Just got a second hand 220 litre fibreglass pond. The previous owner painted it black (with pond safe paint) but it's peeling off. It was very hard removing the paint and I've only scraped a very small amount off. The paint has a rubbery texture on it and is elastic.

The pond now is being filled with bleach solution and I'm leaving it overnight.

Any ideas on how to scrape the paint off easily? Or maybe it is better to paint over it again? The inside pond surface is not even/smooth (peeling paint, etc) so i dunno if it's ok to paint over a rough surface.

Nobody has any ideas?
I think the paint wasn't really a paint, but a sealant of some sort. I'm gonna go to a hardware store today and have a look if they sell some blue pond sealant

Hey Riz

Sounds like you could try some adehesive remover or a plastic razor blade to get the rest of the paint off.

I don't know that I would paint right over whats there eiter, It could very well end up bubbling and not sticking to the exsiting paint.

Yeah that's my concern also. The "paint" is not really paint though, it's kinda like pond membrane. I'll ask the ppl in the hardware store

Went to the hardware store, bought a blue pond membrane paint, and painted the first coat on it

Unpainted. u can see the black paint flaking off


Painted will apply the 2nd coat tonite, then wait 7 days before putting the fish in lol

Wow, that looks really nice! I like the shape, too. Where did you manage to find that?

Thx jsrtist. I got the pond secondhand, but new ones shaped like this is sold almost everywhere

Here's a pic after the 2nd coat is applied, much nicer blue

WOW, Cleaned up nice Riz

Can't wait for you to get that all filled up with fishy's!! whooohooo.

Thx Dells

Can't wait to transfer the fishies there and give them lots of sun (and algae!). Gotta wait 7 days till the paint is safe for holding water.

What are you going to be putting in there Riz?

Oh man 7 more day's! Bummer. Geeeez I'll have to have some patience for once.

It might not need to be 7 days cos the weather's been pretty hot and the paint will likely to dry much quicker.

I'm gonna put my 3 ranchus, the black moor, and the big fantail in there, then I might move the 2 smaller fantails and the pearlie from the tank to the smaller pond, rendering me tankless but then i dunno what to do with my 2 bristles. I might put them in the new pond and put a divider

Wow Riz - that blue is just so perdy

I can wait to see it when your fish go in... I've got some 1 week old fry in a green water tub on my balcony and from the same batch of eggs, 2 in an 8 gal tank (managed to scrounge one up). And i'm sure my fry in the tub are growing faster than the pip squeaks i have in the 8 gal

Are you going to dif your pond in or leave it above ground?

U shoulda transfer the 2 fry in the 8 gal to the greenwater tub then it's unfair to them

Im actually gonna raise it a few cms above ground so that I can suck the water out using plain old hose when changing water.

U know why I chose blue? Cos i want that "show" feel

LOL It looks just like those show tubs!!

And such a nice shape - fits nicely in about any corner! Cool find, Riz, I never see anything like that around here anyplace...

Thx guys 4 more days to go

I can't wait to see the pics Riz. I just love your experiments

Tell me, when setting up a greenwater tub, it's best to have no substrate in it yes? I can't remember where I read it but without filtration, gravel will just house too much bacteria - is this true?

It's BEST to have no substrate, but u can have gravel if u want to. The greenwater will establish quicker than the bacteria if done correctly, and the bacteria in the gravel will have no chance of establishing. But having gravel will mean all the dead algae is trapped in it, making the tub/tank a pain in the rear to clean. Nattviska will confirm about that

Lol thanks Riz. I have a small patch of gravel for a couple of plants but I think i'm stuck with it considering i can hardly see the pip-squeaks that live within. They are definitely bigger than my guys in the 8 gallon though so I might get them into the tub and hope for the best

Hey Jen I'd love to see the pip-squeaks u keep talking bout them but no photos

Riz, I need to pop in here to say that that looks great!

Lucky you.

Cheers mate!

The directions says that I need to wait 7 days before I put in water if the temperature is 25C. It is now 5 days but the temperature has always been in the high 30s during those 5 days. Do u think it's safe if I put the water in now?

Ok I'm gonna bleach the pond now It's been 6 days and the searing heat ought to have the paint cured by now. I'm gonna put the fish in after the pond dries out

ok I've done bleaching it

I've put about 10 litres of water into the pond, put some bleach in (about 500 ml) then got the sides scrubbed using the bleach water, dump the bleach water out, then rinse and rinse and rinse and rinse and rinse using a garden hose . Then I laid it out under the hot sun and now I'm waiting for it to dry completely. That should do it, rite?

If nobody reply, I'm still getting the fish in there

So, any fish in yet? I am excited to see how its all set up....

For pics of the tub with fish in it (and a new tank also) go to this thread:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=43687