Curing cement pond

[uklau]

Hi, I'm helping a friend of mine to find the answer for the above mentioned. The pond was built using normal brick & cement used in building construction. It has been more than 3 months & the pH still stays at around 10. How can he cure/treat the pond to make it suitable for fish? Thanks.

[|squee|]

No experience or anything, but perhaps a way will be to drain the pond of water, let it dry out and then coat the insides with a layer of something that seals and is waterproof. Searching around those Homefix shops should bring up a suitable substance for that.

[tawauboy]

cement is alkaline so it is no surprise that the ph value is high.
as |squee| suggested, drain the pond and line it with some sealant or fibre glass lining material. maybe you can check with pond builders.

[uklau]

Thanks for the lead, guys.

[medicineman]

No doubt.. use the sealant/pond paint/pond lining like what they use for koi pond (usually ailable in blue, black and grey). It will seal off the cement, long enough until the pond itself cure properly and no longer leech too much alkaline.

[AquaObsession]

I have seen on other forum people suggesting treating with orange/apple uice, or other kind of fruit juice etc. If I find the information, I will post it here.

[uklau]

Thanks, Medicineman/AquaObsession .

My friend tried using pineapple but didn't seem to work. Just to share with you Tom Barr's advice. Reducing pH will eat away the cement.... So, using any kind of acidic solution may not be a proper way to cure a cement pond.

[grey_fox]

I second medicineman's suggestion. You'll need to seal off the cement surface with fibreglass or some other form of sealent. Either that or its going to be a long process of curing the pond from the leaching alkali.

[catus36]

Use pineapple skin and lots of it.
Fill the entire pond with water and throw in pineapple skin and keep it soak for
1month. It will be better after that.

This is what i do for my pond last time.

Hope it helps.

[Goondoo]

Use pineapple skin and lots of it.
Fill the entire pond with water and throw in pineapple skin and keep it soak for
1month. It will be better after that.

This is what i do for my pond last time.

Hope it helps.

If you can withstand the smell for one month that is....