Right now our ducks are using a plastic kiddie pool, but we're having some problems. It's so large that I can't clean it easily so it's constantly green, and our bright sun is really hard on the plastic. We have pond liner left over from another project, but it seems like an in-ground pond would be even harder to clean, and some of our ducks are muscovies with long claws on their feet. Money is also an issue, so just purchasing a rubber or metal tank is out. Any ideas?
What about a cheap submersible or aquarium pump? Also, if the kiddie pool is elevated or you can get lower than the pool, you can use gravity to siphon the water out.
Install a drain in the plastic pool and put it in the shade if you have any. My ducks started with a kiddie pool, then a large kiddie pool, then I built them a pond. THe large kiddie pool, I installed a drain.
I got a heavy-duty drain and plug adapter kit with about an inch opening, cut a hole in the bottom sidewall of a preformed rigid 90 gallon pond liner, and sealed the drain and plug into place with silicone sealant. Same thing should work on your kiddy pool. No lifting or flipping or siphoning or filters or pumps, just unscrew the plug and let all the grossness drain away! And yeah, moving it out of the sunlight will deal with a lot of algae troubles
