Curing the Pond
>Curing with a coat of paint
Sealing off the free lime in a new concrete pond with paint is another technique I cannot recommend, although many new water gardeners try it. This, I must say, is much more effective than natural mellowing. For a while water-lilies and goldfish do well enough in a pond so treated.
The bad thing about curing by painting is that the paint does not hold up well. Although I do not paint the inside of my own ponds, I do not urge you against it. If you feel a coat of paint, will make the pond look better, then apply it by all means. But apply it only as a beautification, after the pond has been cured. Paint sticks better and holds up far longer on chemically neutral concrete.
Many pond enthusiasts feel that it is an aesthetic necessity to paint the floor of a pond a dark color for the illusion of depth. A dark floor does give this illusion, and it will also make the pond surface reflect surroundings much more clearly, but painting the floor is not necessary. In the course of a week or so, fine siftings of soil from the planting boxes will have covered the floor and colored it up to suit the most exacting water gardener.
The bad thing about curing by painting is that the paint does not hold up well. Although I do not paint the inside of my own ponds, I do not urge you against it. If you feel a coat of paint, will make the pond look better, then apply it by all means. But apply it only as a beautification, after the pond has been cured. Paint sticks better and holds up far longer on chemically neutral concrete.
Many pond enthusiasts feel that it is an aesthetic necessity to paint the floor of a pond a dark color for the illusion of depth. A dark floor does give this illusion, and it will also make the pond surface reflect surroundings much more clearly, but painting the floor is not necessary. In the course of a week or so, fine siftings of soil from the planting boxes will have covered the floor and colored it up to suit the most exacting water gardener.
Best Curing Treatment We Know
If you will excuse a fellow a certain pride of craftsmanship, I'll describe this particular curing treatment as the best one I know. It is a treatment we developed at the Fisheries, and apparently it has worked perfectly for the hundreds of customers to whom we have recommended it.
1.
Fill the pond to the brim and let it set for five days. 2.
Drain the pond, refill it, and let it set another five days.3.
Drain the pond again.4.
Mix up a solution of 1 quart of ordinary kitchen vinegar and 10 quarts of water.5.
With a stiff brush (an old broom does splendidly) and generous sloshings of the solution, scrub vigorously over every square inch of the pond's inside surface. Mix more solution if you need it. The surfaces may bubble up a bit as the vinegar works on the free lime, but don't worry, it will not weaken the concrete.6. Rinse out the pond with a brisk stream from the garden hose, and it is ready for goldfish and water-lilies.
SUBSEQUENT CURING TREATMENTS
Ordinarily, a sturdy, well-constructed pond needs curing only once, and that is when it is new. However, an extensive job of crack filling, an addition to the pond-anything which brings pond water into contact with an appreciable amount of new concrete-will necessitate another curing.