Guest Tomarc Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 So I recently moved into a new house, which I'm renting, and there's a pond in one of our front yards. I really want to fix it up and make it look nice, which I already know will take a lot of work. I started a little yesterday, dragged out three giant concrete rocks, a few bricks, and a bunch of muck. I noticed several cracks in the foundation of the pond. How would I go about sealing these up; quikcrete, pond liner, both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 20, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 20, 2007 cool, how much gallon does it hold? what is it made with? liner, concrete...?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 No clue how many gallons it holds yet, can't even see the bottom cause there's so much muck, it's fairly deep. As far as I can tell, it's made of concrete, but it has a black layer painted on it. Could this be to prevent algae from growing on it? [we paint black stuff on the hulls of boats to prevent barnacle and clams] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 20, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 20, 2007 hummm, concrete eh ? just like me.i too have a circle concrete pond that we're going to fix up. anyway, i think if you're going to use pond liner, you should cover the entire pond, not just the cracks, just to be sure. my concrete have cracks and my dad saids he's going to cement them up. he's going to spread the cement all over the pond, just to be sure there's no unseen crack or the pond might leak, hope this helps you a bit, and maybe if you can post pics of the whole process Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Trinket Posted February 21, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 21, 2007 Yes, if you can post a pic people will be able to give you some advice better. There are lots of people who have set up ponds and can talk you though it. How exciting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 After I removed all the bricks, some muck, and all but one of the giant pieces of concrete. There's one left in the middle in front of the fountain so that I can get the muck from the middle. Still muck, and gravel in it. Can't do much now as we're expecting rain. I hadn't noticed the date until taking this picture, and I assume it's when the pond was completed, back on November 13, 1937! Anyways, that's the giant crack in the pond, the other few are nothing like this. This is what I'll be basing my repairs on I suppose. So that's my project. Did I mention I have no tools, just gloves? Which is why it's not fixed yet, have to let my gloves and the water in the bottom dry and evaporate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 21, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 21, 2007 i think you should go with pond liner, it's more costly, but it will ensure that you wont have any leaks. our cracks are very small, so we'll use cement. pond liner is quite easy to install. you buy a liner that is bigger than the pond so it will have 'overlaps'. you dont want a piece that just barely fit the pond, you want it to be bigger. than, you cover the pond with the liner and fill up the pond. you can put rocks over the extra liner to hide it if you want. p.s. are you planning to put anything in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Not entirely sure on if I want to put anything in there. The reason for this is at my old house, five blocks away, we had racoons. At the port I work at, 10 blocks in the opposite direction, I have racoons under my office on the dock. Than one night I believe I saw a racoon about a half block away in the alley behind us. So basically, my city has racoons, and I don't want them to eat my fishes! I was wondering if the fountain and depth of the pond would be enough to ward off racoons, or at least give the fishes a place to hide. Also, what maintenance comes with a pond liner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cheekylemur Posted February 21, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 21, 2007 I'm not sure that one is deep enough to avoid racoons. Most of the recommendations I've seen for avoiding racoons and other predators that hunt from the shore it to make sure you have a vertical side from the edge of the pond, so that they can't wade in a little and go fishing. I can't tell quite how deep that is, but I suspect a sizeable racoon wouldn't have much trouble wading in. If you want to keep it all concrete, you can also buy some pond sealants that you use to paint the inside of the pond to prevent anything from leaching out of the concrete and make it watertight. That might be what the black is. Or it could just be regular paint that was put in to make a nice backdrop for some waterlilies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 21, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 21, 2007 yeah, that does looka bit shallow, maybe you can give the dimensions? L, W, H? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 On top of having no tools, I have no measuring tape. It's around 2 feet deep though, measuring by how much my leg goes in. Anyways, I was feeling optimistic and decided to clean it out some more, when I was done it looked like this. Right now the pump is soaking in my sink to loosen it up all the gunk. I dragged well over 50lbs of conrete and three bags of muck/gravel out of the pond. Now I just have to wait for the storm to pass and the water to evaporate before I can clean the sides. Speaking of the sides, what would you think of caulking the cracks with a caulking gun? My father suggested it from his knowledge of fixing houses. Did I mention I met a neighbor of mine that raises chickens, she said its a good pond for fish; go figure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Trinket Posted February 23, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 23, 2007 It's a great set-up start for fish. I think you may still need pond liner though because there are some cracks and you know water likes to seep away. But 2 feet deep is a nice depth and you can lways cover the top with netting and stones to keep wildlife/birds out. Have you read around the forum for more help? There are some threads of people setting up that might help you. Finding that date is amazing! It looks like it was some-ones hard work making it and maybe they kept fish in there too..interesting I love the shape of it too. You are lucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 23, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 23, 2007 It's a great set-up start for fish. I think you may still need pond liner though because there are some cracks and you know water likes to seep away. But 2 feet deep is a nice depth and you can lways cover the top with netting and stones to keep wildlife/birds out. Have you read around the forum for more help? There are some threads of people setting up that might help you. Finding that date is amazing! It looks like it was some-ones hard work making it and maybe they kept fish in there too..interesting I love the shape of it too. You are lucky i think pond liner is the best choice too.raccons are pretty smart, so i think if you are going to net the pond, you should put 2 or 3 layers over it,(you can tell me that I'm a person who alway do stuff just incase something happens ) or you could also get those motion detector thingys that shoot water also, if you can get a ruler or something and measure the size, Lenght, width, depth. i can GUESS on the gallon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 It's been raining and hailing here since last night so the ponds filling up with water. Oh well, I woludn't have time to work on it again until saturday anyways. I should be able to get the measurements on saturday if I remember to borrow the measuring tape; got to measure for a pond liner anyways. Made more progress though in cleaning out the pumps filter; boy was it gross! There was mud and gunk all over and in it. Defiantely going to need to buy new filter cartridges. The pump is the type that sprays water up in a dome around it, would this act similarly to the 'scarecrow' motion detector I've read about in helping to ward off the racoons? I plan on putting some plants in there, not sure what yet, but somethings for coverage. I really will do whatever it takes to not have to get a cover for the pond, it's just not appealing to me. I'm hoping birds won't be much of a problem since two big tabbies have made our front yard their day home; I'll be putting pepper around the pond to keep them away from it. With me determination, I think I'll have it done in . . . 2 weeks, as long as the weather cooperates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 23, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 23, 2007 no, it's just a fountain, i dont think it will scare them off, here's website that sells the motion detector thingys: http://www.pondparts.com/subcat274.html http://www.pondrx.com/products/16167.html or you can use the "high pitch" scarers http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...fm?pcatid=12277 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Heh, I didn't mean so much scare them away, more of would itprotect the fish from the racoon with its radius of water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 23, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 23, 2007 hummm, that's a tough one, ward off but not scare off.. if you dont want those, you could always try the nettings, they're not as notable as you think, and pretty darn cheap too, i saw some at walzmart for at the most $20 a roll, or maybe the pepper idea might keep the coons off too. maybe if you use lots and lots of plants and some ceramic pot for hidding places, never know what will happen unless you try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Poor kitties! Maybe I'll just keep them away with pepper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 25, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 25, 2007 any measurements yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member vmlola Posted February 25, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 25, 2007 This has been a fun thread for me to read through. I had not seen it before today and look forward to the end renovation. Those pics are great too. That is so amazing that it has the date in it also. Such history behind this pond. Besides being about 2 ft deep, have you gotten other measurements yet. I'm really interested in how many gal this pond holds. It was really a mess for you I can tell that, but what a fun project to take on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Panzz Posted February 26, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2007 I was think could before you get you measuring tap, would you mind taking just another pic with something like your hand or leg or something that we all know the average size of with your pond? so we could roughly know how big it is! hehe just a suggestion though. Then after you got the measurement we can all get the exact size of it. I am asking you to do this so most of us here don't have to wait so long to get the size of it! at least by doing so we have a rough idea of how big it is! XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Sorry-sorry, I actually got the measuring tape but have been too busy with work to do it. I was going to wait until my day off tomorrow since its been a torential downpour all day, but I went it measured it just for yall. It's roughly 6' long, 4.5' wide, and 2' deep. The length and width are measured where it pinches in at the sides. So that's around what, 400 gallons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member love-rabbit-fish Posted February 26, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2007 6x4.5x2=........... roughtly 340 gallons, but add all the extra curvey stuff, it could be up to 400, sure. wow , i was thinking from the pictures it was 100-200, but 400 wow i bet your shubie Sheila will love all the space in the pond, are you thinking of putting anyone else in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Panzz Posted February 27, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 27, 2007 really with that type of pond, you should put something in there... and if you are afraid of the raccoons, why don't you put some hiding places for the fishes in the middle of the pond.(I think this will help though I don't have such a problem in my area.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomarc Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 I think Sheila would love some company in there, especially now that's become so socialized. I plan on putting somethings in there, don't know what, a few more fishes and a plant or two, some hidey holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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