OK! Turtles are in the pond and look happy! Both the fish and turtles seem way more happy in their new home with much more room to swim around for them.
Although it was more complicated to keep the filter running while building, I'm glad we did it. The water has not gone through any "green" cycle. Nice and clear... makes it nice to watch the goldfish school around.
It is coming along nicely. We decided to make a small block wall to contain them if they venture beyond the edge of the pond. all we need to do now is just finishing touches with landscape plants and finish hiding the liner here and there.