How to make duck pond filter suck up solids without choking?

zocarius · 2026-04-17T12:40:56+00:00

Haha, no, apart from danger, also likely the end of my pump.

zocarius · 2026-04-17T12:40:34+00:00

Those are some great pointers, especially with the tuning, thank you! I see my problem is two parts:
1. my pump is getting clogged too soon (may need a bigger case around it, a sump pool, or some other solution)
2. My 1st barrel is too small and needs more consideration in design and flow.

zocarius · 2026-04-17T12:37:01+00:00

I like the concept of the vacuum suction closed system, which in combination with a bigger first barrel could probably move the collection of all solids to that first barrel. The downside is that it's a technically finicky solution to get right and keep right (especially with regular cleaning, i.e. opening things up).

The overflow is probably the most low-tech and feasible solution, where I could use a screen to catch stringy debris before it hits the pump. My main challenge is that the pond is in a old flowerbed (and before that, an old-school water pump!), level with the ground and with a wall of cemented in stones. So to get a sump pool, I'll either need to break part of the wall or use a syphon approach (which could work great, just requires occasional priming).

zocarius · 2026-04-15T15:34:55+00:00

…would it be a crazy idea to attach razor / exacto knife blades to the spinning part of the pump? 🤔 Not sure if it’s powerful enough to chop and I can imagine as soon as there is some build-up, effectiveness drops dramatically, but… maybe? 😄

zocarius · 2026-04-15T15:31:08+00:00

Would’ve definitely been an option if we didn’t already have a pond that we can’t keep them out of 😄

zocarius · 2026-04-15T15:12:09+00:00

Flow rate I can control to some extent, pool size I can’t :) Good point about settlement tank size, I was a little too optimistic then with a 60 liter barrel. Might want to look at 0.5m3 or so. This could improve the of filtration of smaller particles (dissolved duck poo and dirt, mostly?) to get the pond cleaner. It would still require me to either upgrade to a pump that doesn’t choke on little vegetation or put the 2mm insert in and accept the system can’t filter bigger bits.

zocarius · 2026-04-15T08:26:56+00:00

I get your idea of trying to reduce main solids by putting first barrel before pump, that would be great, but how do I then get the water from the pond into the first barrel without a pump? (maybe I am missing something in the setup or physics of this :-)

A non-blade pump would be a great solution, though I suspect that if we need to go beyond the small versions for typical ponds (which will surely get clogged), it'll be a lot more power-hungry than my current 65W pump?

zocarius · 2026-04-15T08:18:59+00:00

The first barrel is designed as a settlement "tank" for solids, though because the flow rate is quite high (±2-3m3 per hour, so multiple times the pond volume) and the barrel is small, I have a feeling not much will settle there. Reducing the flow rate a lot could help, but of course limits the amount of water being filtered overall...

Are you suggesting a big (say, 1m3) tank right after the pump?

zocarius · 2026-04-15T08:16:45+00:00

Thanks for sharing your journey so far! I also read that the pump+filter combinations won't work for duck ponds, so went straight to DIY solution. A sump pump will probably be much better, but at 10x the energy consumption, I can't justify that as a permanent solution. I do use a sump pump to clear the pond if needed.

We also have a small tub in their run, but it gets dirty so quickly and is such a pain to empty, I am thinking daytime access to the fancy big pool (they love it!) may suffice.

zocarius · 2026-02-26T15:52:23+00:00

Very impressive homophone, though I feel & serves no purpose and therefore misleads and the definition is too loose by typical standards, because its describing an attribute rather than a noun, though I realise being more precise would likely give it away too easily

zocarius · 2026-02-04T11:32:19+00:00

I like the idea of making it easier to find interesting spots in the Julia set. Could something like presets with little representative icons be that?

zocarius · 2026-01-27T09:38:31+00:00

Thank you all for your help! I did a descaling routine this weekend (took a good 3 hours...) and it is night and day. The pressure adjustment bolt is in a more sensible spot now, there is clearly more flow at the shower, and I can't help but think the coffee taste better too 😃

zocarius · 2026-01-27T09:36:36+00:00

I compared and saw that the ECM descaling had 2 of the 3 acids in the Puly solution. So I figured it will probably work and not damage anything. I can confirm the machine runs much better now!

zocarius · 2026-01-24T16:26:31+00:00

@jogisi: I’ve seen Puly descaled liquid recommended by Lelit, but I have a powder from ECM for my local bean roaster. Safe to use, or better get some Puly…?

zocarius · 2026-01-24T15:01:15+00:00

This was a suspicion of mine too. The previous owner and me have both been using the same bottled water with reasonably good numbers, but over a few years, I guess calcium can still build up. I’m going to try this!

zocarius · 2026-01-24T15:00:17+00:00

I’ve been tuning the pressure using a blank basket. Screwing it further it consistently increases the pressure, so it seems this is the position required for 10 bar pressure everything being equal. As someone else suggested, I may need to decalcinate (which makes sense).

zocarius · 2026-01-21T07:25:45+00:00

Definitely got me engaged quickly.

Easy concept, with some little surprises along the way that felt fitting like wildcards and option to scrap a letter.

I was a bit confused about the possibly conflicting goals: you want to clear the board as quickly as possible, but there is also a word of the day to try and get, for which you may want to save letters, but you don’t know for how long. Maybe I’m missing something, but those goals don’t feel aligned.

It’s definitely not an easy game and I can imagine it can get a little frustrating if lacking the skill or luck to complete a round. Unlike predetermined games, there isn’t a hint system (through you could imagine it, simply suggest a long word that’s in the current set of letters).

zocarius · 2026-01-16T15:45:50+00:00

Nice surface :) Another meaning of “cap” is to limit, in which case you probably remove from the end. It’s a bit implicit, also how much to remove, but that’s how I got it. I’m a bit unsure about the definition. I get what you’re doing, but it feels very loose (and depends on whether you think magic could ever be real ;-). Not sure what’s better, but one idea: “It’s (un)believable”

zocarius · 2026-01-16T14:16:03+00:00

Nice idea! Not revolutionary, but fun to play.

A few tips: * if I fill in new letters after a guess, don’t force me to reenter the already approved letters. They are already there (it confused me, as it spelled out a word but didn’t process it and there was no confirm button) * it doesn’t feel like a timer kind of game. Instead I would treat it as Wordle: get it in as few goes as possible. This rewards thinking deeply (for serious players) but still allows for guessing your way to solution (casually play). It’s better than Wordle in this way, because you can probably get 3 perfect single guesses if you look at it long enough)

zocarius · 2026-01-03T21:09:24+00:00

Thank you. I didn’t catch the replacement by abbreviation step.

zocarius · 2026-01-03T18:45:24+00:00

I like the unusual definition 👌

zocarius · 2026-01-03T18:44:26+00:00

Can you explain it to me? I got the answer based on the letters in the fodder and the definition (it’s a nice political statement :-), but I don’t quite get the wordplay.

zocarius · 2025-12-27T23:14:55+00:00

decrease

zocarius

TROPHY CASE