Duckaponics Diagram
Not too long ago some one asked for a diagram of the Duck-A-Ponics So I’ve finally done one up. I’m currently in the process of upgrading the Duck system to provide more filtration. Since I’m unwilling to spend too much extra money on this system I picked up cheap kiddie pools and am using pallets I have on hand under them. Only things purchased for this upgrade is plumbing and the kiddie pools which were on sale at K-mart.
Today I finished laying out the plumbing and the pumps are now cycling water around the system as per the diagram.
There is still an extra little pool off to the side of the duck river but we will probably pull that back out once the gravel is up in the kiddie pools. We will be washing the gravel from the duck river to put into the kiddie pools and then replacing at least some of the gravel in the duck river. This system got really mucked up between the ducks and chickens. For a long time the chickens were scratching lots of dirt and mulch into the duck river and it was breaking down into mud. I hope that by keeping the access to dirt away from the duck river that the chickens will manage to scratch less into the system. To this I hope that the timed sequential pumping into the grow beds will provide more filtration to the system and allow for less clogging.
In Aquaponics it is fairly easy to avoid clogging by making sure you provide plenty of media beds but the ratios for a duck system are going to be different. And if the ducks have access to the grow beds (or the duck river) their webbed feet have an incredible ability to compact things. They can make gravel hold water!!!! So I have been struggling to figure out the most efficient method of doing duck-a-ponics while still providing a great habitat for the ducks.
I am curious to know how this system has evolved; it has been a year since you posted about it.
I have ducks and hate dealing with the mucky water in the kiddie pools I use- they can get it dirty in a matter of minutes, so this would be a terrific system for me- if you have gotten yours working satisfactorily! I have neighbors who understand a lot about aquaponics, so they can help me figure out the necessary pumps, etc., but you have brought up a lot of good points about how much media you’d need to have, etc., to keep it clean.
What have you found grows the best in terms of fodder for them? I also have Muscovies.
Well, I’ve moved and really haven’t had much time to devote to the duck system. However, we have set up a new duck pond/duck river that seems to be working fairly well even though I haven’t had time to hook up any gravel grow beds to it yet. The duck river is basically a big trench with liner that goes from the big metal stock tank at one end down to a big trough at the low end with a pump in it that pumps back up to the big stock tank. There are gravel bags at intervals along the duck river (to make sort of waterfalls.) I do plan to hook up gravel beds for this system again but one step at a time.