Gideon,

Here is the message that I wrote to Lynn about two years about concerning
curing concrete for a fish ponds. HTH.

Quote:

According the Sunset Book of Garden Pools, Fountains, and Waterfalls,
concrete ponds can be cured by filling the pond and let it set for 24 hours,
then drain the pool and then fill again. Repeat this four times and after
refilling it let is stand for 7 days. Then rinse and refill and let stand
for another 24 hours before adding fish. Before I added the fish I would
test water quality, which would give you an idea of its pH, etc.

You can treat with muriatic acid, but this is usually done when you plan to
paint the concrete surface. If you want to use the muriatic acid you mix 1
part acid with two parts tap water in a bucket. A gallon of this solution
should cover about 300-500 square feet. With the appropriate protective
wear you scrub this on to the concrete surface and stop when the area being
worked stops bubbling. Flush the acid from the pool. Then you can paint.

The resulting surface of the pool is dictated by the mixture of sand, its
size and quality and the cement that you use. Like I said, painting is only
necessary if you plan to paint the pond and want a specific color showing up
through the water.

Go to you local library and you should be able to find some books on ponds
and it will tell you what you need to know.

Unquote.

In your case the muriatic acid technique is probably the way to go. Make
sure you reinforce the concrete.

Tom L.L.
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"Hal" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 06 Mar 2004 19:34:01 GMT, Gideon Singer
wrote:

I am in the process of building a water fall for my pond which has
fish in it. I know you need to cure the cement before you can allow
water to flow over it into the pond. How long does the curing process
need to be before it is no longer a danger to the fish?
To email replace orchids with shaw

What kind of cement? I used a sand mix to make a waterfall liner and
coated it with GE Silicon caulk to keep it from leaking water through
the porous cement.

Regards,

Hal