Can a "preform" liner be repaired?

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I came home from a long weekend last night around 1030, to find my little preform pond almost empty (along with my 35 gallon Doc filter). Couldn't see any evidence of where the 75+ gallons of water went (way more than 2 dogs and a cat can drink over 3 days), and kicked myself for not remembering to tell my 20 year old to keep an eye on the pond (was worried since Doc filter was only finished a week ago). We turned off the pump and added a bit of water to keep the Lilly's happy even though I could see that at least 2 of my 3 fish were dead. Anyway, got up this morning to find only about 1/2" of water in the pond :-( It turns out there are 2 cracks in the bottom of the pond (about 1" each).

The best that I can tell is that the soil in the raised pond planter shifted with all the rain we had this Winter/Spring and the pond bent/cracked.

I do have a smaller (about 35 gallon) preform I can put my plants in for a while if I have to. Ultimately, I am planning a 600-700 gallon liner type pond in the raised planter where the preform is/was, but, until I find a job, cant afford the liner.

Is there any way to repair these cracks, or is the pond toast? Hubby is thinking maybe use an epoxy?

Thanks for any ideas :)

Alyce
 

taherrmann4

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I think instead of trying to repair it I would get a liner to put in the inside, just make sure those cracks aren't sharp and won't cut the liner.
 

ididntdoit99

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What are those things made of? A plastic welder might do the job, pretty much just melt the plastic back together, and you can get little plastic sticks for filler.
 
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Thanks Tman, didn't want to spend $$ on a liner until I can buy the 15'x20' one I'll need for the upgrade.

Thanks 99, it's a heavy black plastic of some sort, plastic welder might work. I'll have to check into that.
 
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Thanks Tman~! Right now, the only animal that survived was one big snail. I will ensure whatever I do, I make it fish/animal safe. :) I'm leaning towards putting the small pond (in my avatar) back in until I can find/afford a liner. Only bummer is that it is smaller than my bio filter.
 

j.w

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Sorry all this happened to you and you lost your fish too. Gosh too bad you can't get the new big liner now then you wouldn't have to bother w/ the small one. Times are tough now tho so understand your predicament. If you are just gonna have some plants and snails for now do you need a bio filter? Maybe just set up the small one for plants and snails and just run a small pump in there for circulation and change some of the water now and then.
 

fishin4cars

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i've seen some temporary fixes that worked for a short time but eventually they all failed again usually in the same spot that originally got fixed only it got bigger. I would go the liner route instead of a repair. You can get a cheap liner for very little at Home depot or lowes, they aren't the best liners on the market but for replacing a a preform your only talking $30-$50, just the repair glue and patches will cost probably $20 and may not hold up for a single temp change season such as summer to winter, a liner you can count on several years on even a cheap 20 mil liner
 
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Best bet as mentioned is probably a new liner (e.g. non-preform). Short of that though - one option to repair might be Pond Armor pond epoxy - I've used it with some luck in repairing leaks in concrete cracking, though not actually in liner cracks. I've used it to line some of my rock runways that terminate at a pre-form section - in those cases the epoxy does stick some to the pre-form plastic, though there are some spots were it didn't really stick well. However I didn't really prep the plastic to make it stick, since the plastic liner wasn't leaking. I think that the pond armor would work actually, if the pre-form was prepped - e.g. by sanding it with a very course grit, to create a rough surface for the epoxy to stick to.

Another wild thought - I wonder if actually just using something like saran wrap might work? It might be tough enough to not rip, but flexible enough to form itself into the crack, using the water pressure from the leak itself to actually seal the leak. Just a thought.
 

addy1

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How about some of the black roofing goop from pl, fill the crack, cover a lot of area around the crack, then stick a piece of plastic over the goop and crack. I did that once to fix a pond leak. Let it cure for a few days.
 
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Thanks for the ideas everyone~! Sorry I didn't reply quickly, I spent yesterday talking wtih and meeting a potential adopter for my foster dog. He ended up going home with her :)

For now, I have put the plants in the small pond and am running a small pump. I'm keeping my eyes open for liner material (i.e. people getting rid of above ground pools) and try to make the bigger liner pond instead of fixing the old one.
 
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How about some of the black roofing goop from pl, fill the crack, cover a lot of area around the crack, then stick a piece of plastic over the goop and crack. I did that once to fix a pond leak. Let it cure for a few days.

I went and grabbed a preformed liner from Craigslist for 15$. Found out it had a small crack about 2-3 inches long. All I did was clean the surface on the inside and out with soap and water. Then used 100% silicone roof sealer and put a bunch on both sides and made sure some squeezed threw the crack. Then with plastic gloves on I smoothed it out a bit to look better. Waited 2 days to dry and hasn't leaked a drop. Roof sealer/goop works great since it sticks to almost anything.
 

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