Concrete vs EDPM?

[Felipe]

Hello everyone, I live in Mexico and there are very few ponds here, the ones that are are made of concrete. I'm going to start my pond soon and concrete seems to be the way to go here as I cannot find any pond supply stores and shipping is horrendous when it comes to large, heavy items such as a pond liner. There are also no aquatic plants available so I will have to drive to the coast 1 1/2 hours away to scrounge some plats naturally growing there. Any input on concrete vs EDPM?

 

[j.w]

Hey good old friend glad to see you here again! Think about you off and on and wondered what you were up to. Do they have any roofing companies there cuz that's where I got my 1st liner. Got my 2nd one from an irrigation company, same EPDM liner at both places. All I did was lay it out on my driveway and hose and wipe off the powdery substance they use. Never hurt my fish and still using it to this day after many years. We just hauled it home in our truck. I have no experience w/the concrete but perhaps others here can help you.

 

[poconojoe]

Will plain concrete hold water? What do they do for swimming pools?
Seems I remember one of the online pond outlets advertising a fish friendly black paint-on sealer for concrete. Not sure if you would need something like that, but it's nice to know something like that exists.

 

[Stephen Noble]

Welcome to the forum, Felipe! They make an epoxy for coating concrete ponds that works well. My friend in Los Angles had a concrete pond and it was magnificent. He started it as a turtle pond for the first three years and then transitioned to goldfish, giving the concrete sufficient time to season. Another friend built a concrete pond into his new home's, grand living room. It was beautiful but....he didn't want to wait for the pond to become seasoned and kept losing his fish. Finally, he coated it with a pond epoxy and that solved his problem. I am attaching a link discussing the pros and cons of each. Good luck and let us know which you choose.

Which pond is better, a rubber liner or a concrete pond? - Sacramento Koi

sacramentokoi.com

 

[GBBUDD]

There is little question which is better, and that would be the concrete pond.
1. if it springs a leak theres a crack that is generally a whole lot easier to find.
2 impervious to animals with sharp claws like lizards or deer bear and others. moles, woodchucks , tree roots. these all can compromise rubber. even with layers of protection. Some folks have placed chicken wire under the liner buried in sand then underlayment and rubber to protect from moles chipmunks and prairie dogs. With concrete theres little worry with any of these. Heres some folks down your way who have kinda the best of both world it's in a forum here forums/ garden pond talk/ some very impressive pond builds/ page 3 5th video from the bottom. there are also some videos I put in there from Brasil that are very different from what we build here.. Rubber has the advantage of being able to be reworked changed and added to . cheaper less labor. more flexible. almost anyone can build in rubber.
The other option is to build with cinder block a little easier the gunite . some fill the block with rebar and concrete making for a solid build.
yes concrete is generally not waterproof though it can be if you order it right. plaster is generally added as a top coat to waterproof it . to me smooth walls just fish swimming around is like a kiddie pool compared to a pool they both cool you off yet theres a huge differance I would build shelves like a rubber pool and install stone for a more creative and interesting pond

 

[Felipe]

J.W. so good to see you again, I have thought of you too. The Mayan and Aztec invented concrete as far as I'm concerned and can work miracles with it. There is a very old hacienda nearby that has a big, old koi pond. No pumps, no filter and no waterfall and the koi thrive. I guess the next question is what to paint it with as concrete does leech out toxins for a while so that will be my goal. We built a house in the mountains of Mexico where life is extremely cheap and good, you can live really well and be considered rich on social security. We have a friend with two kids, one of which is disabled and he lives on 3,000 pesos a month or $124.00 US per month. I manage a Facebook group that focuses on pollution which is really bad in parts of Mexico and non existent in others.

Back to the pond, we built a vivero or greenhouse behind our home. To me, it was utilitarian, a place to pot plants but my wife wants to convert it to a terraza (terrace) so we will be doing that in the months to come including a covered pond. I'll post pictures as we go.

 

[j.w]

Looking forward to seeing some pix of your life in Mexico now. Will be fun watching you build your pond. You must still love it there where you are as it sounds. Is the quarantine going on there like it is here?

Hope you all stay safe and well

 

[Felipe]

We here in the mountains are pretty secluded so we practically live in pajamas anyway. I see a few masks in town but not in our little village.