Paul,

It's been a very long time since I've installed a concrete pool, although I understand all of the ones I built are still holding water, even those that are outdoors and experience months of freezing temperatures.

Back then I just used my own custom blend, which I don't remember. I would use portland, sand I sifted myself and some sort of latex additive. If it was a large pool and I had to order a truck I would talk with the company and figure out a blend.

You might go over the Cichlid-Forum and get lost in their articles on DIY backgrounds, etc. There is a wealth of information regarding concrete. Not pools necessarily, but you can read about various cement options. I do think you'll want some of the hydro or plastic cement mixes, preferably without any large chunks of sand.

Make sure you pour the pool all at once and get a consistent thickness. For small pools I think I poured mine at 1.5" thick, making sure the lath was somewhat above the supporting substrate. You really want that concrete to hold onto that lath and this is best achieved by allowing it to ooze through to the other side.

Also, whenever I did pools I made sure to drape plastic over the finished surface so it could cure wet.

Lastly, I found nothing better for troweling a cement pond than a stainless steel bowl with a curved bottom. It was one of those things I tried out of desperation and it worked. I poured a caiman pool once and had a couple of contruction guys helping me on community service. They laughed at me when I handed them bowls but by the end of the project they were believers.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

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