Aquascape products

[Lesley Gilks]

Hi...not been here for a while as other things took hold but I'm starting to think about re-doing the pond. I'd like to put in a bog filter but looking at the prices for the Aquascape centipedes and aquablocs etc, the price is putting me off. I think I can replicate it using drainage pipes at a fraction of the cost but is it safe for the fish?

 

[bagsmom]

Addy has an entire, expansive, and wonderful blog "page" devoted to a DIY bog. It is great and super helpful. LONG! You can spend lots of worthwhile time reading, reading, reading and you'll learn a lot. The answer to your question is YES!

 

[Lesley Gilks]

Addy has an entire, expansive, and wonderful blog "page" devoted to a DIY bog. It is great and super helpful. LONG! You can spend lots of worthwhile time reading, reading, reading and you'll learn a lot. The answer to your question is YES!

YES!!! I've found some products that are slotted so with a bit of ingenuity, I think I can do it. I'll check out the page. Thank you.

 

[Jhn]

You can build the bog addy’s way with just slotted pipes and pea gravel. There is also ways to make your own centipede and snorkel, depending on the number of aqua blocks you need there are deals to be had. Just bought 30 of the large ones for like $28 each, thanks to @GBBUDD for helping find that deal even though he ended up not getting any.

 

[GBBUDD]

You can build the bog addy’s way with just slotted pipes and pea gravel. There is also ways to make your own centipede and snorkel, depending on the number of aqua blocks you need there are deals to be had. Just bought 30 of the large ones for like $28 each, thanks to @GBBUDD for helping find that deal even though he ended up not getting any.

Curious have you seen both the aqublocks and now the easy pro blocks are they similar? do you like them ?
Thanks for the plug a lot of folks find me to be the big bad boggie man because i do not keep my mouth shut.... when i see wrong i call a spade a spade..

 

[GBBUDD]

YES!!! I've found some products that are slotted so with a bit of ingenuity, I think I can do it. I'll check out the page. Thank you.

The slotted your referring to is it good for drinking water? polypropylene? or is it made for sewer or drainage. the difference is one leaches oils into the water will this hurt your fish i can't say i used double wall Culvert pipe and made my own slots it's 24" a heck of a lot bigger then needed but i look at it this way i have two settling chambers . The culvert then a layer of baseball size stone then the aquablocks i don't think the centipede is crucial but when you get into 8" and larger water pipe they are not cheap either.

 

[Jhn]

Curious have you seen both the aqublocks and now the easy pro blocks are they similar? do you like them ?
Thanks for the plug a lot of folks find me to be the big bad boggie man because i do not keep my mouth shut.... when i see wrong i call a spade a spade..

the easy pro blocks aren’t quite as sturdy in the way they lock together and the plastic webbing has bigger holes. The easy pro have plastic pins that line up and snap into a corresponding hole, which do loosen as I was moving them around. If I snatch on them I can pull them back apart Once in place and with rock on top of them they seem to be fine, I just put a layer of 3-8” rock over them. These still look to be plenty sturdy and I am not concerned about them holding the weight.

the aquablocks have the slide locking system, so they lock together a little better, and the webbing holes are fairly small, could probably get away with just putting 3/4” pea gravel on top or definitely just a layer of golf ball size rock, so this brand would let you skip putting the larger initial layer of rocks.

If I could get both for the same price would probably go with the aqua blocks, just seem a little bit sturdier built, but for half the price I would go with the easy pro, they are good enough For the job they are doing.

will take a pic of the bog at the moment like I said it has just a layer of large rock that I had from a job. Also, can take a pic of the pieces of the easy pro blocks to better show what I am talking about, sTill have 4 blocks left over.

 

[Lesley Gilks]

The slotted your referring to is it good for drinking water? polypropylene? or is it made for sewer or drainage. the difference is one leaches oils into the water will this hurt your fish i can't say i used double wall Culvert pipe and made my own slots it's 24" a heck of a lot bigger then needed but i look at it this way i have two settling chambers . The culvert then a layer of baseball size stone then the aquablocks i don't think the centipede is crucial but when you get into 8" and larger water pipe they are not cheap either.

The pipes are sewerage/drainage pipes that are 6 m long, 110 mm and have slots throughout the length. They go together with a twist and lock system so thought they would be easy to put together. I've seen some advice online that any plastic that is rated 2 or 5 is safe as it is "food safe" and will not leach chemicals into the water. I've emailed the company as it didn't say on the site what it is made of. I've seen a couple of YouTube videos (from different sources), that use the white smaller radius pipes which may be also a choice, although I thought the larger diameter pipe would be better. One source also suggested only having a 12" layer of 3/8 size gravel. This would make my life easier as there would be less prep, but I'd rather do it right and get a good result that will be easy to maintain and give me good water quality. I have actually just found a site that does "storm crates" at the fraction of the price of the Aqua blocs so again will look into whether it will be safe. They are made of polypropylene and hold 300 litres.

 

[GBBUDD]

polypropylene

is what is used for storing drinking water so that's what your looking for. I doubt sewer grade plastics would be that bad for fish as the environmentalist would go ape if the discharge was unsafe for the environment.

 

[Lesley Gilks]

I have also found this product (not the slotted pipe that I was referring to), that I think could do the job nicely. https://www.drainagesuperstore.co.u...tenuation-crate-infiltration-tunnel-graf.html They also do soak away crates that are very similar to the Aquablocs that are a fraction of the cost. £42.35 inc VAT as apposed to £88.00. If they have a recycling symbol of 2 or 5, then they should be fish safe. I'm waiting to hear back from them.

 

[GBBUDD]

if you look they also have what they afree calling a rain box go with a water pipe put the hole facing up into the rain box lots of holes or cuts

 

[Lesley Gilks]

I've heard back from the manufacturer and they say it is not suitable as it's designed to take surface water away. Personally, I can't see much of a difference between that and the centipede but at least I know I can use PVC piping.

 

[GBBUDD]

I've heard back from the manufacturer and they say it is not suitable as it's designed to take surface water away. Personally, I can't see much of a difference between that and the centipede but at least I know I can use PVC piping.

check on the price of double walled plastic culvert pipe

 

[Lesley Gilks]

Thank you. I found slotted and perforated 110 mm pipe made in PVC-u, so I think this is a good alternative.

 

[GBBUDD]

Pvc is fine for drinking water / fish