Keeping duck pond water clean... With minimal to no effort

[dotknott]

Does that kiddie pool have a built in slide? Do the ducks ever use it?

 

[GraceHomestead]

Thanks for sharing!! I have been wandering if I could build their pen by our farm pond about 700ft from the house or build one in the backyard?!?
Thinking of having on in the backyard for ducklings and then move them down to the pond once bigger....

 

[gal5150]

Thanks for adding a supplies list! I'm dying to build a biofilter.....you've inspired me to get cracking! Awesome set up

 

[Ren2014]

Thanks for adding a supplies list! I'm dying to build a biofilter.....you've inspired me to get cracking! Awesome set up

x2

Ok, dumb question but will this work if there is no liner??

 

[helicalduck]

There is of course an option of other plants, non-aquatic plants that can be used outside the filter itself and give you food on top of it. The duckponics/aquackponics is a good way to go.

This design we like, though we may go bigger.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/913753/clean-duck-water-and-free-food-aquaponics-duckaponics

Some don't like the whole manure fertilization for food they eat for some reason, the best tasting and nutritious foods come from manure fertilized plants. The garden soil specifically designed for veggy and fruit planting has manure premixed in (at least the stuff we get). It is the natural process. So, I'm not sure what the poster of that thread is talking about.

 

[helicalduck]

Does that kiddie pool have a built in slide? Do the ducks ever use it?

Yes, there is a built in slide...I had hoped they would use it and have fun...but they just stand at the top and use it to get out of the pool if they don't feel like just flying out. So, I guess they kind of use it, but not actually sliding down it. Of course that could be due to how late they were introduced to it, once we hatch some they will introduced soon and we will see.

 

[helicalduck]

x2

Ok, dumb question but will this work if there is no liner??

Are you meaning no kiddy pool? Basically a hole in the ground?

If you mean just digging out a hole in the ground, yes you can do the biofilter. You won't even need all the supplies and such the skippy filter uses.

What you do is incorporate the filter directly into the pond itself. You may have to fence off the filter area (the area of the pond that contains the plants) so the ducks won't eat them or use aquatic plants the ducks don't like. Then you want to ensure you have plenty of rocks and such for the bacteria to grow on and then get the water to cycle in some manner (ie a pump to a waterfall).

In fact the pond diagram posted here is exactly that:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ter-is-unplanted-and-the-pond-is-drained-sigh

Though I guess they had problems, but I also don't see any water movement mechanism in the diagram.

If you mean to use the skippy biofilter in conjunction with a hole in the ground pond without a pond liner. Yes you can, would have to look up the details of what extra is needed, but I have seen videos of people doing so successfully.

In fact this very type system is used for natural swimming pools (no need for chlorine or salt or any additive).
Such as this one here:
http://www.greentraveller.co.uk/blog/hotels-natural-swimming-pools
This is a natural pool where they built the pool surrounded by the biofilter process.

So basically, the closer you can emulate the way nature cleans water (ie lakes), the better.

 

[Ren2014]

Are you meaning no kiddy pool? Basically a hole in the ground?

If you mean just digging out a hole in the ground, yes you can do the biofilter. You won't even need all the supplies and such the skippy filter uses.

What you do is incorporate the filter directly into the pond itself. You may have to fence off the filter area (the area of the pond that contains the plants) so the ducks won't eat them or use aquatic plants the ducks don't like. Then you want to ensure you have plenty of rocks and such for the bacteria to grow on and then get the water to cycle in some manner (ie a pump to a waterfall).

In fact the pond diagram posted here is exactly that:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ter-is-unplanted-and-the-pond-is-drained-sigh

Though I guess they had problems, but I also don't see any water movement mechanism in the diagram.

If you mean to use the skippy biofilter in conjunction with a hole in the ground pond without a pond liner. Yes you can, would have to look up the details of what extra is needed, but I have seen videos of people doing so successfully.

In fact this very type system is used for natural swimming pools (no need for chlorine or salt or any additive).
Such as this one here:
http://www.greentraveller.co.uk/blog/hotels-natural-swimming-pools
This is a natural pool where they built the pool surrounded by the biofilter process.

So basically, the closer you can emulate the way nature cleans water (ie lakes), the better.

Thank you. Yes, just a hole in the ground. We already have the hole and it did have LOTS of green nasty water but we drained it to 'remodel.' Basically that's all it was.... a hold in the ground and not deep at all.


