Cracked concrete pond

[CSMcMullen1]

Well my pond has a major leak. It was made out of concrete in the late 1950’s. When I bought my house the pond hadn’t been used in over 20 years. I put hydraulic cement in the cracks and painted Thoroseal all over. I will do it agin but just for a quick temp fix before winter.
I want to put a liner in it. But I am thinking I should do a major redo. Currently it’s only about 2’ at the deepest area.
I am running a bog right now with a diy skimmer.
I have some ideas I want to run by.
Been thinking of adding a bottom drain and making part of the pond deeper by jackhammering the concrete out.
I am not sure how the plumbing will work with the bottom drain hooking to the bog. ( bog is a 5x7tank 18” tall.). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GBBUDD]

how big is the pond and how many fish do you have. most here do not use a bottom drain i though I'm not one of those who do not

 

[CSMcMullen1]

how big is the pond and how many fish do you have. most here do not use a bottom drain i though I'm not one of those who do not

Currently it’s around 3000 gallons give or take. It’s odd shaped. Not sure on the amount of fish. I only have goldfish and a couple of shubunkin and they keep spawning. They only thing I know for sure is I want to make it about 2-3 feet deeper in some areas.

 

[combatwombat]

Gorgeous pond! Get that jack hammer ready.

 

[Tula]

Beautiful pond

 

[CSMcMullen1]

Gorgeous pond! Get that jack hammer ready.

I will only be making the general area in front of the water fall. That’s currently the deepest part. I need it at least 4’. The crane can walk all over as it is right now.

 

[CSMcMullen1]

I am leaning towards having a bottom drain. I do not have a pond vacuum and a lot of muck gets settled at the bottom.
I have the drain part figured out. It’s the filter part I am having trouble with.
I need pointed in the right direction

 

[GBBUDD]

Blowing open am existing concrete pond digging it down deeper and then patching the concrete to the old is a bit of a role of the dice. i think id lean toward a mechanical gasket where old meets new. and there would definitely be rebar adjoining them .

your pond is a jewel in any backyard the way it is.

 

[GBBUDD]

cranes or herons will not be stopped because the pond is deeper . they will fish from shore. covering the pond with a net . or fishline run across the pond , a scarecrow or takeaway the flight path of the birds are your only options

 

[Sharon M]

I ran into the same problem with blue herons.
4’ depth in a 5000 gallon space has not been a deterrent. I’ve given up on koi and just let the goldfish spawn. I’ve lost too many because I didn’t want to use netting or fish line. I am going to give fish line a try.

 

[GBBUDD]

Myself and @Jhn Have taken a different approach and have basicly made an Avery where the net is overhead and on the sides. I took more a path of removing the flight path