aquascapes

[bcx400]

My business only averages 3 or 4 ponds a year, and we use the Aquascapes bio-falls, skimmer, and pumps. I went to a local Aquascapes dealer last month to purchase all of the components for a pond job. I had noticed 5 or 6 of the new style aquascape pumps in a pile on the floor. After inquiring about the pumps, I was told they were all returned pumps that had failed (under warranty). The problem (the pump shaft) has supposedly been corrected by the factory in China. With a 2 year warranty, I went ahead and bought the 3000 series pump. No problems yet.

While installing the pond, we couldn't get the bulkhead fitting for the bio-falls to tighten. After applying about 5 foot pounds of torque, the fitting breaks loose from the threads. I called the local dealer again, and he said all of the bulkhead fitting are like this.... try some silicone around the fitting, and the factory in China has corrected the problem. We ended up using an old (5 years plus) bulkhead fitting that worked fine.

So the pond is complete and running. Several days later the customer calls saying the Bio-falls empties within 3 hours when she turns the pond off. I go back and find a check valve that lets water go backwards through the plumbing. Called the local dealer again, and he said to bring the defective check valve back for a replacement. The replacement (and all of his inventory) also allows water to flow backwards. He said they have been having problems with the flapper valve, but the factory in Taiwan has corrected the problem.

Am I the only one having problems with Aquascapes products? Anyone out there using other brands that you are happy with?

[n2h20]

i stay as far away from aquascapes as possible...

[irrigationsup]

edited by moderator

[bcx400]

Just got back from the Penn Atlantic Nursery Trade Show. Lots of other pond supply manufacturers.

Thanks for the link Jason- I will spend some time checking out your site and stoneycreek.

Years ago I used a Cyprio green machine filter, completely buried. I was glad to see this filter still being produced when I was at the PANTS show. Anyone use this filter?

Gotta get away from Aquascapes!

[n2h20]

i use and realy like OASE filters/pressure filters. also savio equipment is good as well.

[jd boy]

i too am getting real tired of having aquascape pumps go bad. they are junk!

[grassredneck]

I saw 2 pumps brought back while I was at a local dealer. They tried the damage control thing and advised the installers are getting something called "Aquabucks" for their trouble when I asked about the pumps.

[JTHutch]

I have only put in 2 Aquascapes ponds both this year and Have had one cord on my pump was cut so it was throwing the breaker. When I called the first person I talked to said they would not replace it. So I called again and the next person would replace it go figure. I still cost me $15 to ship it back to them.

[allinearth]

I had to return every Aquascape pump I put in last year. One pump had to be returned twice. To make it worse I had to pay for shipping. :angry: I used to think Aquascapes was top notch but now I am looking at other suppliers. Could be they are getting too big too fast and not paying enough attention to quality. Bought some underwaterfall lights, put two in and one didn't work right out of the box. Glad I took an extra one that day.

[Sonoran]

Yea, it's easy to rip on Aquascapes. I agree there are some problems there. But, I must say, without the Wittstock's there wouldn't be much of a pond building industry in this country today. Maybe Greg is lucky, maybe smart, probably both, but I for one am thankful for the impact his vision has had on my own business. You know the saying, "a rising tide lifts all ships?" Well, Aquascape Designs was a Tsunami for pond builder's "ships" in the 90's in my opinion. Greg Wittstock is to ponds what Joe Weider is to Bodybuilding, what Vince McMahon is to Pro Wrestling and what Martha Stewart is to... whatever you call what it is she does!

Sure, a lot of my water feature business is dedicated to "fixing" poorly planned out and installed Aquascape ponds, but, what the heck, IT'S BUSINESS! Aquascapes has done more to make people (1) AWARE of ponds and (2) DESIRE ponds than any one or any other company, period. That can only be good for all of us, don't you think? Anyone agree?

[bcx400]

Sonoran- The only contribution Aquascapes gave to the pond-building industry is Marketing, Marketing, and Marketing. There have been many other manufacturers of pond components (better quality and prices IMHO) around long before Aquascapes. Many contractors mistakenly think Aquascapes invented the pond- marketing genius from Wittstock.

I believe Aquascapes has traded their quality control for huge growth. Poor quality materials leads to poor quality installations, and ponds that do not perform up to a customers expectations. How can failing pumps and bad bulkhead fittings make a company look good?

I will probably get bashed for saying this.... But I really hate the volcano-look of a bio-falls and tons of rock spilling down an artificial berm of excavation spoils.