My husband thinks if we just dig it deeper our problems will be solved. Me, not soo much.
Here is what it looks like right now

 

[helicalduck]

Thank you. Yes, just a hole in the ground. We already have the hole and it did have LOTS of green nasty water but we drained it to 'remodel.' Basically that's all it was.... a hold in the ground and not deep at all.


My husband thinks if we just dig it deeper our problems will be solved. Me, not soo much.
Here is what it looks like right now

Well, you are right, digging it deeper won't solve the problem, but it will spread it out more. Digging deeper will allow more surface area (though surface area doesn't appear to be the issue for you...I wish I had that big of a pond) for stuff to be added for bacteria to grown on. Also other varieties of plants can be added. So, digging deeper could be beneficial, though not absolutely necessary (unless it's just not deep enough for the ducks to submerse in...like mine).

There needs to be water movement, stagnant water is dirty water (the old camping/backpacking adage of don't drink stagnant water, drink moving water...it prevents bad growth). Without the movement of the water to get the "gunk" to move around so the bacteria and other mechanism can pick it up (and preventing bad things from growing), it will just build up. During my research, every time I saw someone mention using a "biofilter" without a pump or other water movement, they followed it by such things as cleaning hassle, clogged/overwhelmed filter, dirty water, etc.

If that is a waterfall make sure you have enough volume being circulated. The amount of water movement is of course based on how many gallons your pond is, the typical cycle is 1 full circulation every hour (this is typical, not an absolute...adjust according to setup...but that is a good starting point), which means 1500 gallon pond = 1500 gallon circulation every hour (remember to account for transfer loss due to rise and distance when choosing the pump, ie it may be a 2500 gph pump you need depending on setup).

Then to me it looks like you just need bacteria and aquatic plants.
The amount of bacteria added of course depends on your pond volume.
The plants you choose are of personal choice, though there are some that are better than others. Hyacinths being a bit more invasive than others (they just keep growing, I had 2 more sprouts per plant come up this weekend, the top of the filter is nearly packed). Water lilies being one of the more expensive plants (here they are $35 per plant, and they only have a stem to start off with).

(there was one video of someone with a similar setup as you and they put the skippy biofilter inside the waterfall structure...but they also had aquatic plants in the pond itself)

Though I will admit, I am not a final source by any means, there are most definitely more wise people out there that have encountered these issues more than I have. Do that research.

 

[Ren2014]

Well, you are right, digging it deeper won't solve the problem, but it will spread it out more. Digging deeper will allow more surface area (though surface area doesn't appear to be the issue for you...I wish I had that big of a pond) for stuff to be added for bacteria to grown on. Also other varieties of plants can be added. So, digging deeper could be beneficial, though not absolutely necessary (unless it's just not deep enough for the ducks to submerse in...like mine).

There needs to be water movement, stagnant water is dirty water (the old camping/backpacking adage of don't drink stagnant water, drink moving water...it prevents bad growth). Without the movement of the water to get the "gunk" to move around so the bacteria and other mechanism can pick it up (and preventing bad things from growing), it will just build up. During my research, every time I saw someone mention using a "biofilter" without a pump or other water movement, they followed it by such things as cleaning hassle, clogged/overwhelmed filter, dirty water, etc.

If that is a waterfall make sure you have enough volume being circulated. The amount of water movement is of course based on how many gallons your pond is, the typical cycle is 1 full circulation every hour (this is typical, not an absolute...adjust according to setup...but that is a good starting point), which means 1500 gallon pond = 1500 gallon circulation every hour (remember to account for transfer loss due to rise and distance).

Then to me it looks like you just need bacteria and plants.
The amount of bacteria added of course depends on your pond volume.
The plants you choose are of personal choice, though there are some that are better than others. Hyacinths being a bit more invasive than others (they just keep growing, I had 2 more sprouts per plant come up this weekend, the top of the filter is nearly packed).

(there was one video of someone with a similar setup as you and they put the skippy biofilter inside the waterfall structure...but they also had aquatic plants in the pond itself)

Though I will admit, I am not a final source by any means, there are most definitely more wise people out there that have encountered these issues more than I have. Do that research.

That was a waterfall until I found a water moccasin sunbathing by it one day. I made the DH destroy it trying to get the snake

Another part of the plan is to cement around all of the rocks along the edge so snakes won't have hiding places.

After the water fall destruction, he put in a hose to shoot water up in the air. The pump kept getting clogged so it didn't last either.

Thank you so much for all of the info. You've been very helpful. I will look for the video.