Anyone with information on Aquascape products...waterfall, skimmers, etc.
FXM:alieneyesa:
FXM:alieneyesa:
Aquascape Products
- Thread starter FXM
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They make pretty good products, from my experience. I have one of their bio-falls and just put in one of their skimmers. The pond store I buy my bacteria from uses them exclusively in their ponds and they always look awesome. Oh, and they have detailed instructions for install as well.
My pond started as an Aquascape kit and I can't recommend them. Part of the problem was that the original owner didn't follow all the directions, but then, part of the problem was that he did follow some of them (shallow areas for the herons to feed, flat gravel bottom to trap debris, no bottom drain). Please DO NOT follow all of Aquascape's recommendations. Instead, participate in the forums for a while and learn what has worked for other people and what has not. Aquascape's system makes an extremely high maintenance fish pond. This is not so much because of the equipment itself as what they'd have you do with it.
After 4 or 5 years, shifting clay had bent my skimmer box out of shape. The face plate on the skimmer so badly warped it would have been easier to fabricate a new one than make the old one seal. The aluminum hardware was all but gone (perhaps something to do with the bizzare chemicals the previous owner dumped in to clean the pond up for me). Too much got past the leaf net anyway. Even if it wasn't so damned flimsy, I couldn't recommend the skimmer. I replaced it with a Savio, and there is a huge difference in quality and engineering.
The wier (aquascape calls it a snout) on the waterfall was also badly warped, perhaps because it was tightened too far, perhaps because it wasn't that sturdy to begin with. Hardware was eaten away here too. I replaced it with stainless and used a ton of silicone to get the warped part of the snout to seal. Other than that, and that it doesn't have as much room for filter media as I'd like, it's not so bad.
Surprisingly, the pump is still going after seven years.
After 4 or 5 years, shifting clay had bent my skimmer box out of shape. The face plate on the skimmer so badly warped it would have been easier to fabricate a new one than make the old one seal. The aluminum hardware was all but gone (perhaps something to do with the bizzare chemicals the previous owner dumped in to clean the pond up for me). Too much got past the leaf net anyway. Even if it wasn't so damned flimsy, I couldn't recommend the skimmer. I replaced it with a Savio, and there is a huge difference in quality and engineering.
The wier (aquascape calls it a snout) on the waterfall was also badly warped, perhaps because it was tightened too far, perhaps because it wasn't that sturdy to begin with. Hardware was eaten away here too. I replaced it with stainless and used a ton of silicone to get the warped part of the snout to seal. Other than that, and that it doesn't have as much room for filter media as I'd like, it's not so bad.
Surprisingly, the pump is still going after seven years.
I am having an authorized Aquascape Dealer/Contractor install my pond. It will be 8x11. I was going to do it myself, but there is currently a "Bluestone" pond in the area now that will need to be replaced.
FXM:fish:
FXM:fish:
They are pretty at first but just wait to see how much work you have to do later to keep them that way,
Aquascape's approach to ponds isn't very practical. Just search the forums a bit and you'll see what I mean.FXM said:
As DoDad says, these ponds are pretty at first, but quickly become maintenance nightmares. And once those pretty little stones are full of muck, they won't be pretty anymore. If you tell the contractor not to use gravel, you'll have a much easier time keeping the pond clean. Yes, the small stones do provide surface area for bacteria, but the debris trapped more than offsets this benefit. I know only one person who has a gravel bottomed pond and doesn't have trouble with it, and even she doesn't recommend it.
Also, if you're going to have more than minnows, make sure the pond deep enough. Shallow ponds are great for growing algae and feeding herons, but not so good for fish. Aquascape tends toward a watergarden approach, hence your dealer might not be aware of what's best for fish. Most fishkeepers will tell you the minimum depth for all areas of the pond is 3 feet, even in warm climates. Less than this invites predators
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
they put stone everywhere in the pond, because they will happily get paid to clean the pond when you tire of trying to do it!!
exactly right koiguy. They WANT it to bnbe a nightmare so they create a dependency so that you have to come back to them to solve problems. Ka-ching!
why do you have to have stone on the bottom at all?
Have you already contracted with this aquascape contractor? signed anything? paid a deposit?
If not you could shop around a bit more. i'm not sure what a "bluestone" pond is, but its removal almost sounds like a separate project. you could pay to have that done and then build the new one yourself.
It seems after some reading that the "ideal" fish pond is about 4ft-6 ft deep with steep sides all around (predator protection). I'd hazard to say most are made with hi-grade flexible liners, but some folks use cement block or concrete carefully treated with fish safe special paint or sealers to prevent water pH problems. these treatments/paints are very expensive. In the bottom of this pond are one or two below bottom drains that preferably are aerated. these bottom drains gravity feed to a settling tank that then transitions to a biofilter to house your beneficial bacteria. that or still another tank feeds your pump which is an out of water model (less energy usage, easier maintenance). the bottom of the pond is left free of rocks or other obstacles to make clean up easier. and the return from your pump will have a UV light to help with floating algae accumulations.
there are numerous variations and modifications that all work pretty well. Add in a waterfall. Choose to use submersible pumps. A skimmer plumbed in with your filter system. Aerators. Specially plumbed pump returns to create circular flow. these are just a few of literally hundreds. it's part of what makes the hobby so much fun
but some things are VIP and no rocks on the bottom is one of them. bottom drains are another, but while the best is below the liner, one company makes a surface placed bottom drain as a retrofit that works pretty well.
you are on the right site for lots of help and advice. i am pretty new to the hobby, but some of these folks have been at it for years. a very friendly and knowledgeable group.
If not you could shop around a bit more. i'm not sure what a "bluestone" pond is, but its removal almost sounds like a separate project. you could pay to have that done and then build the new one yourself.
It seems after some reading that the "ideal" fish pond is about 4ft-6 ft deep with steep sides all around (predator protection). I'd hazard to say most are made with hi-grade flexible liners, but some folks use cement block or concrete carefully treated with fish safe special paint or sealers to prevent water pH problems. these treatments/paints are very expensive. In the bottom of this pond are one or two below bottom drains that preferably are aerated. these bottom drains gravity feed to a settling tank that then transitions to a biofilter to house your beneficial bacteria. that or still another tank feeds your pump which is an out of water model (less energy usage, easier maintenance). the bottom of the pond is left free of rocks or other obstacles to make clean up easier. and the return from your pump will have a UV light to help with floating algae accumulations.
there are numerous variations and modifications that all work pretty well. Add in a waterfall. Choose to use submersible pumps. A skimmer plumbed in with your filter system. Aerators. Specially plumbed pump returns to create circular flow. these are just a few of literally hundreds. it's part of what makes the hobby so much fun
but some things are VIP and no rocks on the bottom is one of them. bottom drains are another, but while the best is below the liner, one company makes a surface placed bottom drain as a retrofit that works pretty well.
you are on the right site for lots of help and advice. i am pretty new to the hobby, but some of these folks have been at it for years. a very friendly and knowledgeable group.
there are a number of advantages. 1) help circulate water at the bottom of the pond. (you could accomplish some of this with a submersible pump); 2) pull a great deal of the debris and fish waste off the bottom into the biofilter where it can be processed (this part is not so good for a submersible pump, but many are made to handle solids up to a certain size); 3) provide for aeration of the bottom water which in summer has a pretty low DO without circulation; 4) temperature modification if needed, e.g. pull cooler water off the bottom in summer and by turning off the BD leaving the warmer water on the bottom in winter. What am I missing?