Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I am very new to AP, brought here after seeing a website where a farm had tried experimenting with recycling water from their duck pond. The primary reason they did it was to save water. Doing further research I came across AP which in all honesty I had never seen before.

I spent time yesterday and again this morning searching for 'ducks' on here and am starting to build a picture in my mind of what we might need.

For reference in case it makes a difference we are in the eastern panhandle of WV, almost into MD.

We have a small flock of six ducks for which we are building a @1000 gallon pond. As we soon discovered, ducks create more mess and waste more water than would seem physically possible. We are on a well so water wastage is something we are keen to reduce. Up until now we have been filling a kiddie pool (@100 gallons) twice a week. They turn it to a gross swamp in no time at all.

So to our potential AP solution!

I am looking to install a Laguna Max Flo pump (2400GPH) into the bottom of the pond and route water into a swirl filter to remove the biggest of the solids...primarily duck poo. I figured this would make sense as they create way more waste than fish.

We can remove solids from the bottom as they build up via a drain.

From the swirl filter I would route the water through two IBC grow beds (and possibly a small side tank for duckweed) and from there back into the pond via a waterfall of sorts to try to introduce some oxygen. Plants from the grow bed would be used to feed the ducks as I suspect it would be somewhat inadvisable to use it for human consumption but I am open minded if this is wrong.

I was thinking of introducing some form of additional filter between the swirl filter and the grow beds to remove smaller solid and feathers etc. Possibly some some of skippy filter? Good/bad idea?

Again I am new to this and totally open to it being ripped apart on the grounds it won't work. Any input/feedback MUCH appreciated by me...and the ducks of course.

Paul

I am sorry not to have had any replies in here. I assume the forum focuses only on pure aquaponics.

I will try to find a more relevant venue but thanks anyway.

I see Joel tried to get you started in another thread that you posted before this one http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=31098&p=573767#p573767.

Sometimes threads just don't get seen by the right people and I'm not sure how many of the Duckaponics people still regularly check the forum. The issues with using warm blooded animals likely kept some people away. For those that don't already know warm blooded animals are likely carriers of human diseases and so it increases the risk if you're growing food for human consumption. The current poster is growing plants for the ducks.

It's tough to say but the proposed system sounds like it would work but keep in mind I've never tried this with ducks. I would change the swirl filter to a Radial Flow Filter since these work better at separating solids . You'll want to figure out what you're doing with the solids from the RFF (or whatever you use), I'd probably compost them, vermicompost them or start a Black Soldier Fly larvae bin. The last two might be another feed source for the ducks depending on what type they are and what they'll eat.

Flow rate through the RFF or swirl filter is important so I would put a T in the line from the pump with a ball valve to adjust the flow. Using a pump isn't as good as having gravity flow from the duck pond because it chops up the solids and they don't settle as well, although, it's easier and should be good enough.

I'm not sure about the smaller filter and how you could work that. You could skim the floating feathers before they get to the pump where they could be a problem. I guess this is another reason to use gravity flow if you can and have the pump come after all the filtration is done, not at the beginning. It would look something like this if you used gravity

duck pond --> RFF --> Grow bed 1 and 2 --> Duckweed --> Sump tank (with pump)

Still might have a problem with the feathers even though the pump is protected this way. Probably have to use bigger pipe and fittings so more expensive. Pump first might be better in this case, I'm not sure.

You might want to contact TCLynx using the Private Message (PM) option of the forum and ask if she'll look at your plan or go to her website and ask some questions https://www.aquaponiclynx.com/duckaponics-muck. She's pretty sharp and if you're lucky she'll have the time to give you some advice.