Fish in duck pond

[My2butterflies]

You might consider minnows for the duck pond. They also love duckweed, and it's good for them too.

I did minnows in the first duck pond. They “disappeared”
I’ll likely do duckweed in the future. I haven’t been to any stores that sell it in over a year and it’s been awhile since I’ve seen anyone near me selling privately.

 

[Suprasoup]

I did minnows in the first duck pond. They “disappeared”
I’ll likely do duckweed in the future. I haven’t been to any stores that sell it in over a year and it’s been awhile since I’ve seen anyone near me selling privately.

I never really had much luck growing enough duckweed for the ducks. when the ducks were little I grew some in the stream for them to eat.
it has since been taken over by the Water Celery which the ducks much prefer. I still have a little bit of duckweed in the indoor aquarium where I raise koi’s to size before moving them out into the koi pond.

stuff grows like a weed. Thank goodness the ducks and bunnies love the stuff. It also makes a fantastic veggie filter for the ponds


Heck water celery has even overtaken the water cress in the duck ponds veggie filter.

 

[getaclue]

I'm sure the ducks ate the minnows, which is exactly why I suggested them.

 

[LarsLgthNhnd]

I'm new to both hobbies, but I've had really good luck with ducks and goldfish. I honestly got the goldfish as feeders for the emaciated ducks, but then I started to really like the fish and wanted to help them survive, so I've been working on this.

I have 3 full grown ducks that I rescued as neglected adults. They came to me starving and now have full gloss feathers and walk without their knees buckling if they trip on something. They are apparently about 10 years old. My goldfish are only about 4 months old and there are about a dozen between 2 and 4 inches (the smaller ones spent some time in a smaller tank and didn't grow as much), and I have minnows that have already reproduced.

Because this is a budget project, the hardest part has been keeping up with leaks, but I think I have them all figured out and am looking at how to "dress it up" so that the cinder blocks, tub and bucket are hidden.

I am using a 100 gallon pond liner, with a 30 gallon connector pool, a "waterfall" box feature, four 12"x16"x4" ldpe tubs full of lava rock, a 5 gallon bucket filter, a 375 gph pump, and microfil filter material, bricks, 12"x12" ceramic tile, and 1/4 inch steel wire.

Step 1: I made sure that there was only one good entry point on the pond by placing it in the corner of my yard (this way i spend less on shorter pond fencing) and tilting the pond in the ground - seems wrong, but it works so right - about 5 inches lower on the entry point side. This also keeps the ducks from exiting the pond in any area with new or delicate vegetation.

Step 2: put together the filter and aquaponic setup

Step 3: determined where the water pump would go (farthest point away from the water inlet). Elevated water pump with 1/4 inch wire handmade stand.)

Step 4: I fenced the other areas so that I could start putting potted and planted vegetation around the pond without the ducks immediately decimating it.

Step 5, placed ceramic tiles on top of bricks at the bottom of the pool in a way where no matter where they move, they will be supported by brick (so that they cannot fall down and smash the fish.

Step 6: then i filled the pond, tested the pump and addressed the initial leaks.

Step 7: put plants in to help filter the water in the aquaponics and put plants into the containers to grow and feed the ducks with

Step 8: placed goldfish into the pond and let nature take its course. a few goldfish and a bunch of minnows got eaten right away but then about 3/4 of the whole group is pretty smart so they survived. I now have more fish than I started out with.

I am pretty sure that I will have to take out the gold fish when they reach about 7 inches because they won't really fit comfortably under the brick and will need a bigger container, inaccessible to the ducks, but that won't be for a good while. Until then, I think that these goldfish will have a decent time in here.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What a nice way to be able to enjoy both your ducks and the goldfish.
bless you for rescuing these ducks and giving them such a wonderful life

 

[dclay68]

You might consider minnows for the duck pond. They also love duckweed, and it's good for them too.

how do you keep your duck weed growing? My ducks eat them as quickly as I put them in

 

[raingarden]

Ducks will kill every fish they can catch. Then they'll kill any fish they cannot catch by polluting the water. Each duck needs at least two or three thousand gallons of pond space to have any hope of keeping the water clean enough for fish. No filter can keep up with them so plan on complete water changes. All the plants that are fit to eat will disappear. The ones they do not eat will be trampled or uprooted.

Just like you need multiple pastures for chickens so a pasture can recouperate from grazing, you need multiple ponds for ducks.

Don't get me wrong. I love ducks. I love ducks more than any other fowl and as much as dogs. But, ducks will be ducks and this thread is full of unreasonable expectations.

 

[LarsLgthNhnd]

What a nice way to be able to enjoy both your ducks and the goldfish.
bless you for rescuing these ducks and giving them such a wonderful life

Hey thank you so much!

 

[RubyRedDress]

This will be my first year with ducks and I have some questions.

I already have a koi pond and just setup a separate duck pond. Now I know ducks eat fish, but just little fish....right?
I’m sure the ducks will eventually come visit the koi pond despite having their own, so what size fish are vulnerable to ducks?
My smallest koi are 6” with most being around a foot or longer. And their pond is over 4’ deep. (Not sure how far down ducks dive)

Another question is do any of you guys keep small fish in your duck ponds for bug control? Knowing that they could get eaten I was just thinking of using feeder goldfish/guppies/or minnows.
Thoughts? Are goldfish bad for ducks they way they are for turtles?

I'd love to hear how it's turned out. We have six first season Pekins in our pond. The pond is natural and about an acre. We still feed them so they'll stay close and lay in or near their enclosure. They should start laying soon! We're thinking about stocking some minnows to wean them off of the dole How are your ducks doing now? Anybody have any tips? Thanks!

 

[raingarden]

They will eat or maul any fish that they can catch. That includes koi and goldfish up to about 6 or 8 inches. In a deep pond enough guppies, other live bearers or mosquito fish will persist to do the bug control job.

Pekin do not dabble very well so they are less adept at catching fish than mallards.