How big of a pond do I need?

[Miss Cheep]

Hi, I have 26 ducks and I was wondering how big of a pond I need to build for them. Also, do you have any suggestions on what filter to use in a pond?

 

[farout75]

Well a small poor won't do that's for sure! Best to call a hatchery and perhaps they can contact their supplier and they could let you know. Off the top I would say maybe 20 diameter pond.

 

[Miss Cheep]

Well a small poor won't do that's for sure! Best to call a hatchery and perhaps they can contact their supplier and they could let you know. Off the top I would say maybe 20 diameter pond.

Okay, thank you! Do you have any suggestions about what kinds of plants to put in a pond?

 

[My2butterflies]

Don’t bother with plants. The ducks will uproot and eat everything.
Definitely Go as big as you possibly can. And don’t bother buying pond liner, it’s over priced. I made that mistake with my koi pond. Instead buy roofing rubber liner. It’s about half the price of pond liner at the same thickness.
I think I spent around $100 for 10’x20’.

 

[Miss Cheep]

Don’t bother with plants. The ducks will uproot and eat everything.
Definitely Go as big as you possibly can. And don’t bother buying pond liner, it’s over priced. I made that mistake with my koi pond. Instead buy roofing rubber liner. It’s about half the price of pond liner at the same thickness.
I think I spent around $100 for 10’x20’.

Ok! Do you have any ideas on how to make it a self cleaning pond or what kind of filter to use in it? How deep should I make the pond?

 

[My2butterflies]

Ok! Do you have any ideas on how to make it a self cleaning pond or what kind of filter to use in it? How deep should I make the pond?

I’m currently using a tote for mine, but definitely need to beef up my filtration now that my babies have grown up.
Id suggest using a garbage bin. It will need to be cleaned regularly and you’ll still need to do full drain downs to muck the pond out every so often.
2’ or deeper if you’d like. They will use whatever you give them. Ducks like to dive, so I’m sure they will like the depth to do that, but with so many ducks I’d keep it more shallow and focus on having a bigger swim area.

 

[Wafflecat]

Any aquatic plants that would help the pond 'self clean' would end up being chowed on by the ducks. I tried water hyacinth in mine since it's supposed to be so rapid growing, and I gave it a head start of 8 weeks before my 6 girls were introduced to the pond area. The leaves felt thick enough I didn't think the ducks would eat it with an ample yard to forage in, and lots of available food. NOPE.

For them it was a combination of pool toy and snack all in one. It was their #1 favorite priority food until every scrap had been consumed. So much for 'highly aggressive water plant'.

If you don't want to do an empty/refill method....filtration is the best bet.

 

[Miss Cheep]

LOL, thanks for the tip! Won't waste my time with water plants!

 

[Wafflecat]

No problem! I was also hopeful that plants would help me with pond cleaning...not replace it, but get it more towards self cleaning than the empty/refill method. Alas, no luck.

 

[aart]

but get it more towards self cleaning than the empty/refill method.

You'd need an elaborate filtration system.
Bottom drain to vortex settling to......

Then drains on those vessels.