Duck Pen Revamp with improved pond filter.

[@sap7576]

The cement towel idea is brilliant! Going to borrow the idea for my duck pond some time in the near future. Thank u so much for all the amazing inspiration.

[@binomis3468]

This so much. I love how this man can craft something out of nothing.

[@whousay4672]

Your ducks just make me smile 😁

[@lostmangos]

Very impressed, you seem to be one of those guys who can turn ur hand to anything.

[@sideways_fun]

This setup is still working well. Clear water, most of the fish are still alive & much bigger (especially in the duck pond area). It has been full to the brim for a full year now & has needed no topping up. The aquaponics have been ok, but I dont think there is enough light for growing most crops. Watercress is going very well.

[@bluestarrbeauty]

Your ducks are beautiful ❤️🦆

[@sideways_fun]

The fish have been breeding :) we have 2 confirmed new fish which were in the sump area for some reason. Transferred up to the top pond last week.

[@sideways_fun]

Found another baby fish :) The adult fish in the main duck pond section are massive now.

[@KP-tt9ei]

i love your set up wish i had the space for it all the ducks look so happy

[@dmca270]

Thanks for posting. It has helped me out with my duck pond problems.

[@robertoler3795]

well done be healthy and safe look forward to updates

[@danielstewart3507]

Great job Lee. I am doing a revamp on my duck pond at the moment. It's 40 degrees celsius here in Australia and I've been slaving away for over a week in the sun digging holes, moving things, designing a filter, painting, concreting and I'm starting to wonder how these ducks ever managed to live in the wild! Nice video and thanks for sharing mate.

[@sideways_fun]

How is it going? Is it up & running yet?

[@danielstewart3507]

@@sideways_fun I have most of the hard stuff completed. I'm doing it on the cheap of course. So I'm hanging out for a few bits and bobs to get it finished completely. I have filmed a large part of the build so hopefully I will upload a video once it is mostly finished. Say hi to Bert for me!

[@danielstewart3507]

@@sideways_fun Hi Lee, not sure if you'll see this or not. I finally got around to uploading my duck pond video. The link is here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/goHXhX2Aat2Ld68 Hope you and Bert are both well mate!

[@MugenNoZenko]

Awesome work man !

[@katiemurphy8365]

That's awesome!

[@mindyhyler8188]

Your awesome! Thanks for doing this video

[@robertoler3795]

nice job mate

[@fionascarsbrook7388]

This is amazing. I would love to be able to do something similar for my ducks instead of emptying paddling pools all the time. We do have an existing fish pond with a pump and filter but trying to keep the 6 Indian runners out for now as it is a recipe for disaster. Perhaps there is a way to adjust our existing set up by moving the fish into a separate tank freeing up the pond for the ducks and adding more filters

[@sideways_fun]

My fish are mostly living in the duck pond section now. The don't seem to mind & they eat the dropped duck food.

[@TheTortYard]

So cool

[@slickbelge]

I have never seen anyone successfully tackle backyard duck pond filtration successfully. This is about as close as i've seen anyone do it. Very well done. What do you do with the accumulated duck muck in the settling tank? How often do you have to drain that?

[@sideways_fun]

Cheers. I dump the sludge every 3 months roughly. Tip it on the garden & in plant pots. It stinks, but the smell go's after a couple of hours. So far so good. Been running pretty free of maintenence for a couple of years now :)

[@elizabethsansom6447]

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY DUCKS🥰

[@jojohighsprings]

Hi Lee, I really admire your previous three barrel system and just happened upon this new upgrade. What FUN! I got such a kick out of seeing the way you created the water fall area using cemented towels, the small ponds, the fish and aquaponics. I just had to giggle. My duck pond has been filtered through a bog knowing that sometime soon I would need to add a settling tank, biofilter and aeration. I am a bit overwhelmed at the prospect but will go slow. My first challenge is raising the pond high enough for it to gravity feed into the barrels. Is there any chance you could post an update? I would love to see how it has changed in the last couple of years.

[@sideways_fun]

Thanks jojo. I will try to get some more footage of my matured setup & do another video. Not sure when i will have time though in the very near future. I haven't done much to it since apart from a couple of small tweaks & clearing the filters once or twice. It really has been low maintenance. Nothing growing in the aquaponics currently as it is winter, but i did get some nice salad from it. Watercress is still thriving. Not needed to top the water up at all. Hope you have fun making yours. Just make sure you use something strong to support the raised containers. If you have a slope that would work, or even dig down for the barrel placement. :)

[@martinh4174]

Nice job, I haven’t so much room to work with but gonna try something similar emptying pond by hand every 2 days proper ballache , interesting use of “concrete towels” , haven’t seen that before.

[@xingu1502]

Hi Lee, I wrote you about a year ago about the size of your pump. I have found your videos very helpful. I now have my system set up and proud to say that after a few months of establishing my ecosystem plants are growing beautifully and my 4 ducks have clear water! Seeing your new system I am inspired again. I have thought of making a pond in ground using your concepts. What made you decide to keep the system above ground? I am in Seattle. Thanks for your inspiration, Jane

[@sideways_fun]

Hi Jane, I kept it all above ground partly because it is on a pathed driveway & partly for easy maintenance. draining the sludge is much easier above ground as gravity will do the pumping for you. if you have it all below ground, you could have a hole to an outlet for dumping the sludge into a bucket.

[@lostmangos]

You should be an inventor Lee

[@twiggyeggshells5901]

Hey Lee :) Came across your video from a recommendation on the Backyard Chickens Forum, as the best biofilter system they'd ever seen. I'd agree :) I appreciate this might sound a bit mental, but I'm wondering if there's any chance we could hire you for a day? We're pretty handy, but our current setup doesn't work, and we'd love some help with the planning? We're in Yarm, about an hour from Leeds. How about it? Fancy a paid day of meeting our ducks and telling us what to do?! Flora xx

[@sideways_fun]

Hello, sorry i only just noticed the comments on this. I would be happy to help if you are local enough & its not too late already. ❤

[@pickardphoto]

Do you know about how many gallons the pond is? And do the ducks try to dive to the bottom?

[@sideways_fun]

sorry I didnt spot this question before. the whole system is about 3000 Litres which is 792.5162 US gallons The duck bath ist self is roughly 1/4 of that. our ducks dont dive. if they tip tu, they cant quite reach the bottom. its about as deep as my arm without submerging my head.

[@sideways7774]

Nice.

[@MashVB]

How do the water plants do during the winter ?

[@sideways_fun]

They die back, but the bacteria in the roots still clean the water. The pond weed still helps keep the nitrates down though.

[@kathryncorsiatto3056]

What size barrels do you use? 3 all the same?

[@sideways_fun]

They dont have to be all the same, but the tops need to be level with each other, so if the pump stops, you dont lose any water.

[@sideways_fun]

Bigger volume of water the better. I started with a bath, 2x 60l barrels & a bin. Now i have 3x ibc containers & a bath. Holds about 3000l total.

[@jj.rblx1910]

Can u get to call ducks

[@sideways_fun]

Yeah. Ours respond to words & whistles for different things & come running.