Guide on how to build your own pond:
- Get the correct location bearing in mind all the aspects discussed on the link "pond" ;
- Mark the area out with white chalk or rope.
- Dig the area out and level the bottom.
- Place pegs on each corner linked with rope to mark the actual pond.
- Place the bottom drain/s in the desired location and stabilize it with a bit of concrete to ensure that it stays in place when your pour the concrete slab.
- Do the piping from the bottom drain to the area where your settlement and filter chambers are going to be build.
- Place DPC plastic at the bottom to keep the moist in the concrete as long as possible to ensure a strong concrete base.
- Cut a hole to expose the bottom drain. If the pond is bigger than 2 meter x 3 meter, two bottom drains should be used.
- Put iron support (brick forcing is sufficient) at the bottom, especially where the walls are going to be build.
- Pour the concrete above the DPC and brick force and distribute and level it until the concrete bed is approximately 110 mm thick and on the same level as the top of the bottom drain. There should be a 10 degree slope towards the bottom drain/s.
- Leave the concrete bed for 48 hours to dry properly to enable you to start with the walls.
- Build the walls up to the required high with 190 building blocks. In this example, the walls are 2.4 meter high. 140 blocks can also be used if the pond is going to be below the surface of the land. Put at least two 50 mm PVC pipes through the walls to accommodate your inlets. One high (just below the intended water surface for a venturi or aimflow) and one low (to circulate the water at the bottom also).
- Leave an opening for a glass panel (optional). Ideally the glass should be placed in a build in frame. In this case, a frame was purely build with bricks and the 10 mm glass was inserted with silicone and it works quite well.
- Screed the bottom of the pond with a plaster mix, mixed with Sikalite, a water proof chemical available at most hardware shops and add dissolved pool salt to the mixture. 10 KG will do the trick. The sides must be at least 50 mm higher than the bottom drain, to ensure a slope towards the bottom drain. Break the sharp corners with the plaster mix to ensure that debris do not collect in the corners.
- Plaster the walls with the same plaster mix, mixed with Sikalite and salt. (Minimum 20 mm thick)
- Do the bio filter in the same way although it does not have to be as deep as the main pond. It must be at least 1 meter deep and ideally directly attached to the main pond.
- Connect the pipes. The bottom drain should be linked to the bottom of the settlement chamber/first chamber.
- Place iron rods in the holes of the building blocks (at least every second one) and fill with very soft concrete. Ensure that the concrete goes right down to the bottom. If the walls are going to be all above the ground and higher than 1.3m, fill every whole. Give special attention to the area where the glass panel is going to be. (if applicable).
- Paint the inside with a water proof paint after three days or when completely dry, following the specifications of the specific paint. Use matting on all the edges and possible bad spots and around your piping going through the walls. Durapond from Duram works quite well and is a unique polyurethane waterproofing paint that is non-toxic, odourless when dry and will not taint the water.
- Backfill up to the level of your inlet pipes with stone and sand, mixed with a bit of dry cement at a rate of 1-8-8 and lightly wet it so that it compacts and reacts with the cement.
- Wait for the paint to dry in accordance with the specifications of the specific paint used and fill with water. Acrylic and polyurethane paints normally requires 4 days and Bitumen type of paints usually require 14 days.
- Check for any leaks, especially on the PVC fittings. If none, complete the back fill with the same mixture as above and wet the backfill properly.
- Let the water in the pond circulate and replace the water to flush any possible toxins.
- Let the new water circulate for at least a week, test the PH, seed your filter, add bio boost to the filter, add salt and add some fish gradually after your are absolutely sure that there are no leaks and the PH of the water is correct. Initially the ph might be a bit high due to the alkalinity of the cement but it will stabilize. If really necessary, you could add pool acid for a day or two and flush the water.
- Paint the outside or tile it, do a coping of your choice, do the final touches and enjoy your fish.
For a full discussion and diagrams of the filtration system, go to our filtration page.
