Duck pond filtration advice?

[CayugaJana]

My friend you have embarked on one heck of a journey! When it comes to pond filtration vs. duck muck and DIY can be a challenge. I spent the majority of this summer in a trial and error madness trying to get a efficient system. With a little luck and some hard work I finally succeeded. I’ll send you pictures of my design tomorrow in hopes it will inspire some ideas

Me too please! I’d like to learn from your trial and errors. Work smarter not harder is my motto.

 

[AZducks]

All right guys I finally got around to snapping some pictures of my pond filtration system First, I started with an old above ground pool filter (cartridge type) and removed the pump because I had no need for it, just wanted the filter housing.

Next, I went down to my local hardware store and fitted the top and bottom joints (if you want specific dimensions let me know!). Now it was time to start on the 1st and 2nd stage filters. I decided to take a 3” 1’ PVC irrigation pipe and filled it with lava rocks with galvanized mesh in and outside the pipe.

Then I attached it to the pool filter housing.

I made sure that any sharp edges were wrapped in pond liner repair tape and the clamps were facing up. Next, I had to replace the cartridge filter with a custom filter that would allow large objects to pass through it, but small enough to catch large objects (feathers, leaves, etc.). I used a combination of galvanized metal mesh and created a cylinder that would fit inside the filter housing.

I put a bungee cord on it so I could pull it out and clean when necessary. I didn’t put a screen on the bottom (enclose the cylinder) so that it can fill over time without having to change it.

Now for stage 3 and 4 of the filtration system! This was the difficult part because finding the right media means everything when filtering duck muck. First, I want to start out with what I used for the filter housing. I went with 2 whole house water filters without the cartridges.

Let’s talk about media! My max for this pond is 4 ducks and as other members have stated, the more ducks the harder it is to filter. I’ve tried sand and it clogged up in 3 days. I’ve tried a sand and gravel mix and clogged in 7 days. I tried crushed lava rock and it didn’t filter enough. So with frustration I hit the internet for answers. I landed on the idea of using an organic swamp cooler filter and quilt batting!

I used 3/4” PVC pipe with holes drilled at the bottom to ensure that the water passed through the media.

Here’s the beauty of all this... you can buy quilt batting (and a lot of it) for dirt cheap and it acts a good layer of media to pull out the smaller particles while the swamp cooler filter is more course and filters out bigger particles. You can add and subtract as many layers of either material to suit your needs and the nice thing about the quilt batting is that you can just throw it away when your washing out the swamp cooler filter. I have gone a month without changing the filters and the water remains fairly clear. NOTE: You will NOT get your water crystal clear with ducks! You can get close if you’re looking to spend some serious $$$ or build large biofilters out of drums (which are awesome if you have the space). I designed my filters to be easily pulled and changed. It takes me 15 minutes to pull the stage 3 and 4 filter and clean them. I put the pump in between the stage 1/2 and 3/4. I bought a mid-grade pump off of Amazon (Alpine PAL2100 2100GPH Cyclone Pump) because my pond is around 350 gallons and figured I didn’t need something more powerful.

The pump is on left hand side of the picture. I added a garden hose attachment (right side of the picture) to blow out any excess duck muck and believe me there will be!

Now attach the filters...

And cover up your system.

Lastly, and a very important feature is to add a drainage system. I took 3/4” PVC piping and laid 24’ into my garden with sections of that piping drilled to water my plants without overwatering them. I will do another post on my drainage system very soon to show how I did that.

I cannot tell you how important it is to have a drainage system Your ducks will find a way to make that water so dirty over the course of many months that filtration won’t give you results it once did. So drain your water and feed your garden and give your flock some fresh water!
Now for the conclusion! This is consistent clarity of the water every morning (2-3 months)...

I ended up painting the white PVC and filter housing black to blend into the bottom of the pond.

I hope this post helps some of you guys out and if you have any questions let me know!

