caiman pond

[arthur boothe]

does anyone know who makes a good above ground pool that can be turned into a caiman pond? i need to make a pond in my garage for the winter months, and i was looking into using above ground pools. any info will help. thanks
arthur

[Mike and Erica @ MotherGecko]

Arthur, I was just curious how large of a pond are you talking about? I made an above ground pond for my turtles which holds about 750 gallons or so and only takesup 6ft X 8ft of space. I basically made a wood barrier, lined it with insulation board, then a pond liner with added filters and fountains. Here are some pics in sequence if you scroll down, unfortunately I cant really post multiple pics in a single thread..... here they go....

This was the simple start.......

[Mike and Erica @ MotherGecko]

Another shot being reinforced and insulated.....

[Mike and Erica @ MotherGecko]

The liner going in with water slowly being added to fill in all spaces.....

[Mike and Erica @ MotherGecko]

Water added with filter and fountains......

[Mike and Erica @ MotherGecko]

The exterior finish to cover the excess liner..... I reinforced it alot more not realizing how much weight it was really holding...

[Mike and Erica @ MotherGecko]

Vegatations and basking spots added.... I traded animals for most of the equipment and only paid about $100 in wood to do the whole thing. It has been up and running for a couple months now with no problems. If you'd like more information feel free to ask....

[arthur boothe]

hey. thanks for the information. im putting a pair of small dwarf caiman in it. do you think that the pond liner will hold them? thanks for the idea, its the best ive heard so far, and seems like its going to be the route i go.
arthur

[Mike and Erica @ MotherGecko]

When you purchase pond liner just make sure not to go with the thinner stuff I think 50-75 mil is best ( don't quote me on mil thickness ). I used cheap foam board to line the wood and bottom to absorb and shock and pad the weight of the contents. I can't stress enough though to reinforce it well. When I first made it I didn't use enough and it actually busted out at 3am in the morning scaring the hell out of us. When I calculated gallons from the size by an average of 8lbs per gallon I realized why I needed more support. I added the support and it has worked like a charm with NO problems whatsoever. I also threw a heating blanket underneath the layer of insulation board to see if it would be a good way to keep the temps from dropping to low in winter, I havent tried this just yet and am curious to how it will work. If you have any other questions feel free to ask anytime.... Mike B.

[Sybella]

Oh WOOOOOOOWWWWW!!! Could you, would you come over and make me one?? Please...grovel, beg, plead...Did I say wow already?? LOL!!

[Mike and Erica @ MotherGecko]

Unfortunately Erica won't let me put a pond in the living room so we are moving to a place with a HUGE backporch so I can add a slightly larger pond! I will post pics of it when completed. I will also be placing both ponds on my site with step by step instructions with the cages I build for my Chams as well. To be honest no one has ever confused me with a carpenter, although most of my projects comeout looking good!