Mi pawnd rebild tew

[addy1]

Yep did that too where I could jw, it works great and hides the liner nicely.

 

[j.w]

Can you see how I built the dirt up before I dug the pond in these pix? It's kinda hard to tell from the angle but the pond level sits up higher than where the grass is, not a whole lot but just enough to do the job.

 

[sissy]

They were going for a rectangular pond and want to put a bridge over it

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I'm not sure what the thickness of this rubber is, but I'm thinking it might be roofing material, considering who I got it from. It's a little thicker than the liner I bought from Home Depot.

j.w. - Yep I'm going to do just what you did with the rocks around the edge. The birds and squirrels will love it. I'm not concerned about runoff into the pond, but this time I'm planning for a small bank around the pond to help keep the fish IN. I've lost a few fish here and there because my current pond is raised... the fish jumped out, and flopped downhill into the yard. Hopefully this will give them a fighting chance.

Well I got my electrical and water pipes into the ground today. Did a temp hookup with the water pipes, and the joints appear to be solid, so maybe I'll start getting them buried tomorrow. At the very least, this gets me ready to finish the river bed this week and possibly get a few fish moved into their new home. Work will be hit-or-miss this week, though, as Spring is officially here, and we have a chance of showers every day. Thank god - everything has been so dry this Winter!

 

[fishin4cars]

Better find out if it is and if it is fish safe, Firestone makes two types one that is and one that isn't and the one that isn't fish safe is designed for roofing. It should be marked as EPDM if it is from firstone, Other manufacturers I'm not sure on. But be sure and check.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Erg... I had always heard they were the same thing until now. Did a quick check on google, not happy with what I found. I sent an email off to the person I got the rubber from, will see what he tells me. At least at this point if I have to change it out, the only real hurdle is moving that big piece of slate again.

 

[DrDave]

EPDM is a regisered trademark of Firestone. Other than thickness the composition is the same. You can download the MSDS from "www.msdsonline.com".

Fish stores scare folks into paying more for the so called fish safe material. We have people here on the forum that have gotten thier liners from roofing companies.

All you need do is rinse it first, which I would do no matter where I got it.

 

[addy1]

You should be fine shdwdrgn, I know of people that have used it without any issues.

 

[sissy]

I have a piece of it on my 1 waterfall just cleaned it well with some peroxide .My son had it left after doing a roofing job and I saw it in the back of his truck when he stopped here and took it.He doesn't know where it got to he thought it blew out of his truck .I also have a piece of that liner called frog skin that stuff is pretty strong used that at my other waterfall

 

[sissy]

I always like the pics of your pond jw with the background it looks so pretty and serene well guess I will go finish mowing the grass

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Well ok, now I'm not sure what to do. I got an email back, this rubber IS roofing material. It has been sitting outside in the weather for nearly a year, plus its been hosed down twice and been filled with water twice, so I figure that's about as safe as I can make it.

The main concern I had from reading online is that roofing material has anti-bacterial agents in it, preventing the good bacteria from growing in a pond. On the other hand, this is only one small area of the entire pond, as the river and the large pond are both being lined with known EDPM material. But you guys are all saying there will be no problems with it?

 

[DrDave]

I gave you the website, did you look at the MSDS?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Sorry, I missed the link the first time through. However, looking at it now, I'm not sure what you want me to look at? This appear to be a paid-service site, and even if I grabbed a trial account, I don't know what I'm looking for. I'm a computer tech, not a chemical engineer.

 

[fishin4cars]

I've read of problems occuring with non-EPDM liners on other forums, also did some research when I was looking for liners and you will get mixed opinions. I'm one for better safe than sorry. It doesn't save any money if you have to pull it and start over. but if others have used it and it's rinsed it's one of those deals where you have to use your better judgement. Might try placing some in water and look for any residue and film coming from it, IF that looks ok, can you get a hold of a cheap fish to use to see if it is chemically safe. We have mosquito fish and Mollies that grow wild here that I have used for testing ponds in the past. If they can make it for 48-72 hours in there with no ill effects then I think you should be able to over come the bacterial issue with a good Filtration unit/filter.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

No problems on the water residue... Even from the first time I filled the pond, there was no sign of any chemicals in the water.

Filtration is also not a problem. I've got 100 gallons of biofilter, pre-seeded by cycling on the old pond for several weeks. The new small pond is only roughly 60 gallons, so running one 55-gal barrel on it is giving me 50/50 filter volume.

Cheap fish, that's an easy one. I have rosy-red minnows and a pile of baby goldfish from last year's offspring. They were intended to be the first inhabitants of the new pond anyway. I figured moving them 10 feet from one body of water to another, when the water conditions should be identical, would provide the least amount of stress and show right off if there were any problems with the new pond.

I guess all I can do is designate some sacrificial fish and see what happens. I've not seen anything to give me concern over the liner, and once I'm finished this will actually only be holding less than 1/10th of the total water volume, so chances are pretty good that it won't cause any issues.