Jimbooo's Vision 450 Journal

[jimbooo]

Hi Gang,

Well here i am on day one of a long awaited project. apparently my Vision 450 will arrive on a delivery van all the way from Liverpool sometime between 1200 and 1800 today.

so far i have spent £55 on 3 juwel backing tiles and a tube of silicon. plus £630 for the tank and stand from here http/www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/erol.html#19972X0

on the shopping list is the following

- twin T5 ballast and tubes
- additional external filter
- 5 bags of ecocomplete
- bag of play sand (split substrate)
- some kind of PVC strip (like a giant ruler??) to divide the substrate
- one mega piece of wood
- multiple socket extension lead with timers
- co2 tubing (got reg, diffuser and FE already)

plants are not finalised yet, aiming for foreground of play sand (off set to the left), glosso or HC carpet in front mid ground to the edge of the ecocomplete. anubias (plenty of) on the wood and various red stems in the background.

50 - 100 cardinals (depending on the look of the shoal as i go along, 15 at a time)
my plec from the rio180
6 sterbai corys from the 180 plus 4 more mates for the group
6 discus as long as i can find some euro bred hard water tolerant specimens.

i'm taking this slowly to get everything just right. i rushed into the 180 and paid the price later on.

as they dropped the last one on loading the lorry fingers crossed this one arrives on schedule.

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right then. that's one busy day over with, the tank arrived at 2pm. the driver wasn't insured to lift it so jacked up the pallet on a trolley, lowered down his tail lift and promptly dumped it on my driveway. after very helpfully asking how the hell i was going to get that in the house on my own he was off on his way chuckling to himself. not to worry i thought I'll just leave it there and wait till the neighbors get home and I'll beg some muscle....then the rain came down. Somehow i manage to heave it inside, more dragging than lifting (thank god for the pallet).

After 30 mins of fighting with the flat pack stand it was up.

then the misses popped home from work and offered her help lifting the tank in place. blimey that was nerve racking. another second and it would have dropped this thing weighs a ton.

i really am pleased i stuck with Juwel i know under it all it's a chipboard stand and mainstream all-in-one tank but it does look good. i was also pleasantly surprised that it came with the new T5 lights.

i have now fitted the backing tiles and am ready to start buying all the other stuff. it may take a while though as I'm a bit skint till end of October. hopefully I'll get substrate and wood next week but the plants etc will have to wait for now. i don't want to half do it and cut corners so it will be worthwhile waiting a bit. plus i need to eat in the meantime.

excuse the cardboard, one of the tiles just doesn't want to stick, it' not flat so kept popping out on one side.

good night all.

 

[George Farmer]

Nice job so far mate.

Interesting you opted for the Juwel backing.

Will you be supplementing the Juwel internal filter? Discus are messy feeders....

 

[madgap]

Nice job so far mate.

Interesting you opted for the Juwel backing.

Will you be supplementing the Juwel internal filter? Discus are messy feeders....

Shopping list, he mentions an external filter.

 

[jimbooo]

i like the backing TBH i know others opt for single colour backing sheets etc but i like watching shrimp climb all over it etc.. i like the texture it gives to the back wall as well.

external on the cards - not sure what yet though. discus are a few months away so no rush.

 

[nry]

You people who are allowed big tanks make me jealous

 

[RadaR]

Yeah boi! Looking forward to this tank's development, James. Looks mighty fine so far.

 

[George Farmer]

i like the backing TBH i know others opt for single colour backing sheets etc but i like watching shrimp climb all over it etc.. i like the texture it gives to the back wall as well.

external on the cards - not sure what yet though. discus are a few months away so no rush.

Cool.

What are the supplied T5 lights like? I understand Juwel have made their own T5 tubes with unique sizes so you can't fit generic types into the Juwel ballast. At least they have a half decent spectrum range I suppose...

What CO2 diffuser are you using?

I look forward to seeing this one develop. Nice to have so much room to play with eh?

 

[SuperColey1]

Ooh Jimboo nice new toy to play with.

Although not a fan of bowfronts or the fake background I'm sure with your talents that you'll mae it look good.

With the lights I can definately reccommend the HO T5s from AE.

Got my pair last night for my 33USG and although I have slagged pink lights off for a long long time for the awful look they give the tank, The 'Spectrum Gro' (Lamp has Plant Growth printed on it) is a lot more subtle and doesn't look so pink!! I actually quite like it and WOW the fish look damned good. I have mixed mine with a daylight so 2 hot5s on their own in the hood.

