T5 lights on a Rena Classic

[Nav]

I have a Rena Aqualife Classic 150x50, 480L. I believe this is the same tank as one of Sanj's. I find the 4 x 30 Watt lights suplied with it are nowhere enough for decent plant growth. Like Sanj has done, I am thinking of adding some T5 lights to it. What I had in mind was the Arcadia Electronic twin lamp controller with IP67 endcaps which is designed to drive 2 T5 tubes. The version I am thinking of is the 54 Watt one for 46" tubes. The trouble is, although I have a 48" tank, it is metric and therefore more like 47 inches. I was wondering wether 46" tubes with IP67 endcaps would fit into my tank ?

If this won't fit I will have to downgrade to the 39 Watt 34" lights ? In that event, would I be able to use the 54 Watt controller or would I have to buy a 39 Watt controller ?

 

[Sanj]

Ah you bugger, you have the bigger version (drools with envy).

Although you say it is 150cm thats near 60" not 48". Maybe you do have the 380 if its same length as mine (48").

Well anyway what you are thinking is exactly what i was thinking and the aracdia twin units will work fine. The T5 tubes for 48" aquariums are around 46.5" and they do fit into the aquarium (just).

However when I ordered(mail order) the Aracadia units are a bit misleading because I received the IP64 T5 end caps not the IP67 which it implies you will receive. I wasnt to worried though becasue the IP64 looked less bulky and my prime concern was that they would fit into the aquarium.

The leads on the Aracadia units are reasonably long, so I have placed on T5 at the front and one at the back with the 4xT8s in the middle. Oh and the plants are growing well. They are also given co2 and JBL Aqua basis under the gravel.

One thing though, as far as I am aware Aracadiaonly had Marine T5 tubes. I ordered my freshwater tubes from Anglia aquatics; Aqua flora is specific for Plant growth (peaks in red and blue). A good combination is one Aqua fora wit han Aqua blue (60:40 daylight 6000k with actinic 20,000k) i think it gives a beeter visual effect, although i got two Aquafloras. Biolight is just daylight 6000k which is fine for freshwater.

Another place is STM website and they do a different type of freshwater T5 combination: Osram Lumilux 860 with another tube 960.

Maybe your LFS has T5 freshwater tubes?

I got my Arcadia twin 54w unit from Aquarium supertore (online) they were £54.99 (total including delivery). Only problem was i couldnt get the guy to deliver on a specific day. Other websites do them also. STM do the the Arcadia units and the y can deliver on a specified weekday. I have an order from STM coming on tuesday for my Juwel Rio 400 . I am having an Issue with my Juwel at the moment, bracer which prevent bowing have snapped

Rena aquarium definatley seem more sturdy. Although both are german makes and germans are renownded for quality, Rena seem better made.

Hope this helps.

 

[Nav]

Sanj, thanks for your prompt and informative reply, it was very useful to me !

Firstly, drool no more, mate !! I made a mistake in my post. I do NOT have the 150cm tank. I DO have the 120cm 380L tank. I must have been hallucinating when I wrote my last post - or thinking wishfully !!

I'm glad to hear that the T5 tubes for 48" aquariums fit into your tank (just). How much room was left ? Probably measured in millimetres ! Do you reckon it would have still fit if you had got the IP67 end-caps ? I would be very gratefull if you could get your ruler out and measure how much room is left. The reason I am so keen on IP67 end-caps is that, as you know, the tank doesn't have a cover glass and I am worried about water condensing on them.

I was originally thinking of getting the Arcadia twin T5 controller from Aquarium Superstore but, in view of the fact they don't have IP67 end-caps, I have decided to order the IP67 version from my LFS. I am having to pay dearly for the pleasure though - the LFS charges the full RRP of £69.99 rather than the £54.99 that Aquarium Superstores does ! By the way, I do agree that Aquarium Superstore's website is misleading - they definitely give the impression that the controllers come with IP67's.

I am glad to hear from you that the Arcadia leads are long enough. This was a concern of mine and was one of the reasons I chose Arcadia. Most of the other manufacturers leads are way too short. I am also glad to hear that your plants are growing well. I've always been nuts about trying to get the perfect planted tank only to find that my plants are growing poorly and all that grows well is brown algae !

