School Pond

[Priscilla]

A few of you may remember that I mentioned my youngest son goes to a preschool that has a small koi pond. They don't seem to have much experience with ponding, although the pond is several years old, I don't really know how deep it is (guessing 18 to 24 inches) or how many gallons. Along with the fish, two mallard ducks swim in the pond.

The pond is really brown, they would like it be clear obviously.

The have a small filter, something like this one: http://www.amazon.com/TetraPond-Cle...8&qid=1418428482&sr=8-16&keywords=pond+filter

The filter is cleaned once or twice a week, but its always mucked up, I guess by the ducks kicking up all the muck off the bottom. I think the pond is so shallow that the ducks diving and swimming stirs up the bottom.

The school asked my opinion on it, I have none, no clue, other than maybe add another filter or two. It is well shaded, under a large tree. The tree is netted so the leaves don't fall in the pond (at least not a lot). The fish seem to be healthy, no obvious signs of distress. The fish have successfully spawned in this pond and there are a few babies.
In the pictures you can see a few of the fish.

I told them I would throw the question out to my pond buddies, see if anyone had any ideas.

Thoughts? Comments?

 

[Tula]

Sweet they have a pond. I'm a pre-school director and our licensing doesn't allow for any body of water on our premises.....citing a drowning hazard .

The water is quite murky. Do they net debris from the pond's bottom, do water changes or run a uv light? Wonder if filtration to catch smaller debris would help....maybe quilt batting?

 

[MitchM]

Looks to me like it just needs more effective mechanical filtration, Priscilla.
I would try a simple, cheap solution of some filter media in a bucket type waterfall.
Just change out the filter media more frequently.
I'm assuming it's a pond with a liner or a pre form.
You wouldn't want to get rid of the ducks.

 

[Priscilla]

Sweet they have a pond. I'm a pre-school director and our licensing doesn't allow for any body of water on our premises.....citing a drowning hazard .

The water is quite murky. Do they net debris from the pond's bottom, do water changes or run a uv light? Wonder if filtration to catch smaller debris would help....maybe quilt batting?

Yes, its a "Preschool and Farm". Its quite clever, the kids can't really get near the animals (double fencing) but they get to be around them and care for them (feeding). My son's turn to feed is Monday mornings and you can't get him out of the house fast enough to get there! As you walk into the school you walk over a bridge, the pond is under the bridge. Its so cute. The kids all have grow boxes that they care for. By the time they leave they have a great understanding of nutrition and making the right choices.

This school gives a lot of freedom to the kids. Its very unique.

I don't think they have a UV. Would that help since the water is brown now green? I was thinking more mechanical filtration as well.

 

[dieselplower]

I would say the water color is due to dissolved duck poop. No way that filter can handle it.

 

[Priscilla]

I would say the water color is due to dissolved duck poop. No way that filter can handle it.

Any suggestions? Bigger filter? More water changes?

 

[addy1]

If it was my pond, I would build a skippy type up flow filter with a bottom drain. Have sponges, scrubbies, etc for your first layer of filtration, then at the top have some easy to remove fine filter material, like quilt batting in a mesh bag, or the washable AC filters (here they are green in our home depot) to catch some of the stirred up dirt from the ducks. I built something similar to remove some of the fine dirt from the pond water, when I first built the pond, it was milky from all of the pea gravel dust. Have not used it since.

Have a low flow pump sending the water through it, use the bottom drain to back flush it for cleaning.

Here are some links for a diy build, read and make one that would work for you, even a small heavy duty garbage can would help.

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/koiguys-55-gallon-bio-filter-skippy-style.2766/

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/building-a-55-gal-biological-filter.1019/

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/diy-30-gal-barrel-drum-filter.15984/

Might help to vacuum the bottom of the pond, if you can, to remove some of the fine dirt the ducks are kicking up

 

[Meyer Jordan]

The problem is not so much what the ducks are stirring up, but what they are adding to the pond (poop). Two ducks in a pond this size can quickly turn it into a disaster. If they want to keep the ducks, they may have to settle for less than clear water unless they are prepared to greatly expand the filtration (bio and mechanical) and provide considerably more time on maintenance.

 

[Priscilla]

Thanks for the info guys. I guess they will have to settle for less than clear water. The ducks are there to stay.

 

[CometKeith]

Priscilla, I would try regular water changes of 15-20% several times a week for a month. I bet you will see an improvement at the end of a month. I need to do that every spring for my pond because the leaves that fall in contribute a lot of tannins and after about 4-6 weeks of water changes it is very clear.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Here are comments posted on another forum on this subject.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ponds/msg0523570329283.html?10

 

[Priscilla]

Today when I picked my son up the pond was brown but very clear, a teacher told me they put in a new filter. I asked her about water changes, she said she did one once and all the fish died, so she doesn't do them any more. I guess she just used city water.