Do fish bite the liner

[philfreenode]

I am considering building a pond, like 30 inches high, 4 feet wide by 8 feet long in my bedroom. Right now i have two 50 and two 20 gallon tanks in there but I'd like to get some larger fish. I'm not committed to the build yet but I wanted to know have people here had first hand experience with fish biting holes in the liner?

 

[frnchjeep]

Plecos can chew holes in a liner. If there are folds or wrinkles in the liner, you can bet on a pacu chewing on the high spots. I cant think of any other fish that could.

 

[philfreenode]

Also has anyone experiences to share about pondliner.com? Dr's Foster and smith sells 40 mil Pond Gard 15x20 liner and 10x15 but not 15x15. Pondliner.com sells what they claim is 45 mil Pond Gard in 15x15 for about the same as 10x15 at foster and smith. Pondliners.com, a third site sells 15x20 liner, 60 mil for about the same price as those other liners, i am wondering if they are selling roofing liner or something cause it is so cheap.

 

[philfreenode]

Thanks for the reply. If I wanted to keep one of these kind of fish, well particularly the pleco would a thicker liner work or even just using a double liner? I know they like to suck on any surface even if well fed.

edit: Or what about 'weed barrier' cloth inside the pond. Is that fish safe?

 

[philfreenode]

OH hmm, can't edit posts for very long here. my bedroom is in a finished basement, the floor is concrete slab so weight should not be a problem so right now I am just doing the 'what if's" in terms of pond liner

 

[philfreenode]

I've decided to keep both pacu and pleco in my pond, and will be keeping them off the liner by using egg crate on bottom and eventually all sides.

 

[Zfishies]

Pleco won't really chew threw it more like weaken it if u have plenty of plants drift wood not much to worry bout. I'd be more scared with the pacu eating the folds like above. But in anycase thicker is always better

 

[philfreenode]

Egg crate isn't working as substrate, debris collect underneath it. just found 1.5 ppm ammonia in my pond and had to net out a bunch of debris as well as remove the egg crate.

Nitrates are 30, no nitrites. just a ton of ammonia.. damn

 

[philfreenode]

good news is after a water change i expect my water will be crystal and soon will have no ammonia.. back to square 1 on protecting the liner from fish bites though

 

[koienterprise]

Not sure if you mentioned it and I missed it but....what is the liner being supported by? Is this a temp pond or a long term pond? Since you have a cement floor you can build up with cinder block and seal it with a fish safe epoxy. This will eliminate the worry of a liner hole. Just throwing ideas around. I may have some pictures of a few basement ponds built in this manner if intrested.