I have to ask Great but when you dug out the pond did you under- line it? we 'puddled' the clay then covered the bottom & sides with builders sand firmed and shaped to compact it and the put old carpet/underlay on the sand and finally the waterproof pond liner -- a lot of work all to stop the ground sinking or stones poking through and piercing the liner
P S I diddn't understand about the bath

We didnt use a pond liner Pamq, we made the pond out of an old tin bath we found in the garden many years ago . We dug a hole and put the tin bath in the hole. We then put a plastic liner inside the tin bath.

I would imagine your liner was not a new one and is leaking... You really would do better to follow Pamg's suggestion for the pond Great.

You may have water between the liner and the bath and this will have to be sorted or it will lead to problem as it will lift the liner more and more.
The clear plastic wont last the sun will ruin it. If it were me I would put the water into a paddling pool or bin to conserve it, lift the clear liner out and reline with the correct liner for the job they come with a 10 or 20 year guarantee. Then put the water back in.

sorry great you cant use builders polythene as its not uv safe as a lot of actual cheap liners arnt as it goes . the builders polythene isnt made to be its for going under cement wear it will never see the sun . if i was you i would go in the free adds and look out for a small moulded pond as they have the shallow areas and the deeper parts and also when you dig the hole tamp the soil down and use an old cheap nylon carpet to stop flints comming through though you take any obvious stones out as you tamp or stamp on the soil. it wont cost you much i doubt and you have most of the hole dug.i cant though see how the water can get lower than the old bath if it doesnt leek as thats not possible . id say youve weakend the side and like drc726 sais the water has got between the liner and the bath.i would at least take it out and start again ok love xx . i wish i could be there and help you .

I wish to Nosey, ive just had a look in the pond and have seen the first signs of life. Little black wriggly things. Been on the pond conservation website and cant find out what they are. Theres loads of them. Very, tiny all wriggerling around near the surface.
Could I take the plastic out and leave the bath without a liner/. The bath sat in my garden for 19 years and the only part that got rusty was the handles??.

yes you could . what your seeing is the lava of mosquitos breathing out of there bums believe it or not . this will incouradge the higher animals to your pond.as long as the bath is not leaking. i just wonder what heavy metal the bath is made of as a lot are poison to smaller inverts . the bath will of bean galvanised i just wonder what was under the galvernising . what id do is stick with the bath untill you can get hold of an old moulded pond second hand . you just want a 6 foot one . they have shelves and different depths and are perfect for what you want . mite be worth putting that in a wanted part of your local free adds .the plastic is pointless realy unless you want a bog garden .

Oh great!!!!! I might be posioning the wildlife. I feel so upset now. It all seems to be going wrong. I could scream. Me and my big ideas. Im going to a wildlife centre tomoorow come rain or shine or the thunder and lightening coming from the USA!!!! So hope they have some thing to cheer me up. Maybe I should have bought a barrel and made a pond in that. I thought the tin bath would have been perfect.

It will all be fine Great, really it will. Just save the water and reline your bath and put the water back. If you measure the width, length, and depth of the bath they will work out how much liner you need plus over lap.
We all have problems when we start, I wrote on here before how mine was punctured and had to be relined when it was new.

we all have problems Great, if its not one thing its a greatbig heron eating my fish!!-- even after all the trouble we went to one side is higher than the other-- you can't win ! just keep plodding on and you'll get there, if you have to remove everything make sure you keep the water an a bit of the sludge -- it will have lots of goodies for the wildlife-- Good luck and let us know how you get on

Would it be better for me to get a butan liner? what thickness though?

butil is like rubber inner tube and the very best . cheap liners are like polythene . i think especialy as its small its worth doing it right infact it is anyway . doing this cheap is false econamy

I agree, cheap will cost you in the end more than a good one to start with

butyl bye nature is thick you cant buy thin butyl liner great honest and for your pond it will cost not much more than 50- 70 quid . trouble is unless its sold as a set size liner its sold as a linear metre excuse my spelling meaning you buy it per metre and however wide the role is it came of of . personaly i still would get a ready moulded small pond out the free adds as there always fairly tough from a thick floppy plastic to fibreglass thats thick and very rigid . i guess a liner is easier to put in though and you can have it the size shape and depth you want .how you order your butyl liner the right size is to measure its deepest place . say thats 24" . then you measure its full length say thats 48" and the same with the width witch we can call 36" ok . now it doesnt matter how shallow your pond mite be at the edges or how deep unless its more than 24" ofcourse. you times the lengt5h bye the deepest part for the length you order and you do the same for your width. then add 12" for over hang or to tuck under grass etc out of site.this means for a pond of 4 feet long thats 2 feet deep and 3 feet wide you need to order a liner thats 108" long bye 96" wide it sounds a lot but its the best and only way of getting it right every time. id still look for a second hand liner maybe or look in the back of a practical fishkeeper for a cheaper liner from the wholesaler.like i said rake and pick out the stones wear your going to have it.use a spirit level on a strate bit of wood so you get the water at the top of your liner all round though id hide it with natural stones or plants etc. its horrible seeing liner though the inverts and frogs wont care lol .get a bag of sharp sand from b & Q .damp it and tamp it all in place and use ya measure .then get ya liner in the middle and put the hose in unless you have some saved rain water but dont worry if not . id do like pamg sais and save some of the old ponds goo and water to get it living quicker .get ya shoes and sock of and gently push the edges of the liner into place as the water rises and your going to have creases that you can keep neater bye doing this. then it should be perfect . the only way to stop herons is to stop them seeing your pond . i had a dog that must of nearly caught one in my pond as i found tail feathers and a bit of blood . they are very shy and tend to come down first thing like 4am in the summer . not a problem with a natural pond so much thow frogs are on the menu.good luck and dont give up.your bath will do till you do this to keep your wildlife and plants there and ok for now.let me know how you get on ok . take care bye for now xx .

have redun ur pond now as it looks ok

wear did you see it cristina ?

Blimmy Nosey that is a lot of work. Don;t know if my poor old heart is up to it. Didnt think a liner would cost sooo much. Well as the saying goes if a jobs worth doing its worth doing well. We dont have any herons around here the biggest bird we have are crows groan. Did catch a cat drinking out of the pond tonight though lol. Thanks for taking the time to write all this nosey. I really appreciate it. Giving up is not in my nature, once I get over being upset and throwing my toys out of the pram because its all going wrong. Lets see what happens tomorrow.

I think you will pay about £16 with a 25 year guarantee and you dont need a liner Great. Thats 3m by 3m with 1 meter depth Look at Pondkeeper.co.uk for one seller

sounds great drc726 i dont think its butyl but its the next best thing real its going to last a lot longer they just got to cover thereselves. result greedy and dont give in . uou like it and your help realy helps nature. i admire you i think its nice to put something back asswell as enjoyment .

Thanks NP. A Butyl liner same size is £49 but I dont think this bath needs it as I think Flexiliner will do the job very well.
Note to Great in my last bit I meant to say you dont need an under liner just a liner.

i agree with you drc726

erm Im a bit lost guys sorry I ve been out in the sun all day lol DRC are you saying I could buy a flexiliner for £16 and that would be all I need??

yes £16 sorted with a 25 year garuntee sorted .xx

Yes great that will do it, on the site I mentioned they have a size calculator too.

Aw thanks for that x
Visited the wildlife trust centre today and totally fell in love with their pond. might sign up to be a volenteer as they work with people with special needs and I work with children with special needs so I could combine 2 passions of mine. Just done a blog about it actually.

Thats a great idea Great ponds are addictive!

brilliant sounds right up your street great killed 2 birds with one stone xx