Duck pond is driving us crazy - ready to give up my precious ducks :( Advice?

[Sarynu]

Hello,

So my husband and I just spent almost two hours cleaning out our large duck filter. We have a nice pump, connected to a filter with sponges and bio-balls. This shoots out to the waterfall that falls into the pond. It lasts for a few weeks, and then becomes so full of muck and sludge that the water turns brown and then eventually the flow stops. We learned this the hard way.

It was our first time cleaning out the filter, I did it earlier today and it was horrible. The smell, the thick poop sludge coating everything, the inside of the piping, the pump needs to be taken apart... Sigh.

I know a lot of you are probably are rolling your eyes at how naïve I am, but I really didn't realize it would be this bad with only 4 ducks and 700-800 gallon "self-filtering" pond.

We talked about selling the ducks, which breaks my heart. I raised them all and love them. But I also have toddlers, grad school, teaching, and my husband works - so we just don't... we just can't spend this much time cleaning muck. What are we doing wrong? Has anyone found a better solution? I'm feeling so discouraged.

So, the picture of the duck pond is what it looks like now. I just duck it out a few months ago, so it's not really pretty and well put together yet. But I did do a three tier method, with a sand padding, the water tarp, and lots of little pond stones and pebbles to help filtrate. Unfortunately, the pump is sitting on top of the rocks, and not under, because I wasn't sure how to keep the pump protected from the weight of the rocks. Also, how would we clean out the pump if it were under a lot of rocks? I guess I'm just really confused.

Thank you,

Saryn

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

oh just switch to a kiddie pool! much easier to clean and mine love it! we used to have a huge pond (like half an acre of just pond) before we moved and the ducks seem to prefer their pools over that

 

[EverythingDucks]

Get lots of plants. Kinds that they won't eat (as long as they're safe of course). And shade helps so much.
We have a fake plastic rock on top of our filter.

 

[Running free]

I’ve got a paddling pool for my 4 runners and they love it. I empty it once a week it takes 20 mins to empty/clean & refill. Hope this helps. Good luck : )

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

I dump the kiddie pool every other day, top up daily, they also have a 50 gallon water trough, same deal, easy peasy. When they move theynwill have a stream fed pond with good inflow and outflow. The pool and tank are easy.

 

[BunnyEberhart]

I have a pond very similar to yours. Muck is the price of ducks sadly. I have 6 of them and clean the pond out once a week. We gave up on the filter honestly. We just got a high powered pump and use the waterfall level as a natural filter. But it is what it is.

 

[Sarynu]

You are all so amazing ! At least I'm not the only one struggling so much with a filter. It barely works, and when it does it keeps it clean for a short time and then slowly starts to lose the battle. My concern is winter time. Filters can crack, so I've read, and cleaning it out will not be easy... or possible. Our pond is almost an acre back from our water valve (we have a long hose). So how do y'all drag water out in the winter?

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

am currently in the search for a stock tank heater that won’t break the bank. I am exploring options, including an adaptation of a suggestion by a fellow member here fora Geothermal Heater, I am thinking to bury a coil of copper tube well below frost and circulate the water through it. It should keep the water moving and keep it above freezing. But really, 3 ducks, just use a pool or stock tank and dump it every couple days.. they love the puddles it makes.
additionally, I am planning to insulate my ducks swimming facilities with foil faced foam, and have a lid for nighttime to keep the water from freezing, allowing the most minimal of heaters to do the job.

 

[Trisseh]

Not sure what your climate is like.... Mine don’t get a full pool every day for winter. Warm, sunny days I fill up a bigger feed tub (30 gallons or so) so they can have a bath, but since we get lots of cold, nasty days it’s not worth lugging all that water out for it to freeze. Some days I can’t even keep my cows’ stock tank (inside an insulated box) from freezing WITH the 1500W heater in it. Lol. They won’t die if they don’t have a nice pond to play in all winter.

 

[Weeg]

Get duck weed plants for the pond and that should help it a bit. You can also get this, it is for drinking water, I feel like it would be fine to use in the pool, you might need 2 bottles for 1 usage though. Its an edible water protector, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Hope this helps!