About the tubes; my LFS doesn't have Freshwater T5's. I realised that Arcadia didn't have any Freshwater T5's either so I though I would use their Marine White tube. Although I know it is designed for Marine tanks, I figured that as it seems to be quite broad in it's light spectrum (I inferred this from the fact it gives out White light ! ) it should have fairly large amounts of red and blue light. I had a quick look on the Anglia Aquatics and STM websites and was unable to find either the Aqua Flora or Osram Lumilux tubes that you mentioned.

Good luck with getting your Rio tank sorted out - it seems unbelievable that something as strong as a bracer bar could break !! That doesn't inspire confidence, does it ? I agree with what you said about German products which is why I have a German car.

I am going to wait until I hear back from you before deciding whether to buy the Arcadia 48" with IP67's.

 

[Sanj]

Ok if I push one end of the tube against the glass, the other end has only 5mm space. So it is tight.

I think IP64 must have been designed for condensation in mind, because all the other/ older T8 Arcadia units had these style end caps, and there is no reference or warning with regarding to be over cover glasses.

The IP67 however are better though. They look similar to the Rena lighting end caps, except these T5s will be smaller. The rena tubes are 36" long and if you measure from the end caps they are 36.25 "

I think they might just fit but it could be a tighter fit, which might be a blessing because that might add support in placing them.

My feeling is more positive than negative, the only issue is that i havent seen these IP67 in real life and so can not actually measure them.

With regard to the the ligh tubes, i wouldnt get the marine lights, the plants may adapt to marine white, but it gives off a high K and plants prefer in the region of 6000k. this marine white is probably 10000K or greater.

STM do not show the freshwater lights on their website, but i phoned them up last week and ordered these (osram lumilux 860 and 890). Try Anglia aquatics also they do next delivery or when you specify although saturdays delivery is too expensive. I spoke to a guy called Craig. At the moment he doesnt have the Aquaflora at 46" instock, but he is ordering some in. However if you dont want to do the aqua flora Aqua blue combination, Biolights are also good havving a broad spectrum. Whwn you were talking about marine white light, it is more important the the spectrum is a broad one like these daylight (biolight tubes) which will give an overall temp in the region of 5000-6500 k.

I would try and get either of these lights not the arcadia marine ones. Either from STM or Anglia aquatics.

Are you going to add co2 also? It really does make a difference and fertile substrate. Also if you are going for a planed aquaria, mail order is very cost effective. Green line aquatics are very good, I have ordered three times from them. They also do a good slow relaease fertilizer pillow, which lasts 3-4 months. Will be cheaper than liquid fertilizer, although I would still get fertile subsrate aswell.

 

[Nav]

Damn, 5mm really is tight clearance !!! I will have to think twice about getting the IP67's now as my LFS has told me that if they aren't suitable I can't have my money back - only a credit note! Sanj, thanks for going and measuring that for me, I really appreciate it. Your post is very informative and has a lot of useful info, especially the info concerning your phone calls to STM and Anglia Aquatics. I think you are right about the light bulbs, the Marine White is not a good choice.

Yes, I am planning on adding CO2 also. What I thought I'd do was have a 'proper' system with compressed CO2 cylinders; probably the JBL system. I don't think that a smaller fermentation-type system like the Nutrafin one or a home made 'coke bottle' one will suffice on a large tank like this. Trouble is, I can't afford the JBL at the moment so it might have to wait a little while.

As for the third aspect of the system, the substrate, I think I've got that sorted. I learned a lot of lessons from my other tank, a 75L Marina. I've gone for a three layer approach. At the bottom, I have a Rena 50W heating cable buried in a thin layer of silver sand. It's almost pure silica and should distribute the heat from the heater cable evenly. I realise that silver sand has a tendency to compact and go anaerobic but I've only used a thin layer of it. The next layer up is a nutrient layer. It's made up of half a litre of peat (I made sure it had no fertiliser or additives in it), 3 Kg of First Layer Laterite (rinsed) and the rest course sand made up to 10Kg. The top layer is the thickest layer and is just course sand. I washed all the sand like crazy to get rid of dust particles and suchlike.

