Mortar in pond

[OberonUK]

New pond dug, lined and filled with water. Today we have laid a brick (drive paving) edging which has been set on a mortar base. Two questions: any tips on how to point the gaps between the bricks where they slightly overhang the pool? And inevitably some of the mortar has ended up in the pool - I assume the lime is not good but is it necessary to empty the pond and do I need to seal the bricks and mortar prior to adding any fish/plants? Thanks in advance

[goodlife]

No sealing the bricks or mortar as your water level will be where the liner ends..
I've got overhanging slabs on mine..and as I pointed them I kept small piece of board underneath to catch any 'droppings'..but you still get them.
It would be good if your pond is not fully filled when you do the pointing..
and I used hands not trowel to it..just smoothed the top with tools to look part.
It is not necessary to chance water..but it depends how much you dropped in...if not much..I would not worry...but you do need to let the water stand good week at least until putting plants in..and another week until fish..so the water can 'naturalize' and be 'conditioned' for the fish. It helps if you can get cup full or two of water from established pond to get all necessary 'little things' in..and speed the naturalisation..

[OberonUK]

Thanks - I'm doing the final pointing today so will try to do as you suggest. Yes, I know to be patient before adding plants and fish although I do have some biological booster which should help speed maturation. I asked about sealing as inevitably there will be some run-off into the pond over the edging when it rains, but I'll read into your comments that this is likely to have very little impact. Thanks for the help

[Ishard]

You only need to stand the water for 24 hours IF you haven't got any dechlorinator. There is no point in doing it for longer.

DO NOT add anything from someones Else's pond as you can import illnesses, bacteria and bugs.

Before you add plants dip them in potassium permanganate to clean them.

What is important is to add fish to the pond slowly, one or two at a time otherwise your water parameters will go sky high and make the fish ill.

Mortar in the pond makes the water more alkali which can be harmfull to the fish so I would suggest you get water parameter kits to check exactly how much lime has gone into the water column.


Good luck with your pond 

[OberonUK]

In the end I took out enough water to expose the planting shelf and then pointed the overhangs using a fairly stiff mixture which bound really well. The few smatterings that did drop went on the shelf and in the heat of yesterday soon dried and could be brushed away. Pond now re-filled and looking good. I'll post some photos when it is a bit more complete. I have added dechlorinator so may even get it planted today. Already have a few plants bought mail-order and living in a big tub (They came much quicker than I expected!) so they would be better off in the pond where they will be less susceptible to temperature fluctuations - Don't want to cook them!

I've also got some filter booster which I think is supposed to go in the same time as the fish, according to the instructions. I guess it needs some fish poo to start working on so no point in adding it sooner.

Will be sensible when adding fish. I think the initial rule is about 1" per square foot of surface area - although some sources say double that. I'll err on the cautious though and only add a couple initially. Besides, I want to see if the cats pay them any attention before I add too many!

[Andy H]

If its Koi then 200gals per inch of fish without filtration!!!

Oooops! my pond needs to be bigger! 63 fish 1730gals ranging from 5" to 2ft!

Parameters ok and a few double handfulls of food going in each day.