Aqua One Regency 120 Discussion

[Schmill]

I've just bought a Regency 120 too, and started the cycling yesterday.

Quick question, I see your temps vary quite a lot... what is your thermostat set at? (I assume you have the Aqua One 300W heater that comes with the tank). I have had quite a few problems keeping the temperature stable (on my third heater at the moment - don't ask).

Sounds like you HAVE had a few thermometer issues
I am running the same one, and to be honest have not had any problems with it at all, it could be perhaps with where you have sited it and how?
Mine is vertical and about 1-2 inches in from the right hand side at the back, and my filter inlet is at the back left of the tank. I did have the duckbill type attachment fitted with water coming in and travelling from left to right across the back of the tank which created a clockwise flow in the tank, however when I recently got the replacement tank I changed to using the spray bar (underwater) at the rear of the tank, (mainly because it was going to be a pain to use the duckbill with the new tank construction).
Also consider where you have your ordinary thermometer (if you have one?), I have mine about mid-water at the back left of the tank so hopefully measuring water temperature as it approaches the filter inlet.
I the reasons my temperature seems to flucuate in the log are as follows:

• Increase Temperature for bacteria cycle
  Originally I had my temperature set to 25ish deg. C, but was told the bacteria flourish better at higher temps, so turned it up to 30ish.
  
• 100% water changes
  Due to various issues I've had to do THREE 100% water changes so far, and my fresh water goes in at about 12-15 deg. C (being Winter). This does seem to knock the filter back a bit but thats the way it is. the heater then usually seems to get this back to the correct temperature over 24hrs or so.
  
• Temperature Decrease for qualifying week
  When my cycle originally finished, I decreased the temp from the 'bacteria' level of 30ish deg. C, down to the 'fish' level of 25ish deg. C. Of course that was before I had the otehr problems which meant I had to start cycling again - lol
  
• Replacement Tank
  Yup, I had to get a replacement tank from Aqua One as my first one had dodgy sealing around the hood, meaning that the condensation dripped down the outside of the tank. they were very good about it and sent a replacement, but that did mean a complete strip down, and 100% water change. during the stripping and refilling time though I did keep the filter running with a bucket of tank water, (just put the inlet and outlet in the bucket), over the duration, and that seemed to minimise the effect

Now that I am qualifying again, if I get good results for a few days I shall wind the temperature back down to the 'fish' level again

So have you found that the temperature your thermostat is set to on the heater is pretty close to your thermometer reading?

Currently my heater is set to 30C, which keeps the water (well my thermometer) at a fairly stable 26C. Before anyone suggests a dodgy thermometer, my teacher brother pinched borrowed two thermometers from his school, and they both married up with the readings from the existing thermometer.

Yeah, although the heaters are a bit weird, in that I've found if you have the '28' in the little window, then (for my tank at least) it will get the water to 28, but the red 'bar' on the heater only reaches as far as '26'. To be honest I don't think the actual setting matters too much, as long as you know what 'offset' you get between your heater and your thermometer. If that offset changes, then I'd worry about the heater

 

[Schmill]

Hope you don't mind me putting these here, if so yell and I'll remove them

Tank Detail Shots:

Top Left:

Top Right:

T5 Sticker:

Top Without Hood:

Top With Hood:

Overall View:

 

[Schmill]

Thanks for the detail shots Stubedoo, (can I just call you Stu now PLEASE) - lol

The reason I asked for them previously was because I had always wondered about the 'large' cutouts in the back of the hood of the tank. In fact in the first week of owning the tank I rang Aqua One and asked about them, and was told that yes, they cut the holes so that if you use the tank as a marine tank you can fit skimmers etc.

However when my replacement tank turned up last weekend it was different. Here are some shots for comparison

First tank cutouts:

Second Tank Cutouts:

Same as yours

Slight size differences there me thinks!