[Dirty Water]

I will probably get bashed for saying this.... But I really hate the volcano-look of a bio-falls and tons of rock spilling down an artificial berm of excavation spoils.

I couldn't agree more, especially when its just sitting around in the middle of a yard.

[sheshovel]

I also agree.Homeowner pond building and professional installations of ponds have been going on for many years before Aquascapes showed up.
There are far superior pumps that's for sure.
I mean..who's eating the labor when you have to go back and fix a leak or pull the pump and replace it? ..
The installer that's who.
It would feel wrong to me to install a new pond then charge my customer for the new pump R&R.
I installed it.... if it does not work I have to eat the labor and time to get one in that works.
So I am going to use reliable pumps and parts in the 1st place.

[Sonoran]

Hmmm, sure, Greg and his Dad (or vice-versa?) did not invent ponds. But like any other good invention, it ain't worth beans without marketing. Like the people I mentioned, he put ponds "on the map". If you look at the NUMBERS: how many people had ponds before the big Aquascape "Revolution" and how many people have ponds now? Before Aquascapes I don't recall EVER seeing a pond being built on TV, do you?

My point is/was I think that while maybe you CAN get better parts from other companies and several other companies have been around longer (heck the guy is only in his 30's), so what? I give credit where credit is due and love him or hate him, it seems that no one can deny his impact on the water garden portion of the landscaping market.

And incidentally, while it's easy to focus on Wittstock's marketing abilities, it it totally off base to say that his success is only about "marketing, marketing, marketing." I never heard of the "one day pond" or "twenty steps, twenty parts" before Aquascapes. No one wrote any book anything like the "Pond Builder's Bible" or his "How to Make Money Building Ponds" book. Who else was travelling the country teaching landscapers how to build ponds with waterfalls ("Build A Pond Day" seminars) before Aquascapes? Who was promoting using flexible spa hose instead of PVC Pipe before Wittstock? How about underlayment instead of carpet and newspaper? How about plant pockets? How about insulation foam, black even, instead of mortar and concrete? Heck, how about pond kits? COMPLETE pond kits! I have a lot of old pond and fish keeping magazines from over the years. None of this stuff was common practice before Aquascapes to my knowledge. And that's only a small, partial list.

You make it sound like if you return to the job to swap-out a pump it will break you! You should be making about two-grand profit in one day installing a pond. If you have to return a month later and spend 11 minutes swapping-out a pump, is that going to totally ruin your profit-margin?

I just don't get all of the Aquascape bashing...

[DUSTYCEDAR]

i like there system and for the most part it has worked well
like anything there is always room for improvement but they have a kit to do it all
as for the pumps could it be a bad batch?

[stoneseller]

Aquascapes certainly offer a conveniant package. You can buy their kits and save a bunch of time versus sourcing around to multiple suppliers. They certainly have done some great marketing, and have made pond installations far easier for the general public and general landscape contractor.

That said, a lot of the strictly pond oriented business folks I have dealt with don't always say the best things about their systems.

My only real grief with the system is the emphasis on gravel bottomed ponds & streams. I sell a heck of a lot of river gravel to folks for this application, but I personally think putting all that loose small rock in the bottom of a pond creates a maintainance nightmare. It cruds up, collects fish $hit & plant debris, and helps contribute to massive algea blooms from all the fertilizer generated as that muck decomposes.

If you are in the pond maintainance business, you can probably make good money doing spring & fall thorough cleanouts. OTOH, if you own your own pond, & service it yourself, the hassle of bi-annual major cleanout is a PITA.

[landscaperbob]

In my opinion you can't beat the vertical mat method of PondSweep versus the horizontal Aquascapes. As far as gravel bottoms stoneseller,with proper plant coverage & filtration you can overpopulate a pond without any maintenance other than normal mat cleaning-as shown in these pics.This is my home pond-installed in 1999 (2,500 gal/4' deep/over 100 fish) & never cleaned.The close up of my big boys shows my riverstone as clean as the day it was installed. I also am not a big fan of the water mountain & try to use grade to my advantage whenever possible.

[n2h20]

I had several AS ponds on my routes and unless they were in the shade and few fish, they were some of my worst ponds. Worst in water quality, worst in algae problems and the rocks all end up in the bottom of the pond within 6 months.
I do agree that Aquascapes helped the pond industry grow to what it is today.
But their product is not very good,
They DO know how to market thats for sure.