I've bought some plants from Green Line having used them before. I have mainly Amazon swords (bleheri), Vallisneria and some Crypts (Wendtii). I also bought a huge Echinodorus from my LFS. It's a Cordifolius I think - the guy in the shop didn't know. It's growing like a triffid !! A new leaf sprouts out almost every day ! I also bought some Glossostigma Elatinoides. I have had some success with this before, in my older tank, but it's not doing too well in the Rena which is one of the main reasons why I want a lot more light !

I am having a strange problem though. The water in my Rena has been in there for about 10 days and is fairly cloudy - a sort of slight milky colour. It's not turbid as such, it just looks as though someone has poured a small amount of milk in it ! I've set up aquaria before and never had this problem. Also, I have a lot of brown diatoms but I put them down to the fact it's a new setup and the light level is low. I am using a Rena XP3 external filter. It has a sheet of fine filter material that's supposed to 'polish' the water - except it isn't ! I have placed it in its own compartment in the filter. I am wondering whether the water is bypassing it as there is a lot of room around it. Should the fine material be in one of the occupied compartments, sandwiched between two slabs of course material ? I don't know; I've only ever used undergravel filters before.

 

[Sanj]

Hello Nav,

well to be sure maybe you want use the IP64s instead. It would be a real frustration if they didnt fit, although when I ordered my Arcadia unit I thought I was getting the IP67s (as mentioned).

It is a good Idea to go for those dedicated freshwater T5s, those two companies are the only two which i could find at the time, but there must be a few others.
Anglia were very helpful. STM had some sales line and the lady didnt seem to know alot about the product other than that they had the T5 arcadia units and the freshwater bulb combination.

I have had my Rena setup for nearly 2 months and to start with I used 3 JBL bio co2, similar to yeast reactions. Each of these bottles are suitable for an aquarium upt 100 litres, but not really satisfactory for long term use on a large aquaria. I only used them because they last 45 days, an interim measure until I could afford a better more controllable system. I am going to go for the JBL Proflora System 2. I am actually going to get it throum my LFs, although you can get it for a better price from Aquatics online for £139.99 I think.

Your substrate sounds good. I did use a rena cable on my rena , but I have installed on in my new Juwel.

what kind of water are you using? I am just using treated tap water and it is reasonably Hard and alkaline here in Coventry. My tapwater is Ph 7.4 and Gh 14, but reduses to Ph 7.0 and Kh 7 with co2 addition. London water is pretty hard also isnt it?

I have put Glosso in my new juwel, hope it grows. Never used it before, but I want a nice carpet. I nthe Rena I am using Sagittatia Lileopsis and sag.natans as the main foreground.

The milky cloudy water is ok, it is free floating bacteria, it will eventually clear, I had that milkyness for 2-3 weeks. I have taken the carbon pouch out of the Xp3 as carbon takes adsorbs good trace elements aswell as bad susbstances in the water. It will not remove the cloudiness which is bacteria. You do not need carbon when the tank is well planted as plants are excellent filters themselves. My Juwel 240 was really clear and nitrates never went higher than 5ppm even when I lapsed on water changes. What I have done though is put Rowaphos into some tights where the carbon pouch was. This will remove most of the phosphate and discourage any big algae outbreaks.

If you want to get the true Siamese algae eater (SAE) which are excellent for algae cleaning, but often hard to find, you could mail order from Trimar. They have some in stock.

Also one other thing with the xp3, you do not want to have surface adgitation so I installed the spray bar vertically down into the aqaurium so all the outlets are under water.

 

[Nav]

I am using good old London tapwater which, as you guessed, is very hard and alkaline (GH=19, KH=10, pH=7.7). I contacted my local water board who told me that they disinfect the water with Chloramine rather than Chlorine so I treat it with API Stress Coat rather than just aerating it prior to use.

