Need votes on Idea of a Concrete Koi pond !

[coolwind2003a]

Hello all
I am looking for advise as i am going to rebuild my pond a little larger & was going to concrete bottom & walls with concrete ! what would be the best thing to seal it off with ? Are just plaster it ?? It will be 12 ft X 20 ft 4 ft deep & will on 1 Side 2ft more will be added to be 2 ft deep to that side for just plants in pots as & am going to build 2 large plant blogs also to help pre filter water with other types of plants also ! Any good help on better ideas would be very helpful It will have 2 bottom drains a good pump for both to feed the plant blogs & then be pumped to another dyi malta pad filter sys! before returning to the main pond !
I have been told that a rectangler pond its hard to get kois to spawn in have any of you all ever hear this !
Thanks to all & God Bless
Greg :grumble:

 

[addy1]

They make good coatings for concrete ponds, but not cheap.

This is from a different forum :

Hi all
I am in the processs of building my own pond.With the construction I have used the exact same mix as you would for a swimming pool.First I put down 100mm steel reinforcement.Then I bought in ready mix pool mix.I let this dry for 5 days.3 I put on hand packed plaster +- 5cm thick after which I made the surface rough.4 Now I am going to finish with charcoal marble plaster.

The question that I would like to post is what to treat the marble plaster with as it is going to leach chemicals into the pond that will take the PH to very high levals.I have heard that you must was the plaster with vinigar.
or fill the pond up with water add pool acid and take your PH down to 6.5 let the water stand for 5 days then drain wash and brush the walls and fill the pond again ..

Both of the techniques you mention have been used successfully. The swimming pool industry uses muriatic acid a good deal, but as DickB mentioned elsewhere on this Board, it can be dangerous to handle compared to vinegar ... which is pretty cheap if you get it by the case of gallon bottles at a warehouse store. If you use the "fill the pond with acidic water" approach, test the pH regularly and keep adding acid as the pH increases to keep it low. You can use both together: scrub down the walls with vinegar. Rinse. Do it again. Rinse again. Then fill pond with acidic water, adding additional acid as required over the course of a week or two. Drain. Then I've seen some say they washed again with vinegar to try to neutralize even more thoroughly.

Be aware, however, that you may go a long time before a new concrete pond has no impact on pH. It can be years. But, the degree of the impact can be reduced considerably. The goal is to avoid extremes and to avoid fluctuations every time a water change occurs.

 

[fishin4cars]

HERCO No. H-55 Neoprene Rubber Coating
Zypex- http://www.xypex.com/products/products.php
from what I have read these are two of the better products on the market for sealing concrete and making the pond fish safe and leak proof.

 

[DrDave]

Get the guys that do truck beds to come out and shoot it.