jetajockey
come get me tang police!
Okay guys so I've been working on this project over the last month or so, and it has evolved quite a bit.
My goal: To make an above ground pond, and to keep it clear enough to grow aquatic plants. Side goal: Collect and maintain breeding stocks of certain native fish species. My overall goal with the native fish species is to selectively breed for color and fin variants, I think that our hobby is missing out on a huge opportunity to have some beautiful tankmates that come out of our own proverbial backyards.
I initially intended to create (2) separate concrete block ponds on our back patio, which is currently just a bare concrete slab. I wanted to do it in such a way that we'd still have some room for patio furniture as well as a small firepit feature.
To make this happen I intended to built the two ponds in an L shape.
So I'm building 2 of these, and I have one mostly done. The second one is going to be perpendicular to this one on the same concrete slab. This could be done in your yard if you poured a basic footer first. My first step after calculating materials was cleaning off the area. I stacked the blocks ahead of time and saw what it was going to look like, then adjusted the dimensions a bit to make it work better for the area I am using. My initial plan was to have it a lot wider, but it took up too much of the concrete slab and I wouldn't be able to make an equal sized one next to it.
The next step was put some concrete down and stick the first row of blocks to it. Not really rocket science, but I do suggest lining them all up like you want them FIRST, and then moving them out of the way one by one as you are cementing them into place. This avoids any potential lineup issues as you work your way around. I did not want to deal with the hassle of mortaring each individual block (mostly because I have no experience with it, and it looks a bit tricky and time consuming). So I dry stacked them like this. I feel like this isn't the best way to do water holding structure, but considering that it's only 2 feet tall I'm not too worried about it.
I used Sakrete surface bonding cement to then cover the inside and outside of the blocks. This was a little laborsome on the hands but only took a trowel and bucket. And it was MUCH faster than mortaring and leveling each individual block.
The inside went off without a hitch, midway through the outside covering though it began to rain, and the rain washed away a lot of my work. So I waited another day, and then started again. I mixed this batch with some charcoal concrete dye.
To add a little bit of rigidity, I also bought a few bags of concrete and poured them into the corners. I intend to get another 2 bags to pour into every 3rd or 4th hole. I know that some will recommend adding rebar but for the purpose of this build I dont see it as a justifiable expense.
I let it cure for a few days, and then put a liner in. I opted to use a basic 5mil plastic sheeting from tractor supply. This is primarily because I already had it on hand. If it springs a leak then I'll switch to a real pond liner.
Total cost up to this point was around $120. Could've been a bit cheaper using landscape timbers, but what's done is done.
My goal: To make an above ground pond, and to keep it clear enough to grow aquatic plants. Side goal: Collect and maintain breeding stocks of certain native fish species. My overall goal with the native fish species is to selectively breed for color and fin variants, I think that our hobby is missing out on a huge opportunity to have some beautiful tankmates that come out of our own proverbial backyards.
I initially intended to create (2) separate concrete block ponds on our back patio, which is currently just a bare concrete slab. I wanted to do it in such a way that we'd still have some room for patio furniture as well as a small firepit feature.
To make this happen I intended to built the two ponds in an L shape.
So I'm building 2 of these, and I have one mostly done. The second one is going to be perpendicular to this one on the same concrete slab. This could be done in your yard if you poured a basic footer first. My first step after calculating materials was cleaning off the area. I stacked the blocks ahead of time and saw what it was going to look like, then adjusted the dimensions a bit to make it work better for the area I am using. My initial plan was to have it a lot wider, but it took up too much of the concrete slab and I wouldn't be able to make an equal sized one next to it.
The next step was put some concrete down and stick the first row of blocks to it. Not really rocket science, but I do suggest lining them all up like you want them FIRST, and then moving them out of the way one by one as you are cementing them into place. This avoids any potential lineup issues as you work your way around. I did not want to deal with the hassle of mortaring each individual block (mostly because I have no experience with it, and it looks a bit tricky and time consuming). So I dry stacked them like this. I feel like this isn't the best way to do water holding structure, but considering that it's only 2 feet tall I'm not too worried about it.
I used Sakrete surface bonding cement to then cover the inside and outside of the blocks. This was a little laborsome on the hands but only took a trowel and bucket. And it was MUCH faster than mortaring and leveling each individual block.
The inside went off without a hitch, midway through the outside covering though it began to rain, and the rain washed away a lot of my work. So I waited another day, and then started again. I mixed this batch with some charcoal concrete dye.
To add a little bit of rigidity, I also bought a few bags of concrete and poured them into the corners. I intend to get another 2 bags to pour into every 3rd or 4th hole. I know that some will recommend adding rebar but for the purpose of this build I dont see it as a justifiable expense.
I let it cure for a few days, and then put a liner in. I opted to use a basic 5mil plastic sheeting from tractor supply. This is primarily because I already had it on hand. If it springs a leak then I'll switch to a real pond liner.
Total cost up to this point was around $120. Could've been a bit cheaper using landscape timbers, but what's done is done.
