# House bricks



## john arnold (10 Oct 2018)

hello

Im gonna rescape my 240l sometime this year and want a big triangle type design or maybe some kinf of arch so need to build up height, is it ok to use house bricks to build up and then on top nice expensive stones? New clay ones boiled and washed in dechlorinated water first?


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## Onoma1 (10 Oct 2018)

I understand lighter materials may be better. Polystyrene blocks worked for me.


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## john arnold (14 Oct 2018)

Ok thats a thought


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## Carpman (15 Oct 2018)

Lots of folks use lava rock or egg crate/plastic grid with mesh over the top so you can build on it.


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## mort (15 Oct 2018)

I've seen wholesalers use bricks in their filtration system and for fish hideouts, so I wouldn't worry about them. If they are on the bottom of the tank and you don't try and build a massively high wall I don't personally see why they would be a problem at all weight wise. The only thing to consider is they are porous so if you bury them under a lot of substrate you might have problems.


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## john arnold (15 Oct 2018)

I was thinking about 25cm high, Someone said bricks might leach into water also does it mstter if they ars porous as lava rock is porous and two people said use that, bit conflicting this arr


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## zozo (15 Oct 2018)

Panty hose filled with any cheap substrate (Sand, gravel, pumis etc) material available is the next best thing.  You can make any size you like even shape them slightly.. Curved, pancake, ball, long, short.. Name it.

Example


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## mort (16 Oct 2018)

john arnold said:


> I was thinking about 25cm high, Someone said bricks might leach into water also does it mstter if they ars porous as lava rock is porous and two people said use that, bit conflicting this arr



It's only a problem if you bury the rocks. You'll see people have problems with their substrate when they use very deep sections as the water can be devoid of oxygen at the bottom and anaerobic areas can be produce nasty compounds. With a non porous base this isn't a problem.
There is no worries using a porous base provided it still receives oxygen or the plant roots can penetrate down well enough to keep things healthy.


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## Oldguy (16 Oct 2018)

If you want inert bricks consider Victorian/Edwardian terracotta bricks or Engineering Blue bricks, the latter used to be used for the damp course & predate the modern practice of plastic strip. Have heard about some 'commons' failing after a few years under water.


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## john arnold (16 Oct 2018)

zozo said:


> Panty hose filled with any cheap substrate (Sand, gravel, pumis etc) material available is the next best thing.  You can make any size you like even shape them slightly.. Curved, pancake, ball, long, short.. Name it.
> 
> Example


Wow haha that looks really weird but yeah good idea man cheers you may habe the winning method


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## john arnold (16 Oct 2018)

Oldguy said:


> If you want inert bricks consider Victorian/Edwardian terracotta bricks or Engineering Blue bricks, the latter used to be used for the damp course & predate the modern practice of plastic strip. Have heard about some 'commons' failing after a few years under water.



So are engineering blue bricks non porous do you know as im making a high mountain and have been told ill have probs if the bricks are porous


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## john arnold (16 Oct 2018)

Also i take it slate is fine to use and wont change water parameters, its cheap and available at mosr garden centres


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## mort (17 Oct 2018)

john arnold said:


> Also i take it slate is fine to use and wont change water parameters, its cheap and available at mosr garden centres



Slate is good if you can find nice flat pieces for stability. 

You can check for porosity in two simple ways. The first is to put the object in water and see if it gives off any bubbles where the air inside is being replaced by water. The second way if your still not sure is to weigh the object before and after as it gets heavier when the pores are water filled.

Saying that I've seen many people use the substrate in tights method without any problems and likewise with polystyrene  (I just personally prefer something I know won't degrade overtime as I don't rearrange my scape much).


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## john arnold (17 Oct 2018)

mort said:


> Slate is good if you can find nice flat pieces for stability.
> 
> You can check for porosity in two simple ways. The first is to put the object in water and see if it gives off any bubbles where the air inside is being replaced by water. The second way if your still not sure is to weigh the object before and after as it gets heavier when the pores are water filled.
> 
> Saying that I've seen many people use the substrate in tights method without any problems and likewise with polystyrene  (I just personally prefer something I know won't degrade overtime as I don't rearrange my scape much).



Ok ..i want big chunks rather than flat pieces, i see a lot while camping around so gonna pick some free rock up this year
Thanks for advice
Thanks everyone


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## Oldguy (17 Oct 2018)

Engineering Blue bricks are not porous, however some 'blue bricks' are not engineering bricks. They are made to match existing builds and are used with plastic membranes to meet building regs.  Go to a reclamation yard and get  imperial sized bricks, they will be genuine. Metric do exist. However as you say there are lots of granite and slate cobbles out there. Happy hunting.


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## john arnold (17 Oct 2018)

Cheers man im on the hunt now...


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## PARAGUAY (18 Oct 2018)

Inert material is the word here, granite, slate walling stone or cobbles are ok. Most modern quality facing bricks engineering should be ok, I have used them for( Staffordshire Blues in DPCs for older properties)   they are very dense. Easier just to go with slate walling stone IMO


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (3 Nov 2018)

+1 for polystyrene PROVIDED you can weigh it down...


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## Carpman (3 Nov 2018)

Matt @ ScapeEasy said:


> +1 for polystyrene PROVIDED you can weigh it down...



You could silicon multiple layers together then fix to tank with aquarium silicon then shape as needed.


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