Nano Adventures Part 2 ( Or How I Let My Tank Go And Started Again.)

[mutantbigman2000]

Ok so here goes *big intake of breath.

For those who are relatively new to the forum my name is Adam. I was active on here about 2 years ago. My tank at the time was a juwel trigon 190.

For those who knew me back then, hello again.

Let me fill in the gaps.

About 18 months ago I was diagnosed with 'moderately severe depression' oh lucky me. This had several severe effects on my life. My relationship fell apart soon after the birth of my 2nd beautiful son. Full downward spiral ensues and a pretty rough year follows. Life is being pieced back together on a weekly basis and my relationship with my boys is fantastic. They are my rock.

During the low times I lost interest in most things. Hobbies, pastimes socializing and my beloved reef tank.

So fast forward to now and I'm back on here feeling very enthusiastic about my tank again.

Last week I was in an lfs (rose cottage koi centre, Spalding) when I spot a juwel lido 120 in a dark wood finish. After a few days of thought my credit card led me back to the store and forced me to remember its pin number.

And so it starts again.

If anyone is interested I will post the details of my set up at a later point as it is rather late now.

I sincerely hope my return is a welcome one and I look forward to sharing old and new experiences with you all.

Adam.

 

[PaBucsFan]

Looking forward to hearing/reading about it as I am about to embark on a nano tank setup once I have the proper funds in place. Glad to hear you are doing much better!

 

[bae1994]

looking forward to the progress and you just informed me of a new fish shop near me thanks

 

[mutantbigman2000]

Morning and thanks for the replies.

For koi and pond supplies they are very good. They don't carry any other fish if you were expecting that.

How local to Spalding are you?

 

[Smurf]

I'm also pondering returning to the salty side but being put off by the "little friends" that can come uninvited Oh, and the possibility of leaks & salt creep on everything.... Need some encouragement I think so will be watching with interest....

Best of Luck!
Daisy x

 

[seffieuk]

Oh Adam my old mucker, it is wonderful to see you back here again, we have missed you and your sense of humour

Please tell us every small detail with loads of photos, I'm so looking forward to your tank but more importanly for me and others (who will realise in time)i'm also looking forward to your input to the forum.

On a personal note, depression really is an awful condition which many people find diffiuclt to understand, I'm just so glad you are on the road to recovery and its great to hear about your boys

Seffie x

 

[mutantbigman2000]

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Glad to be back and hope I can dispense some wisdom while I'm here.

So let's start with the tank. A brand new juwel lido 120.
An ex display model. Unused and was only the display model.
Bit of a bargain for £190.

Or so I thought. Got the tank home and into position. Turned the lights on.
All working fine until after about 30 mins the lights switched themselves off and still remain off.
I'm hoping on a replacement by my lfs but if not a little paper in the bigman pocket will keep me sweet.

Anyone who had the misfortune of reading any of my previous threads will know I am a big supporter of solid state lighting. So the current plan is to swap all the lighting for the tmc aquaray units from my old tank.

 

[DigitalStorm]

Hi Adam,

I didnt have the pleasure of reading about your previous tank.

However, I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on this one!

On the flipside - good to hear you're coming out the other side with everything in check! My kids are my rocks too.

(Also have 2 boys, but they have a little baby sister to play with)

 

[mutantbigman2000]

Hello to you digital storm. I'll try and find a link to my old post for you.



So lets continue the lighting saga.

With the juwel hi lites t5 unit out of the way and in transit i asked my friend to fabricate me a new tank top. (not a sleeveless jumper) This he does in record time as i have told him that if he does this he can have some free time under the needle to finish his japanese sleeve off.

I now have an 8mm sheet of plastic ready to attatch the 4 aquaray strips to ( more of these in a minute). The size of the plastic is absolutely spot on and other than a few nip and tucks i need to make to accomodate wiring its perfect.

I remove the aquarays from my trigon and its then that i notice that one has a failed led and another is completely trashed due to a perished seal. Luckily these units have a five year return to base warranty. One phone call to tmc later and a very helpful guy has given me the details i need to return. Also told that the turn around time is the same day. Very chuffed with this. Tmc customer service has been nothing short of exemplary. So tomorrow these units will fly away home temperarily.

With my remaining aquarays i can get the top pre drilled and semi installed.

Anybody who hasn't witness the effect of the aquaray marine blue on a tank needs to check it out. By far the best actinic ive seen or used.

More details to follow.

 

[mutantbigman2000]

is everyone on holiday or is this how it is now?

Wot no banter?

 

[bae1994]

sounds good but were are the progression pictures that will get people replying more

 

[mutantbigman2000]

ok. for the picture fiends i will begin the photo updates later today.

but you all better get involved or else!

 

[Craig B]

Hi Adam,

Looking forward to reading more from you, Have you seen the AquaRay Tile units in action? I really like the idea of these but TMC's recommendation is 4 of them on a 2x2x2 reef (my next tank hopefully)which price wise is pretty scary

Anyway's welcome back and enjoy you stay

 

[seffieuk]

Ehhhhh, something is missing, now let me think..................ah yes, the blooming photos, get a wiggle on man!!!

Seffie x

 

[Donya]

Anyone who had the misfortune of reading any of my previous threads will know I am a big supporter of solid state lighting.

I am becoming a fan of this kind of lighting too. Looking forward to seeing how the project develops.