-Lift Thera-P - as noted, she doesn't use it often, just as an additional support for the pond/filter/fish.
I do not believe worms would work too well in our set-up, due to most everything being submerged, not just wet/damp. I'd think I'd end up with lots of dead worms, and even more load on the bio-filter with the extra decaying mass
Cheers'
Dan
Last edited:
OK - so, it was a good weather weekend and we were able to get some work done on the duck pond . . .
Test fitting, and a bit more digging in the hole again after last weeks rains left quite a bit of new silt:
Hole up to snuff, and lined with weed barrier - test fitting again - also decided to rotate the tank position 90° from our original plan so that the entry step would fit better against one of the tanks two flat sides:
We added 2" of playground sand to the bottom of the hole, over the weed barrier - and re-set the tank inside. After a bit of feddling to get things level, we filled the 300 gallon tank with water to set it. Once the tank was mostly filled, we back filled the front of the hole around the tank with sand, and packed it down to make a good stable support for the (what is likely overkill, but attractive) step stone:
Around the back and sides, we back filled around the tank with some of the soil removed when digging the hole. The extra 'flap' of weed barrier at the back is to keep sand/soil from packing around the bung at the bottom rear of the tank, just in case the threaded plug leaks and I need to get in there and replace or tighten it:
Here we've taken 5, 80# bags of sand and formed and tamped down a base for the step stone we'll be placing in front of the pond for duckie access. We decided to use a (another) 10"x18"x48", 450lb granite block to go with the stone blocks we currently use as deck steps.
The extra weed barrier in front of the sand base will be folded back over the sand, and tucked in at the sides create a 'pillow case' for the sand, so that it won't be washed away during heavy rains:
The 'pillow case' for the sand was made, and the stone set (that was heavy!). The 3/8" river stone that makes up the 'beach' area around our deck is making it's way into place around the front of the step:
The duck pond itself is mostly finished, aside from the cosmetic stone work (the stones around it at the moment are just ones moved aside to get the tank in . . .), and the assembly and installation of the 100 gallon bio-filter that will go behind and to the left of the pond. The waterfall from the bio filter we have planned to be 15-18" over the pond surface. The filter set up will be over this week, and next weekend the cosmetic stone work.
Here Squirt and Khaki are getting some enjoyment out of their new pool!!
The rubber mat is for easy in and out of the tank. It is Ty-Wrapped to the edge of the tank, and rests in the water on an upturned plastic milk crate, with a couple large stones inside the crate to weigh it down. It also extends past the crate on all sides so that there are no sharp, hard edges that the ducks could hit a leg or bill against while swimming about.
Inside the milk crate is also where the filter/waterfall pump will be housed, so that we are impeding as little as possible on the duckies swim area.
We still have to set up the bio-filter, but it didn't make any sense to fill the tank and not let the kids play!
Cheers' for now!!
Dan
Test fitting, and a bit more digging in the hole again after last weeks rains left quite a bit of new silt:
Hole up to snuff, and lined with weed barrier - test fitting again - also decided to rotate the tank position 90° from our original plan so that the entry step would fit better against one of the tanks two flat sides:
We added 2" of playground sand to the bottom of the hole, over the weed barrier - and re-set the tank inside. After a bit of feddling to get things level, we filled the 300 gallon tank with water to set it. Once the tank was mostly filled, we back filled the front of the hole around the tank with sand, and packed it down to make a good stable support for the (what is likely overkill, but attractive) step stone:
Around the back and sides, we back filled around the tank with some of the soil removed when digging the hole. The extra 'flap' of weed barrier at the back is to keep sand/soil from packing around the bung at the bottom rear of the tank, just in case the threaded plug leaks and I need to get in there and replace or tighten it:
Here we've taken 5, 80# bags of sand and formed and tamped down a base for the step stone we'll be placing in front of the pond for duckie access. We decided to use a (another) 10"x18"x48", 450lb granite block to go with the stone blocks we currently use as deck steps.
The extra weed barrier in front of the sand base will be folded back over the sand, and tucked in at the sides create a 'pillow case' for the sand, so that it won't be washed away during heavy rains:
The 'pillow case' for the sand was made, and the stone set (that was heavy!). The 3/8" river stone that makes up the 'beach' area around our deck is making it's way into place around the front of the step:
The duck pond itself is mostly finished, aside from the cosmetic stone work (the stones around it at the moment are just ones moved aside to get the tank in . . .), and the assembly and installation of the 100 gallon bio-filter that will go behind and to the left of the pond. The waterfall from the bio filter we have planned to be 15-18" over the pond surface. The filter set up will be over this week, and next weekend the cosmetic stone work.
Here Squirt and Khaki are getting some enjoyment out of their new pool!!
The rubber mat is for easy in and out of the tank. It is Ty-Wrapped to the edge of the tank, and rests in the water on an upturned plastic milk crate, with a couple large stones inside the crate to weigh it down. It also extends past the crate on all sides so that there are no sharp, hard edges that the ducks could hit a leg or bill against while swimming about.
Inside the milk crate is also where the filter/waterfall pump will be housed, so that we are impeding as little as possible on the duckies swim area.
We still have to set up the bio-filter, but it didn't make any sense to fill the tank and not let the kids play!
Cheers' for now!!
Dan
Last edited:
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