Also the bracing:

First Tank Bracing:

Second Tank Bracing:

Not sure how well it shows in these pics, but in the first one the front-to-back braces are UNDER the braces that run across the front and the back from left-to-right. When this tank didn't have problems I was considering making a sliding glass cover to sit on the front and back ledges to reduce evaporation. I'm now glad I didn't because in the replacement tank the front-to-back braces are on TOP of the front and back ledges, meaning any cover glass I had made wouldn't now fit

Heres a shot of mine from the front at the moment. It's not very tidy though as I am waiting to get my plants before laying the ornaments out properly, (and photo is a bit blurry being on my phone!)

At the moment there is a lot of the 'surface' visible, but I think that is because I've overfilled the tank on the last fillup I'm hoping that if I don't fill it as high next time then it won't 'reveal' so much of the inside of the hood.

Finally you had some questions about heater settings and thermometer readings etc. In the photo above you might just about be able to make out the heater in the back right corner of the tank, and my thermometer is about halfway up on the back left corner of the tank.
The heater is set like this at the moment (due to cycling):

So that is the red block fully coloured in next to the 28 marker.

The thermometer at the other end of the tank is reading 28 deg. C

I think there is a fair bit of interpretation involved when working out what you have set these heaters to though. The Aquarium Systems Visi-Therm in my 60L tank is much easier to set to a desired temperature, but a lot more difficult to actually rotate the adjuster on, so they've all got their positives and negatives

 

[stubedoo]

Good idea on starting the new thread, and yes you can call me Stu.

Well I'm glad to hear I didn't get the older version of the tank. Those cutouts at the back look huge. At first I would of thought they would be great for messing around with pipes, leads, plugs etc, as the smaller cutouts can make it a lot more fiddly, but in the long run that would be a major downside. I came across someone moaning about the size of the cutouts on another forum, and I wondered what they were going on about.

Interestingly when we bought our tank, there was a significant price increase just before we purchased. We went to the shop on a Monday and our favourite was the Regency 120 (although we only saw a smaller version in the store), but we had a few others in mind, so we decided to think about it for a few days. We went back on the Thursday (so 3 days later), having decided to go for the Regency 120 only to be told the prices on all Aqua One stock had gone up 15% , apparently due to the exchange rate (weak pound).

We wanted to make sure we weren't being ripped off, so came home and phoned round other suppliers but all of them said they had increased their prices on their Aqua One tanks, some by 30%! We contemplated going for a cheaper tank, but in the end decided we didn't want to settle for second best so stumped up the extra cash and ordered from the orignial place.

The point to my ramblings, is I wonder whether the price increase was due (at least partly) to a refresh/upgrade of the stock list. It seems strange for prices to go up, normally the longer you wait the cheaper it gets. Maybe Aqua One used the arrival of 'newer' models to re-price their stock list. Or maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better about it.

Out of interest what did you mean when you said:

I changed to using the spray bar (underwater) at the rear of the tank, (mainly because it was going to be a pain to use the duckbill with the new tank construction).

I don't understand why using the duckbill over the spray bar would be a pain.

Finally to thermometers / temperature. As you know I'm now on my third Aqua One heater. The first I took back to the shop and they replaced it, the current want I got sent direct from Aqua One after phoning them about my problems (the upside being I have got 2 heaters now - one backup). Basically I struggled with both to get the heaters to maintain a temp above 24C. When I phoned them they couldn't understand why I was having the problem. I now have the current one set at the same level as yours in the picture (which incidentally I'd call 30C, as that is what it says, but your right it is a bit ambiguous), and it is maintaining the tank at a solid 26/27C, which I'm a lot happier about. I think I'll turn it up a few degrees later, and see what happens.

Phew... I think that is everything.

 

[Schmill]

Re the cutouts, yeah, when the new tank arrived it was a bit more fiddly to fit the pipes etc because of the smaller cutouts (especially as all my pipes were already pushed together, and primed with water ), but I think it is better The large cutouts on the first tank actually allowed quite a bit of 'light spillage' onto the wall behind. It probably wouldn't bother most people, but the tank is in our living room and watching the TV at night the tank gave the wall quite a glow, (until the lights went out of course!)

It is an interesting point that the prices have increased, (as if they weren't high enough already for these tanks!), they say it's due to a weak pound, but that makes me wonder if we will see equal price drops when (oh when!) the pound recovers.... I think not.

