Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm looking for advice/tips on making a concrete pond for my caiman enclosure. The enclosure is already constructed and the pond I had initially installed (out of plywood/epoxy) leaked from day one so I was foreced to use a liner until the upcoming spring/summer when I can move the caimans outside and I'll try my hand at cementing the pond. The whole area measures roughly 6X6X1.5 and is framed well enough to handle the weight/pressure of the concrte itself as well as the water. From what I understand, mixing and applying the concrete itself isn't too difficult of a task, I'm just looking for suggestions as to which brand to purchase (I'll be buying materials from home depot), how much sand/gravel to mix in, if at all, should I line the walls with the reinforcing mesh? The pond won't be exposed to any extreme weather and the bottom, underneath the wood, is insulated (I'm in Ontario, so the winters get fairly cold). I also plan to paint the pond with epoxy for looks, seal the cement and hopefully make it slightly more smooth so the caimans don't scrape their feet. The front of the enclosure also has a sheet of glass for viewing that extends a few inches below the surface of the water, so my concrete would come to the top of the glass and I would silicone it to ensure it did not leak(another use for the epoxy). Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm pretty handy when it comes to workign with wood and wiring but have very little experience with masonry.

Matt

Check out the forums at monsterfiskeepers.com

Here is a good place to start

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=67

Be sure to look at the extraordinary tank in the link below, too.

Most extreme home aquarium?

Ah good thinking.. I've seen some of the material on monsterfishkeepers.com before but hadn't thought about checking for pond idea. Thanks.
Matt

Check out the back issues of Reptile magazine. A few months ago some guy in Europe laid out his plans and tips on a very nice indoor enclosure. It didnt seem to difficult to construct.

Hi there, thanks.. I read that article (if it was the enclosure built out of styrofoam blocks etc.). My enclosure is already built, I just need to fix up the water section.. I wasn't overly fond of that enclosure anyways. It looked nice but wasn't 100% practical looking and the glass must have cost a fortune!

Matt

I see. I read in the OP that you have some construction experience. So this is what I would do:
Make a form out of melamine coated particleboard and pour your 6'X6'X1.5' enclosure about 1" deep. Then reinforce with expanded metal lathe and put another 1' of concrete on top of the metal lathe. I would use "Concrete Counter Mix" but I would imagine any bagged concrete will work. The reason I like the counter mix is because its white and you can polish it to a smooth surface. f you are not sure what consistency to make the cement, you dont want it soupy, but more like soft clay. Use a 2'X4' and "walk" it across your form to make sure everything is level. You can also run a orbital sander (in a bag to keep the soft concrete off of it) along the outside of the form to remove the bubbles that sometimes show in dried concrete.
About 30 minutes after the concrete loses its sheen, hand trowel. then wait another 1/2 hour and trowel again. You can get your surface glass smooth depending on how many times you trowel and wait. Any rough spots can be sanded with 220 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper.
When everything is dry and the way you want it, personally I would stain and seal the new concrete. Staining is optional, but you can do some real awesome colors with a eco friendly stains. The sealer is mandatory and will prevent any leaks. The sealer is a 2 part epoxy.
You can get the sealer at surecretedesign.com.
Good luck

Thanks for this Kachunga.. My pond already has a form made of 3/4" plywood, screwed into my 2X4 frame that makes up the entire enclosure. The epoxy I am familiar with, and have used many times is Bar Rust 235 and have successfully made several plywood non-leaking ponds. I read at some point that the new concrete needs to cure for 30 days before sealing, is this true? My plan is, once the weather is warm enough, to house the pair of caiman in an outdoor, fully enclosed chicken coop (chicken free of course) with a large waterland tub for water. I have worked with and mixed standard thinset mortar and have become pretty skilled at mixing a good enough consistency so that I can apply it to the walls and ceilings of my enclosures, would a similar consistency be what I would want for concrete? Also, when applying the expanded metal lathe, should I just press this into my cement or should it also be screwed down? I'm assuming just press in? Thank you very much for the tips, this will come in very handy. I'm thinking I may want to practice and make a smaller pond before I attempt this one.

Matt

I dont think the concrete has to cure any longer than it takes for it to be dry before you apply a poly sealer. I just looked at a material tech sheet and it didnt say anything about curing.
You can just press the lathe into the wet concrete. No need to screw it in.
Have fun!

check this links..

hope can help

http://lonn.org/ragnar/croc/cage.html

http://lonn.org/ragnar/crocodile-cage/cage.html

cheers

Rick

Thanks Rick, I'll check the URLs out!

Matt