[thartz]

Had a build a pond day at my house in feb. 2005 with 21 landscapers present.I've installed 3 kits thus far.My 3000 series pump went bad within 3 months but was replaced for free. I also bought the pond builders bible and have re-read it several times. If you get the proper ecological balance of plant and animal ratios the water stays fairly clean. Yes the volcano look is really fake looking but; if the designer of the pond does it properly you can mask this ( the bible does give suggestions). Is it perfect; no, but it does add a serious amount of fun profit between building the pond and selling lighting systems.I'll stay loyal until someone comes out with an extremely much better product. Their tech support could use some help. They seem to never return calls.

[The Lawn Boy Pro]

Aquascape Designs, Inc. has the right method for getting the job accomplished, but they fail to make lasting, high quality products. Such as their skimmers.... They tend to cave in on the sides after a a few years period. EasyPro (probably aquascapes biggest compeditor) has got the right idea going.

[addinc99]

BcX400, Yes the pressurized filters are very nice. Please keep in mind when picking one of these filters always ask alot of questions about interior design.
Are the filter pads stiff enough to hold many pounds of dirt? Or do they pull away from the sides of the barrel once full? How are the filter pads designed. Porous enough to allow beneficial bacteria to survive and multiply. Are their other sizes of pourous filter padsincluded in the interior assortment? IE: Dirt pad etc. Is the filter easy to clean? Do you have to disconnect the barrel cap to clean completely? Do the filters compress during cleaning? This allows protection of the embedded bacteria without flushing water thru the pads. These are questions to always ask. Stay away from filters with anything other than filter pads. Filter pads offer the most surface space for beneficial bacteria to multiply. Other form of media are just inferior.
Thanks ADDINC99@aol.com

[Turfdude]

We like the savio system. Have had good luck w/ tsunami pumps too.

[ODUrugger]

Years ago I used a Cyprio green machine filter, completely buried. I was glad to see this filter still being produced when I was at the PANTS show. Anyone use this filter?

Gotta get away from Aquascapes!

Yeah... I don't like the Green machines anymore. Constantly replacing the filter foams and cleaning them almost daily in the summers... just bad design. Plus once the sides warp a touch you're S.O.L...

Aquascapes is pretty much low mid-grade pond stuff. Its better that the worst of stuff, but cant really hang with the market and keep costs that low. But they're not trying to put out the best new stuff either. They found a niche where they could offshoot economical stuff that produces reasonably well at first and saturate the market with it. I would never use thier stuff on a job, becuase I would put my companies reputation on the line by gambling on thier product.

[fishinman22487]

I work for a CAC Certified Aquascape Contractor. This summer I went with my boss to Pondemonium, a large gathering of contractors, seminars taking place and waterfall building contest and a lot of fun, in Chicago.

I'm a young guy and this is my 3rd year working in the water garden industry and I ENVY Greg Wittstock in soo many ways. He KNOWS how to run a very succesful company. I think what all the bashing on the forum is about commoditization, for example the PRICE of a kit!! But a company shouldn't sell on price more on the value of the pond and itself....
Ok, im sounding like a salesman in some way i guess.

I attached a pic of me and greg wittstock and my boss on the far right, I think its kinda a bad pic, I've gained some weight since then:p

[ODUrugger]

I think what all the bashing on the forum is about commoditization, for example the PRICE of a kit!! But a company shouldn't sell on price more on the value of the pond and itself....

Exactly... Its a usable product for what you pay for it. I use only high end equipment for the reliability and ease of maintainance. Noone I install a pond for has ever encountered equipment failure or will ever perform any cleaning duties other than backwashing. Using screen or foam media that requires cleaning turns the pond into a chore. Why not pay more up front, get the best equipment out there and NEVER have cleaning duties?

[ODUrugger]

PS- I respect the fact that you are not only sticking up for your company, but also are taking opprotunities to learn as much as you can about your field at such an early age. JT

[fishinman22487]

PS- I respect the fact that you are not only sticking up for your company, but also are taking opprotunities to learn as much as you can about your field at such an early age. JT

Do you have any pics of your ponds that you have installed?

[ODUrugger]

Yeah I take pictures of every job I do. If you want me to post some, it may take a bit, I don't feel like figuring that out right now, and vacation awaits.

[krista]

Call aquascapes directly!!
I never deal with the go between. If you find a problem- they try to fix it or find a solution asap. SOme people dont take proper care of the pumps in winter. That may be an issue too.
Aquascapes is great. Like i said i deal direct.