Does this setup have any faults (major or minor)?

[Amy Yang]

Hello everyone!

So I'm a complete newbie, and I'm still reading up on ponds... But I've dug out a 4600 gallon pond for my ducks, and would really appreciate any advice and any answers to my questions before I install the liner and the works...

1) Can someone tell me why this pump/filter/aeration all-in-one setup I drew wouldn't work, or if it would, why I don't see it in other ponds?
2) And if there is any major or minor problem that screams out at you, please, please, please let me know!

Thanks!

 

[Tula]

Welcome Amy Yang to our friendly forum. I don't have any experience with keeping ducks, as I have koi. I note you mention ducks are messy, which I've heard. Will this set up be difficult for you to clean? Again, welcome.

 

[Amy Yang]

Welcome Amy Yang to our friendly forum. I don't have any experience with keeping ducks, as I have koi. I note you mention ducks are messy, which I've heard. Will this set up be difficult for you to clean? Again, welcome.

Thank you - glad to be here! As for your question, I'll probably have to drain and refill the pond every 2 months or so from spring-fall, and that would be when I clean out the filter as well... I really have no idea how often I'd have to do so, since this would be my first pond.

But as for the cleaning process, I think I would:
1) turn off the pump
2) drain the pond (which I think won't be difficult with the drain pipe I install)
3) remove the pump from the cylinder
4) let the water drain out of the cylinder
5) dump out the contents of the cylinder and wash them

Does this sound dumb?

I use well water. I'm also planning/hoping to keep fish, which is why I've dug the pond much deeper than it has to be...

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Welcome Amy.
As you surely already know, aquatic fowl are prodigious waste producers. That being said, cleaning any filtration will almost certainly need to be done more frequently than every "2 months or so ". It is quite possible that weekly cleaning may prove necessary.
The idea of an upflow filter is good, but to be efficient biologically the water should flow through the filter pads first and, additionally, I am not sure that the planned filter will be large enough. That would depend on the eventual duck population.
Your 'drain and clean' scenario could prove to be extremely troublesome if you add fish.

 

[Amy Yang]

Welcome Amy.
As you surely already know, aquatic fowl are prodigious waste producers. That being said, cleaning any filtration will almost certainly need to be done more frequently than every "2 months or so ". It is quite possible that weekly cleaning may prove necessary.

I'm ok with weekly draining/cleaning. I love my ducks!

Your 'drain and clean' scenario could prove to be extremely troublesome if you add fish.

Thanks for the tip! I'll be raising fish in a different pond, then. It would be best to keep them away from the ducks anyways...

The idea of an upflow filter is good, but to be efficient biologically the water should flow through the filter pads first and, additionally, I am not sure that the planned filter will be large enough. That would depend on the eventual duck population.

Ok! So it should be: Filter pads, lava rock, bio-balls, then filter sponges? And are there any more filter media you might recommend?

Thank you!

 

[MitchM]

I don't see the point of having the filter submerged with the different media in there. All of the submerged media will end up trapping debris like one large screen. Having different types of media won't make any difference.
You would be better off pumping water to the top through a filter sock that you can more easily remove for cleaning.

Welcome, by the way.

 

[MitchM]

A cylinder that size full of wet dirty filter media will end up weighing 100 pounds or more.
How will you lift it out to clean it?
The intake of a powerful pump like you have drawn will clog quickly unless you have some kind of mechanical filtration on it's intake.
I think it would be much better if you designed the pond landscaping to hide any mechanical filtration, have easier access to the filter components and only drain the water from the pond when water test results tell you it's time for a large water change.
How will your well handle 4600 gallon water changes?

 

[Amy Yang]

A cylinder that size full of wet dirty filter media will end up weighing 100 pounds or more.
How will you lift it out to clean it?
The intake of a powerful pump like you have drawn will clog quickly unless you have some kind of mechanical filtration on it's intake.
I think it would be much better if you designed the pond landscaping to hide any mechanical filtration, have easier access to the filter components and only drain the water from the pond when water test results tell you it's time for a large water change.

Thanks for the welcome! I was actually just going to dump the filter contents onto the bottom of the liner once the pond was drained, and wash them from there (because the pond bottom is 12 ft in diameter), but now I've read that you really shouldn't be messing with the liner too often because it might rip, which would be really, really bad...
And yes, I actually am worried about the submersible filter clogging/breaking down all the time as I have heard, and even more so about the the electricity bill of a 5000gph pump running 24/7.
Gosh, maybe I should just give up the filter system altogether and just drain and refill every week...

I will most likely build another pond where the ducks can't get to it, and install the pump, filter, and skimmer there - maybe even keep a few Koi! Man, I don't even have water in my first pond, and I'm already kind of super addicted to the idea of keeping ponds. This stuff is bad for me.

How will your well handle 4600 gallon water changes?

I've been using the hose 24/7 almost 365 days a year for years now. I don't see a difference in pressure, if that's what you mean. Could there be other problems?

Thank you!

 

[MitchM]

A drilled well should have a report somewhere on it's performance and capacity.
It's measured in gallons per minute and draw down (how many feet the water level drops in the well after a given amount of time)
For example our well here would not be able to keep up with large water changes like that (the aquifer would not be able to keep up with how much water I was pumping out if I wanted to fill the pond up again within a couple of days), plus it's a fair amount of electricity to run the well pump for that long.

...and yes, damaging a liner is a bad thing.