 

[onaharley]

All right guys I finally got around to snapping some pictures of my pond filtration system First, I started with an old above ground pool filter (cartridge type) and removed the pump because I had no need for it, just wanted the filter housing.
View attachment 1235050
Next, I went down to my local hardware store and fitted the top and bottom joints (if you want specific dimensions let me know!). Now it was time to start on the 1st and 2nd stage filters. I decided to take a 3” 1’ PVC irrigation pipe and filled it with lava rocks with galvanized mesh in and outside the pipe. View attachment 1235068 View attachment 1235069
Then I attached it to the pool filter housing.View attachment 1235071I made sure that any sharp edges were wrapped in pond liner repair tape and the clamps were facing up. Next, I had to replace the cartridge filter with a custom filter that would allow large objects to pass through it, but small enough to catch large objects (feathers, leaves, etc.). I used a combination of galvanized metal mesh and created a cylinder that would fit inside the filter housing.
View attachment 1235073
View attachment 1235074
I put a bungee cord on it so I could pull it out and clean when necessary. I didn’t put a screen on the bottom (enclose the cylinder) so that it can fill over time without having to change it.
View attachment 1235257
Now for stage 3 and 4 of the filtration system! This was the difficult part because finding the right media means everything when filtering duck muck. First, I want to start out with what I used for the filter housing. I went with 2 whole house water filters without the cartridges.
View attachment 1235288
Let’s talk about media! My max for this pond is 4 ducks and as other members have stated, the more ducks the harder it is to filter. I’ve tried sand and it clogged up in 3 days. I’ve tried a sand and gravel mix and clogged in 7 days. I tried crushed lava rock and it didn’t filter enough. So with frustration I hit the internet for answers. I landed on the idea of using an organic swamp cooler filter and quilt batting!
View attachment 1235304
View attachment 1235307
I used 3/4” PVC pipe with holes drilled at the bottom to ensure that the water passed through the media.
View attachment 1235310
Here’s the beauty of all this... you can buy quilt batting (and a lot of it) for dirt cheap and it acts a good layer of media to pull out the smaller particles while the swamp cooler filter is more course and filters out bigger particles. You can add and subtract as many layers of either material to suit your needs and the nice thing about the quilt batting is that you can just throw it away when your washing out the swamp cooler filter. I have gone a month without changing the filters and the water remains fairly clear. NOTE: You will NOT get your water crystal clear with ducks! You can get close if you’re looking to spend some serious $$$ or build large biofilters out of drums (which are awesome if you have the space). I designed my filters to be easily pulled and changed. It takes me 15 minutes to pull the stage 3 and 4 filter and clean them. I put the pump in between the stage 1/2 and 3/4. I bought a mid-grade pump off of Amazon (Alpine PAL2100 2100GPH Cyclone Pump) because my pond is around 350 gallons and figured I didn’t need something more powerful.
View attachment 1235326
The pump is on left hand side of the picture. I added a garden hose attachment (right side of the picture) to blow out any excess duck muck and believe me there will be!
View attachment 1235332
Now attach the filters...
View attachment 1235333
And cover up your system.
View attachment 1235360
Lastly, and a very important feature is to add a drainage system. I took 3/4” PVC piping and laid 24’ into my garden with sections of that piping drilled to water my plants without overwatering them. I will do another post on my drainage system very soon to show how I did that.
View attachment 1235354
I cannot tell you how important it is to have a drainage system Your ducks will find a way to make that water so dirty over the course of many months that filtration won’t give you results it once did. So drain your water and feed your garden and give your flock some fresh water!
Now for the conclusion! This is consistent clarity of the water every morning (2-3 months)...
View attachment 1235364
I ended up painting the white PVC and filter housing black to blend into the bottom of the pond.
View attachment 1235366
I hope this post helps some of you guys out and if you have any questions let me know!

Wow!!! Amazing, thank you for documenting this for us all!!! Truly amazing!