Portable plastered polystyrene pond projects

This is an idea I had a long time ago, and I've moved on to experimenting and making things.
The first little thing I did was simply plaster a polystyrene box with hypertufa and paint the inside with black pond paint-

pretty uninteresting I know, but what if I made a much bigger one with built in plumbing I thought. So I got a couple of big bits of insulation poly, cut them up and glued them together like this-

I melted channels into the foam for a bottom drain and some pipes and valves. Its to be hooked up to mains water, and its going to be used to irrigate a little vege patch.
I wrapped it in welded wire, which I separated from the foam with coreflute strips.

Then I plastered It with cement render

I wrapped it in plastic to keep it moist while the cement cured. Then I painted it with liquid rubber pond paint and it was finished



I wasn't happy with it for a number of reasons;
1. I shouldn't have cheaped out and used thin poly pipe. I should have spent a whole lot more and used bigger-bore pvc pipe.
2. I shouldn't have used to thinner layers of poly glued together in a herring bond pattern. I should have just used one thicker piece, and glued it together like a big aquarium.
3. Wrapping it in welded wire took more work than the rest of the build put together.
4. The coreflute strips made the wire too far away from the poly, resulting in the render being about 12mm thick. While its extremely strong, the pond weighs nearly 90kg. Its heavier than it needs to be.

For the next one I worked out the maximum size pond I could make out of 2400x1200x70mm piece of polystyrene foam

I came up with a better plumbing system, so that old pond water from the bottom of the pond is flushed into the garden by new clean water entering the surface of the pond

This time I used a combination of 32mm and 40mm pvc pipe. I tested for leaks with the help of some extra pipe, which is sticking up for the middle of the pond in the next picture


The plumbing parts cost more than all the other materials put together!

I wrapped it in chicken wire instead of welded wire this time. I imagined it would be easier to work with.... I never want to work with chicken wire ever again:swear:
I didn't take any pictures of that stage, I was in a pretty pooy mood.

I had a hard time rendering this one because its rained nearly every single day over here all winter Buts its done now so I will post a pick tomorrow.

This is my latest idea

Its an all in one aquaponic pond, made from polystyrene and rectangular pvc down pipe.
It will have a compartmentalised filtration system built into the pond wall. The top edge of the pond will be nutrient film technique channels for growing vegetables in.
This one will be plastered with fibre reinforced render, with fiberglass reinforced edges.

But before I start this project I'm going to have to finish my outdoor frog enclosure. But that is another thread..

Here it is plastered

I had to patch it because the render was damaged by rain. Hopefully it will even out and won't be noticeable when its all cured.
This one has thinner render on its sides and on the inside bottom. It has thicker render on its base and on the top for extra strength. This pond holds about a hundred more litres than the first one, but only weighs two thirds as much when empty.
After its cured I will fill it to soak out excess salts, then I will paint it like the first one.

clgkag said:

I like it. I may try this when we relandscape the backyard. Should allow for a decent sized pond without too much cost.

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I wouldn't make too big a pond with this method. I worked out if I used two 2400x1200x70mm foam sheets I could make a pond that holds a little over 800ltrs. All the materials would cost a bit over $200nz.

Ozymandias said:

looks good i really like the aquaponic aspect of this build should be nteresting. btw why use plaster? i thought plaster breaks down with water?

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Yeah the aquaponic aspect is what I'm most interested in. Unfortunatly in NZ we don't have any freshwater fish that can be legally grown for food. So I'll have to use goldfish.(lots of bones, but they taste alright:goldfish
I've also made a little vertical aquaponic herb garden which I will post in here in the next few days.
btw 'plaster' is the term kiwis use for render or cement render. Its the same stuff as mortar.

The Zigman said:

pretty friggin cool!!

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ta

XanAvaloni said:

ohbly, I love them all but to tell the truth the first one is my favorite. It looks like it could have sat in a Roman courtyard about 2k years ago.

What's your recipe for hypertufa? And has anybody else ever heard of "black pond paint"? Or is that an Aussie thing? Does it have waterproofing qualities or was it purely esthetic, to have the inside black?

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I like the look of the hypertufa too, but it has very little strength compared to mortar. I guess if you plastered it with mortar first, then plastered it with a top coat of hypertufa on the outside and top, that would work. I might try that with the next one.
I think I used two parts peat, one part sand, and one part cement. I've seen it made with perlite instead of sand, and I think that looks better.
I used this to paint ithttp://www.gripset.com/construction/product.php?productid=4
I've used other brands before but this stuff was the cheapest. Its basically the same stuff as rubber pond liner, but in liquid form.