Duck Pond Set Up: Description and Questions

404Farms · Apr 17, 2020

Hello BYC people!

Here is my proposed duck pond set up, what I've already purchased, and what I'm still evaluating. I'll put my questions at the end.

First a quick background: We currently have 5 adult ducks in with our chicken flock, and we have 9 more ducks and 3 geese in our brooder. We want to move the the young ones outside in another month or so. So, this pond needs to happen soon!

I'm planning a 20'x25' and 2.5' deep, duck pond (500 sqft) to be part of a large ~1000 sqft waterfowl area.. According to an online calculator, that's 9375 gallons. The same online calculator says I'll need a pond liner that's 29'x34'. (I have purchased liners and underlayment with a total area of 30'x35'. I'll have to seam them together, which I know it not ideal.

My filters will be a 50 sqft up-flow wetland filter (bog filter), and 2 skimmers rated for 400 sqft ponds, each with a 4000 gph pump inside. In addition, a bottom pump, also rated at 4000 gph.

The Wetland filter will be a DIY version of Aquascape's Snorkel and Centipede as described on a website I found. I'm using milk crates (48 of them) instead of aquablocks, and this will save me about $350 compared to buying even no-name brand water storage blocks.

Lastly, for regular maintenance, I plan on draining the pond down from the bottom drain which will feed my orchard. This should be gravity/pressure fed, as the pond is on a slope down towards the back of the property.

My dependance on online calculators strikes again! This time with the rock and gravel calculations needed for this project. I'm using math from Aquascape's website HERE. They have me getting 12.5 tons of 6"-12" rock, 25 tons of 12"-18" rock, 12.5 tons of 18"-24" rock, and 15 tons of pond gravel. (This is all not including rock material for the Wetland filter...)

So, my first question is.... What do you think? Will this be enough circulation and filtration for the amount of duck poop I'll be getting?

Second question, if I do follow through with a bottom drain, should I have gravel on the bottom of the pond? I like places for good bacteria to live, but I also know mucking out the bottom of the pond will be easier with a bottom drain and no gravel.

Lastly, if people are interested, I can put my complete materials list below. And yes, I'll do my best to update this thread with pictures as this moves forward.

Thanks BYC people!

Isaac 0 · Apr 17, 2020

I think given the size of your pond and the amount of ducks that will be on the pond, you shouldn't have much of a problem with waste build-up. At least In my experience, you won't. It sounds like you have quite the set up there, I'd love to see some pictures as you progress with this project.

404Farms · Apr 18, 2020

MasterOfClucker said:
I think given the size of your pond and the amount of ducks that will be on the pond, you shouldn't have much of a problem with waste build-up. At least In my experience, you won't. It sounds like you have quite the set up there, I'd love to see some pictures as you progress with this project.

Thanks MasterOfClucker!
I’ll be glad to share my progress with the group. I’m hoping to break ground in the next couple weeks.

hannahbear · Apr 23, 2020

I would also love to see your materials list with progress report on how it all works out! I'm going to be building a similar set up for my ducks in the next few months and would love any advice you can give. I'm currently trying to figure out the best type of drain to install that will easily attach to the pond liner and allow all the waste to flush out easily to be fed to the orchard.

AGirlandHerBirds · May 14, 2020

I would like to see this as well. We’re working on one for our 5 ducks...

404Farms · May 14, 2020

I'll work on a full update on this thread soon. But as a quick update, I've finished digging out the pond hole. I'm expecting the first delivery of rocks/gravel this afternoon, so then I can start on getting the pond liner installed and rocked in. The cost is more than I had wanted, but not more than I could have guessed. I'm still bracing myself for when I finally tally all the receipts.

I'll put together a materials and cost breakdown soon.

DucksOhio · May 14, 2020

Isaac 0 said:
I think given the size of your pond and the amount of ducks that will be on the pond, you shouldn't have much of a problem with waste build-up. At least In my experience, you won't. It sounds like you have quite the set up there, I'd love to see some pictures as you progress with this project.

Me too!

theautumnalfox · May 21, 2020

I am very interested in how this comes together. We're also planning to build a duck coop pond with a bog filter.

404Farms · May 22, 2020

Update time! I ended up hiring some labor to do some heavy lifting with the flagstone and rocks. I wanted to be able to say I did it all by myself... but that was just my hubris talking.

I'm hoping to get close to completion (maybe get it filled with water!) by the end of this long Memorial Day weekend.

Also, I did a breakdown of cost. Ouch. I'm close to $10k! But if I hired an Aquascape contractor, I'd be looking at $20k+ so, I'm still ok with it.

Duck Pond Materials	Cost
Laguna Next Generation Max-Flo 4280 Pump	$289.00
Laguna Next Generation Max-Flo 4280 Pump	$289.00
Laguna Next Generation Max-Flo 4280 Pump	$289.00
Pond Liner and Underlayment Combo 20' x 35' 45 Mil EPDM	$830.84
Pond Liner and Underlayment Combo 10' x 15' 45 mil EPDM	$120.00
Pond Liner 15' x 20', 45 mil EPDM	$184.95
Pond Liner 10' x 15' 45 mil EPDM	$89.95
Underlament 15' x 20'	$55.04
Underlament 10' x 15'	$32.00
3" x 25' Roll Black EPDM Double Stick Seam Tape	$38.40
3" x 25' Roll Black EPDM Double Stick Seam Tape	$38.40
EPDM Primer	$34.95
AquascapePro Signature Series 400 Pond Skimmer	$341.00
AquascapePro Signature Series 400 Pond Skimmer	$341.00
Milk Crates (AquaBlock alternative)	$410.00
EasyPro 3" Bottom Drain Kit (EBD4A drain) w/ Air Diffuser	$266.39
Matala Hakko HK80L Linear Air Pump	$225.00
Weighted Airline 5/8" x 50'	$95.00
Matala Diffuser Base with One 9-inch Air Dis	$69.00
Flagstone Rock .22 cents per lbs.	$990.00
River Rock @ $48 per yard x 2 yards	$96.00
Cobble Stone Large @ $130 per yard x 1.75 yards	$227.00
Cobble Stone Medium @ $130 per yard $227	$227.00
Large Boulders (12"-18" & 18"-24")	$1,400.00
Excavator Rental	$800.00
Labour	$520.00

TOTAL (So far...)	$8,298.92