The Duck-ponics Experiment - Raising minnows

[rainplace]

You mentioned vacuuming out the sediment with a shop vac. Will any shop vac work? Is there anything you did first? I guess I want to know if I can just vacuum the crap out it

Why do you want to upgrade your pump?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Wifezilla I can't believe I missed this thread. I need to read it before saying anything else other than

 

[Wifezilla]

I use a regular shop vac. I want to upgrade so I don't have to shop vac and/or keep cleaning out the pump. Feathers have been clogging it.

On an interesting not, Moby the feeder goldfish is still alive.

 

[Wifezilla]

Updated pictures of the pond plants....

I have started to harvest basil, yellow squash and hot peppers from this set up. None of us have keeled over, so contamination isn't an issue. I asked some of my online gardening buddies about the possibility of getting some kind of cooties from the pond, but they were all pretty sure this is no different than using "poo tea" on plants...which is what they have been doing for years.

The plant trays are working so well I am going to expand the system to include more growing trays next year. I think I can get 5 around the pond. The trays themselves are also adding to the filtering ability since I the bacteria that eat up the ammonia are living in the gravel as well as the big filter.

 

[rainplace]

Looking at the picture of the pond water, I see the legs of one of your ducks. Have you had to empty it, or is it the filter and plants that are filtering it to such a nice clear state. I woke up the other morning and looked down at mine and it had turned to chocolate. It had been murky but this was brown, almost solid in color. The ducks and geese still love it, and my cats prefer to drink out of it instead of the water bowls, and it has no smell. Did yours go through this?

I'm still dealing with the run-off issue. Right now we're building the duck house so I've had to put the pond on the back burner... it could be just mud in mine...

Any help would be much appreciated.

Oh! Your plants look awesome! I would eat them

 

[rainplace]

Forgot to add, I'm at 4 weeks with mine.

 

[Wifezilla]

I had a really nasty algae bloom a while back, but after that the water suddenly went really clear. I still have muck at the very bottom, but no biggie. From what I read, the bloom is a normal part of the process. I think it was adding the gravel bottomed trays that finally tipped things in my favor.

 

[TexasTony]

Wifezilla,

That does look awesome.

Would you write a summary that shows all the parts you now have in it? 12 pages of changes & my eyes are crossed. Please include details, things like size of pump, hours run per day, filter media, how to avoid clogging the pump. Details, details, details?

Many Thanks!
Tony

 

[RioLindoAz]

You can also make a water garden stocked with aquatic plants. Many fish keepers use this method that they call a Vegtable Filter. I recomend "Water Hycinth." It is a free floating plant that is very common in ponds. I know they are used in water treatment plants to remove Nitrates. They give a puple flower. Their roots will get eaten by the ducks.

 

[Wifezilla]

You can also make a water garden stocked with aquatic plants.

Not unless I keep the ducks out of the pond! Anything green in there they eat. Even my fenced off plants in the gravel trays have nibble marks on the leaves closest to the poultry wire.

Would you write a summary that shows all the parts you now have in it? 12 pages of changes & my eyes are crossed. Please include details, things like size of pump, hours run per day, filter media, how to avoid clogging the pump. Details, details, details?

I am the LEAST detail oriented person you will ever know. You just may have to wade through the rest of the thread because the chances of me having the time or attention span to write a summary are slim to none.

Here are a few quick ones though...
size of pump: no clue. came used with the liner
hours run per day: 24
filter media: biodegradable furnace filter (cut up). See skippy filter website.
how to avoid clogging the pump: You hose it out every day or it will clog​