Am really jealous of people with big tanks at the moment but I am saving up the £600 for the Fluval Osaka 320 that I posted a pic of on UKAPS, so I will have to admire other peoples for a long time yet. lol

Looking forward to seeing pics of it ready to go and in action.

Andy

 

[jimbooo]

i like the backing TBH i know others opt for single colour backing sheets etc but i like watching shrimp climb all over it etc.. i like the texture it gives to the back wall as well.

external on the cards - not sure what yet though. discus are a few months away so no rush.

Cool.

What are the supplied T5 lights like? I understand Juwel have made their own T5 tubes with unique sizes so you can't fit generic types into the Juwel ballast. At least they have a half decent spectrum range I suppose...

What CO2 diffuser are you using?

I look forward to seeing this one develop. Nice to have so much room to play with eh?

i didn't realise the T5's were a unique fitment, doesn't matter anyway as i will add 2 more soon from an arcadia ballast. the supplied tubes are nature (4100K) and Day (9000K). all i can say is they are bloody bright. way brighter than my 4 T8's on the rio 180 combined. with 4 T5's on there i will have to set the timers so they are not all on in the evening, i will have a headache in 30 mins otherwise, the glare it rather ridiculous. lol

diffuser is the rhinox 2000, may go for ada though as IMO the rhinox is just as crap as the bottom of the line ones. i cannot get bubbles to come from the whole disk. it is in the 180 at present (at work) but even at 5bps it still shoots up to the surface and does not create mist. i have done the bleach thing 4 times and no difference. any thoughts on this as i'm fed up with it and the tank is suffering BBA due to low co2 even though i am pumping loads in.

aquaessentials have been no help at all and i was rather dissapointed with the reply to my query about it. so i wont be spending any more with them unless i have to through limited options. ebay is my new supplier. i'm now an ebay addict lol.

it really is massive, i need to stand on a chair to touch the rear bottom and even then my armpit is right against the front glass lol. i cant wait to get some decent red stems in there the extra growing room should provide some pleasing results. thats the plan anyway.

Radar + nry thanks. the trick is to show the misses it in the shop (make sure it's a big store) then when they see it at home and protest that it's way too big for the room you can reply "well you did see it in the store love, tough luck now it's here and not going anywhere." (reciting last nights conversation lol)

 

[mlawson]

Great, I've been waiting for this journal for a long time.

I'm sure it will be ace!

 

[SuperColey1]

The Rhinox 2000 os supposed to be for 20-40gallons anyway isn't it?

I though the Rhinox 5000 was for big tanks.

As for the bubbles thing Jim, I don't worry about the mist thing. It does it for a few hours after bleaching and then returns to the edge of the disk bubbles. I tend to just look at the drop checker in the opposite corner and see it is green so doesn't bother me the bubbles are coming from edge and still getting to the surface a little as it must be working to send the drop checker limeade colour.

I have 2 2000s (I swap each fortnight and give them a full day in bleach followed by a full day in dechlor water starting 2 days before it is going to go in)

That is unless you are after the aesthetics of the mist production. lol.

Rhinox 5000 diffusor below confirms the 40G limit of the2000
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rhinox-5000-Co2-diff...VQQcmdZViewItem.

Hope this helps with this little problem.

Andy

 

[john starkey]

Hi Jimboo, on the subject of the diffs i use a Rhinox 5000, and it does the job perfectly in fact i have two so when one wants cleaning i just swap to the clean one and and away you go and you can clean the other at your leasure, goog luck with your tank i am sure it will be a great success regards john.

 

[jimbooo]

thanks guys

the 2000 was bought for the 180 i was just going to use that temporarily until i decided what to buy. i must be honest that i have not got a drop checker at present as i have run out of denerrle refils. i must buy some generic stuff soon, i'll be ordering plenty of stuff soon so wll add it onto the list. my worry is that my plants are suffering especially anubias with bba. usually down to co2 issues. it is set to 1.5 bps 24/7 as it is in my office (not far, same water) and i cant adjust overnight etc.. i had it set at the same rate with the dennerle flipper diffuser and did not have the same algae issues.

i think i will go for an ADA beetle what the hell it should last for ages if i look after it. (shh dont tell the misses)

 

[SuperColey1]

I'd still buy a cheap glass drop checker and some 4dKH (or make it yourself)

Must be cheaper than buying refills. (and looks great alongside the rest of the glassware.

Andy

 

[jimbooo]

yeah will do mate. just been on AE looking at the beetle 40D and there is another worth consiering, the "pollen glass large 30D". same price as the beetle. any idea which is better for a 100G. the "PGL" says up to 90G so close enough but the beetle does not specify. any thoughts?

for ease because it's rather late!