Questions about dry stack cinder block ponds.

[fishdat]

I've seen a few mentions of dry stack cinder block ponds on here, but can find very little information about them online. Has anyone here made one themselves?

I'm looking to make a 6' L x 2.5' W x 2" H pond that'll be lined with pond liner. The first foot or so will be substrate to reduce water volume and provide plenty of room for root growth, as I'm focusing plants over fish for this; there will only be a small school of minnows.

 

[Ulu]

Concrete Masonry Units are commonly called cinder block, but nobody uses cinders anymore. It's air entrained concrete.
The air makes it light (easy to lift), but very weak.

All the strength comes when you stack them with rebar inside to form a steel "net" of bars each way. Then you pour the cavities full of concrete and vibrate the air out as it settles. Otherwise, dry units have no effective strength and are brittle and easily cracked.

It's much cheaper & easier to make a strong lined wood pond that size. 4'x3'would be stronger than 6'x2' and have the same volume.
It's built up like a log cabin, and lined with plywood and rubber. If only 2' deep.

This guy builds a bigger, deeper one. He makes some mistakes, but he tells you about them.
He takes it apart easily, in a later video, as he remodels. Much easier than demolishing concrete.

 

[Ulu]

I thought I had posted a link to the king of DIY on YouTube but for some reason it seems to have vanished.

If you do a search for indoor pond, king of DIY, it will come up.

 

[Ulu]

OK, here it is...

 

[fishdat]

Thanks for the info! Looking at cost vs efforts, I'm just going to buy a steel galvanized stock tank and line it with a spare liner I have. Comes out to a similar price point with less work.