Liner ponds leak, concrete ponds leach. Fish get diseases if they are not eaten first. Algae are a constant problem. And what about mosquitoes and West or East Nile Virus?
Ponds are high maintenance, so do I get a pressurized bead bio-filter? Do I get an up-flow filter or down-flow filter? Or a side-flow? How about a waterfall? Bio-falls? Pondless falls? Liner fall? Concrete fall?
I had a pond once, and you could not see the fish for the algae. Someone said to use algaecide, and somebody else said to get a U.V. Someone said to get more plants, and someone else said I had too many fish for the size of my pond. No problem...a crane ate half of them and last month a raccoon ate the rest.
Someone said I need a scarecrow sprinkler or a pond net. I asked, What for? I don't have any fish, only lots of mosquitoes. So someone else said, buy some mosquito fish, you can get them free from the Department of Fish and Game. I got the mosquito fish, and my sump pump that the liner guy installed in my liner pond ate all my mosquito fish.
My pump was plugged with mosquito larvae and dead mosquito fish. Someone said I could scrape them off the pump screen with a kitchen knife. That worked well, but I accidentally stabbed the liner. I Googled leaky liner and found someone who calls himself The Fall Guy. He said I should get rid of my sump pump and liner and install a concrete and rebar pond with bottom drains and a high-performance, low-energy centrifugal pump, a pressurized back-flushable filter, a U.V. light, and an electronic auto-fill system.
He said that, unlike liners that have no warranty against acts of nature, concrete and rebar ponds which are built and sealed properly will last for decades. Plus, with the proper design and equipment, they will be next to maintenance-free.
I said, okay!
It cost me 20 percent more to do all this than what the original liner pond cost me to be installed.