Cement pond?

[TimeBomb]

Hello.. I"m new to this site and am not too much of a fish keeper (though I am interested in fish a bit).. I was directed here from a reptile forum that I frequent looking for some help in making a cement pond. Here's the scoop... I have built an indoor enclosure for a pair of caiman and had constructed a pond originally out of plywood and epoxy, which leaked tremendously (I know what I did wrong, I've had lots of success using this method previously). So without having to tear down the enclosure and rebuilding, I'd like to make a concrete pond inside of my already formed plywood box. One person had suggested in his method to make a form to pour concrete into but I don't know that it is possible as the door to this enclosure isn't huge. My pond area measures a bit less than 6X6X1.5 (feet) so the volume of the pond is around 400 gallons, which isn't huge. I am not experienced with cement, all I have used is standard thinset to spread over cement board so I have become fairly good at mixing consistencies. What I'm wondering is if I screw mesh reinforcement to my sides (and bottom if necessary), can I pour concrete into the bottom of my pond and trowel over the sides? Or will gravity cause my sides to slip? My enclosure will not be exposed to extreme heat or cold and I will seal it with 2 coats of 2 part epoxy. I do also have a glass window that extends approximately 4 inches below the water level at the front of my enclosure and my thought on that was to apply cement around the bottom of the glass, paint it and silicone to seal the seam. Can anyone give me advice on what I'd like to do? I have tried searching for methods of building ponds from cement but most sites are for very large outdoor ponds. Lastly, can anyone give me an estimate of how man bags of cement it will take?

Thanks in advance!

Matt

 

[jmart.cooper]

I think you would need to build a form to keep the cement from slipping down to the bottom. If you first put chicken wire on the bottom and on the sides, then built the forms so that the walls were about 1-2 inches thick I think that would hold work. You would need to pour the bottom first then the sides before the bottom cured. Make sure you get all the air bubbles out of the cement in the wall. You can do this using a stick to jiggle the cement up and down. I would make the cement slightly thicker that normal so it doesnt slide out of the forms and just pool in the bottom. Make sure you let the cement cure all the way before taking the forms down. This could take several days. I would let it sit for a week. Good luck.

 

[gigas12]

Hi.chicken wire is a good idea.

 

[perfect_prefect]

in the past i was doing some research into redoing my outdoor ponds with cement and a company that specializes in them said they dont use any kind of a form, just keep the cement on the thicker side and just work it up the sides. but that was a dirt base dug out of a yard. might not work so well with 90 degree corners where the wall meets the floor, i guess i am of no help, but personally i wouldn't build forms.