Out of interest what did you mean when you said:

I changed to using the spray bar (underwater) at the rear of the tank, (mainly because it was going to be a pain to use the duckbill with the new tank construction).

I don't understand why using the duckbill over the spray bar would be a pain.

Ok, this is going to take some explaining

Firstly the filter 'setup' book that came with my filter said that on the filter outlet side, (ie. that putting water INTO the tank), that the 'walking stick' should be positioned with the long section on the outside, and the short section on the inside of the tank. To that I then connected an elbow and the duckbill piece and all was good & happy with the world.
HOWEVER, if you look in my pictures of the back cut-outs, and the bracings on the first tank, you might be able to make out that the rear pane of glass on the tank is actually about an inch shorter than that of the front and sides, and it was this tank that I cut all my hoses etc to.
When the replacement tank turned up, my filter hoses are now a bit 'tighter' as they have an extra inch or so of glass that the 'walking sticks' have to hook over. Also this extra height of glass at the back now meant that rather than my duckbill being just in the surface of the water it was raised an inch higher, and now clashed with the braces in the new tank. The spray bar I was able to fit at a slight angle to 'tuck' it under the first spray bar.
At some point I might turn the walking stick around, but I'll have to get some replacement pipes first as it's now already cut and pushed onto the 'long' side of the walking stick (as for the first tank), so there is no way it will reach the short 'leg' of it

All been a bit of a headache to be honest! Even this replacement tank is not 'perfect' as the front of the hood has been sealed on witha slight bow in it, but with all the hassle of changing everything over again I think I'll just sort this out myself at some point, it's good enough for now!

Out of interest what filter did you get with your tank? The Aquis 1200, or the Advance 1250?

 

[stubedoo]

Ah okay I see. When we put the filter together I remember reading that you could use the long or short stick included or something like that. We were looking round for the extra stick, but I guess it meant you could swap it round. It said the longer stick is for deeper tanks, so I guess with the 'newer' style it is the only option for the duck outlet.

It was the Advance 1250 that came with our tank. I'm assuming you have the same one because I vaguely remember reading something about the misleading labelling of the box (up to 250litres).

One other minor issue we have is the corners of the flappy lids have a habit of curling up at the ends, which also lets out light in the dark. (This was worse when one of the plastic bits - that slots into the lights bracket thing - was broken, so it didn't hook in properly. We've since had a replacement). We've overcome that problem by placing some large pebbles on each corner.

Blimey if anyone who is thinking of getting a Regency 120 and stumble across this thread, they will be put right off! The tank is really nice though, and I'm pleased with it, but then I should hope so given how much it cost.

 

[Schmill]

Aha ok, I got the Aquis 1200 with my tank and I'm now having a horrible feeling it is not up to cycling a full 300L tank, (mosey on over to my thread for details on why ), but I shall let you know, perhaps it's just ANOTHER hiccup...

I know what you mean about this thread and people who 'browse' it though. I can only echo your own comments in that they are truely nice tanks, and from my experience there customer service is REALLY good. They answer the phone almost as fast as my wife, and are prompt with resolving any issues

 

[stubedoo]

Aha ok, I got the Aquis 1200 with my tank and I'm now having a horrible feeling it is not up to cycling a full 300L tank, (mosey on over to my thread for details on why ), but I shall let you know, perhaps it's just ANOTHER hiccup...

I know what you mean about this thread and people who 'browse' it though. I can only echo your own comments in that they are truely nice tanks, and from my experience there customer service is REALLY good. They answer the phone almost as fast as my wife, and are prompt with resolving any issues

Well I'm unsure what the difference is between the Aquis 1200 and the Advance 1250, but what I do know is that the Advance 1250 also says 'up to 250 litres' on the box. Bit strange they label it in such a way and then add it to the package of their so called 'premium range' tank. I'm currently of the opinion, 'oh, it'll be fine', hopefully I'm right.

 

[Schmill]

Yup, I'm of that opinion too, and will be happy when that last 0.25 of nitrIte finally kicks the bucket - lol