Looking for someone with concrete experience. Need help with pond.

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SkySouza

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 29, 2009
492
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Santa Maria, Ca
Hey MFK members,

I recently bought my first house... and of coarse i want to put in a large pond. I get my keys in a week and I'll have my hands full for the first month or so. I'm just doing my homework now to plan ahead.

If anyone lives in the area (Santa Maria, Ca 93454) I'd be happy to pay for some expertise and grunt work. If one prefers beer or aquarium equipment I have plenty of that as well.
Help on this site, over the phone or thru email would be sweet as well. I'd be happy to ship out some of the fish, plants, or supplies I have if one chooses to help in this respect.

I plan on using cinder blocks for the walls and about 1/3 the pond will be below ground. Still deciding on whether or not I'll have a viewing window just to give you an idea of what I have in mind.

Shape is shown below and I am thinking 5' is a good depth. The pond will be in the southwest corner of my property line.

Any recommendations you all have is welcome and encouraged.

Pond.png

Pond.png
 
I am concerned about the angles for the triangular section of the pond. Do the make 45 degree pieces of cinder block?

How hard is it to insert a viewing window? I do not have to have one. As a matter of fact I could lower the pond deeper into the ground with out it however it would be cool to see my fish from that angle.

I am not sure of the stocking yet..... plenty of ideas. Am not going to heat this bad boy, at least not until I graduate from Cal Poly later this year or early next.

Base construction advice is definitely needed. Not sure if i am going to use cinder blocks or lay some concrete.

For filtration I am open to ideas. I am not rolling in that cash money, in fact it's quite the opposite, but having a child at 18 and working 40+ hrs while attending college full time has taught me a thing or too about managing time and money.
 
Any doubts or concerns you may have would be great too. If it the angle is going to be a problem I could always go with out it and do an L shape instead.
 
nothin huh?
 
our Going to Need to Run Grade beams and/or sono tube and slab to hold up the Block. Block work with Mesh and a solid Fill would maybe be Sturdy Enough while 6 to 8 inch reenforced Concrete would do it.
Alot depends on local code and what not (with Block, Mesh, and solid fill you can acquire it during the week and build it on the weekend, when one starts ordering concrete inspectors become interested)
 
Are you saying that I'm going to need a permit to put this in place? I was not planning on having an inspector come out. Maybe I am not understanding what your saying.

I just don't want it to leak. I am also trying to decide on whether or not to use an epoxy or liner... (I have access to macropoxy 646 which is a food grade epoxy that can be submerged as well. Cost is about $30-40 per kit for me and a kit does approximately 200 sq ft.
 
You could talk to a pool company and get some advice on the shape or even pay them to take on the project since they have all the expertise required save for the viewing window. Speaking of which the thickness of the window will depend mostly on the depth of water at which it will be located and if it will have any top brace along its length. I built a pond a few years back and for the floor we laid concrete but for walls it was just cinder block granted it was not as deep as you plan to do it but it held water perfectly fine without using any epoxy.
 
Thanks fellas.

I'll shoot you a pm captainahab once I get going on the digging. I do have a couple of specific questions about the base of the pond and how I should go about doing it.
 
So for the most part I know what I need to do, however, my greatest concern atm is how I should construct the foudation. I guess I have 3 options. Should I:

1. First construct the sides of the pond by laying the cinder block then fill the bottom with cement.

2. Lay cinder blocks on their sides as the foundation and then build up the sides. Cover the "floor" with mortor or a layer of cement (which would I use)

3. Lay a flat concrete foundation then build up the sides out of cinder block.

Which ever method I use obviously the foundation will have to be completely level or as close to it as possible to make sealing the cinder blocks to the foundation easier.

Please do assist and thanks again.
 
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