Duck pond . Looking for ideas on the pond itself and how to keep it clean.

[Chicks in VA]

I want a duck pond that's in the ground and plenty big for my 3 ducks.
My ideas have been large stock tanks but I have no clue how those last in the ground and how to keep them clean.
Thanks!

 

[EdgeC]

Get one of those black heavy duty plastic ponds with a drain in the middle. Simply attach a pvc drain line and a shutoff valve.

Dig a hole, put it in the hole and fill in around it. Add rocks/plants make it pretty.

Clean it daily by flipping the switch to drain the water (keep the water for your garden). Spray out with waterhose/refill.

 

[FNF]

This is exactly what we are doing - we have three ducks now, three duckling on the way. Currently using a kiddie pool on top of smooth white stone (to keep the mud around the pool down). We got one of those big in-ground plastic ponds, my husband put a drain in it and got a valve for easy emptying and cleaning. He is going to bury it, run a large drain pipe down the hill, and put stones around the pond...again...mud. Can't wait!

 

[Logar]

I would use a 300 gallon stock tank with the drain sealed with aquarium silicone. Dig a hole two feet deeper and a foot wider (so 6 inches all around). Fill the bottom 2 feet with pea gravel but make sure the rim out the stock tank will be about an inch above the ground and level it out. Place the stock tank in and back fill the remaining area around the stock tank with more pea gravel. The pea gravel allows for any overflow from rain the drain well. I would use a pump to drain it a minimum of twice a week but if you can do every day that would be much better. I would also put a 6 inch layer of sand or gravel as that will hold beneficial bacteria. Then just put plants in and around the water and you will have a nice looking pond the your ducks will love

You could also do the drainage like was said above I just wanted to give a different opinion for that as well

 

[EdgeC]

This is exactly what we are doing - we have three ducks now, three duckling on the way. Currently using a kiddie pool on top of smooth white stone (to keep the mud around the pool down). We got one of those big in-ground plastic ponds, my husband put a drain in it and got a valve for easy emptying and cleaning. He is going to bury it, run a large drain pipe down the hill, and put stones around the pond...again...mud. Can't wait!

If he runs it into a collector, its free fertilizer.

 

[EdgeC]

I would use a 300 gallon stock tank with the drain sealed with aquarium silicone. Dig a hole two feet deeper and a foot wider (so 6 inches all around). Fill the bottom 2 feet with pea gravel but make sure the rim out the stock tank will be about an inch above the ground and level it out. Place the stock tank in and back fill the remaining area around the stock tank with more pea gravel. The pea gravel allows for any overflow from rain the drain well. I would use a pump to drain it once or twice a week . I would also put a 6 inch layer of sand or gravel as that will hold beneficial bacteria. Then just put plants in and around the water and you will have a nice looking pond the your ducks will love

I really feel like the little you may overfill... does not justify the extra cost on the gravel. In my humble opinion... which means jack.

 

[Logar]

I really feel like the little you may overfill... does not justify the extra cost on the gravel. In my humble opinion... which means jack.

To be fair, I was thinking from the stance of living in PA where it feels like it rains nonstop. I dug a big hole in my backyard that went from 0 water to at least 200-300 gallons of water 3 feet deep in less than 2 days. And I checked on it 3 days after it stopped raining so it could have been even more full for all I know. And this happens regularly.

Another thing is that it depends on where the pond is located. If it is next to a hill, then probably not worth it. But if it on flat ground or near the bottom of a hill, it will definitely be helpful in reducing and preventing a muddy mess.

 

[EdgeC]

To be fair, I was thinking from the stance of living in PA where it feels like it rains nonstop. I dug a big hole in my backyard that went from 0 water to at least 200-300 gallons of water 3 feet deep in less than 2 days. And I checked on it 3 days after it stopped raining so it could have been even more full for all I know. And this happens regularly.

Another thing is that it depends on where the pond is located. If it is next to a hill, then probably not worth it. But if it on flat ground or near the bottom of a hill, it will definitely be helpful in reducing and preventing a muddy mess.

to be fair, I wasn't thinking about different environments... so you may be onto something barring different weather/ground/ground water.
I live on a hill and everything flows down to the creek. (can't help it)

 

[Miss Lydia]

I want a duck pond that's in the ground and plenty big for my 3 ducks.
My ideas have been large stock tanks but I have no clue how those last in the ground and how to keep them clean.
Thanks!

I have a 100 gallon rubber stock tank in the ground it has been in the ground since 2005 it is my goldfish pond. never had a leak thank goodness.