As far as the Glosso is concerned, I've found that it needs a fairly rich substrate and lots of light. The big problem I found with it is that being very small, it tends not to do too well in pea gravel; coarse sand should be fine. The worst problem of all is that Glosso can sometimes get chocked in blue-green algae. The algae seems to be naturally attracted to the Glosso - I am not joking ! When that happened to me I tried gently separating the algae from the Glosso with a toothbrush and then later with a pin but with very little success. Basically, when you pull at the algae the Glosso gets uprooted - it tends to have very short roots. Some method needs to be used to stop the blue-green algae. I had it in a tank with an UG filter so was unable to make use of Rowaphos. I am planning on using Rowaphos in my Rena filter.

As far as the Rena filter is concerned, I used it exactly as supplied (apart from removing the carbon pouch as I didn't want nutrients stripped away). It came with 4 one inch thick pieces of black coarse foam and 1 half inch thick piece of white fine floss. The bottom tray had 2 pieces of the coarse foam, the middle tray also had 2 pieces of coarse foam and the top tray had the filter floss and the carbon pouch. Is that how yours was when you got it ? One reason I ask that question is that I have a nagging suspicion that I haven't set up the filter correctly. The other reason is that I know they recently 're-vamped' the XP3 model. It now comes with decent documentation (the instructions with mine are crap !) and all the bits packaged neatly.
I've installed the spray bar horizontally about an inch below the water line. Hopefully this will minimise turbulance at the surface so I can preserve what precious little CO2 the tank has !! I've positioned it so the holes are facing directly towards the wall the bar is suckered on to. I found that when the holes are pointed downwards it tends to dig up the substrate. It is confusing trying to control the flow rate on the XP3 as there are no markings on the tap showing which way to turn; it's all trial and error. Ideally, I would have like a 'decent' filter like an Eheim Professionel II. The only reason I have the XP3 is that I got it as part of a package with the Rena Classic. I also got a couple of heaters with the package and they tend to be a bit erratic. Also, the temperatures marked on the top dial are nowhere near the actual temperature at each setting !! I didn't expect them to be spot-on but they are way out.

Although SAEs are hard to find my local Maidenhead Aquatics always seems to have these in stock. I checked very carefully to make sure they were the real thing rather than one of the lookalikes. They also have Otocinclus Affinis.

 

[Sanj]

hello,

Yep my XP3 was as yours, but i removed the carbon pouch and stuffed some Rowaphos in the foot of some cut tights (I had to buy them too ) ).

My rena was noisy to start with, but is fine now. You seem to have set it up ok.

Dont like the Blue-green algae in the glosso thing, i got some in in the floating plants of my Juwel where the water was slow, but nowhere else and it was eventually out competed by the plants. Rowa is good too.

If I get blue green, then its good bye Glosso. I really like the plant, if it will grow, but I dont have sand substrate.

I think blue green particularly like hard alkaline water. However co2 addition will lower your Ph and Kh. Vallis actually realy loves hard water, but i think i had gigantea in my Juwel 240 and it grew to 1" thick and over a meter in length. I am using a small amount of spiralis whic shouldnt grow too long. its not the most exciting plant but it grows wel land is good for starting a new aquarium.

i think the Xp3 is a good filter, but yes all of their instructions are crap. Thats exactly what i thought when I bought the aquarium. Good sturdy make , but crappy instructions.

PFK did a review of external fitlers and the Xp3 scored well, i think only lower than the top Eheim brand.

I have no ottos, I do have a couplr of female Black Mollies, they are good for cleaning surface scum, but my fish will be dominated by tetras and Angelfish (I think) even if the water is a bit hard. Not ready to go RO yet. may get ottos later, but i find they can be hard to establish.

I should get some piccies taken and we can see how they develop over the next few months. I have two large pieces of Mango wood in the aquarium, but they have stained the water even though i soaked them for a week.

 

[Nav]

Sanj, I can just imagine you going into the Ladies-wear section of your local M&S, on the lookout for a pair of tights, trying your best not to look like a cross-dresser !

Thanks for the confirmation regarding my XP3. I'm glad I've got that right.

You've come up with an interesting hypothesis; about blue/green liking hard alkaline water. I think you're right. My experience certainly bears that out. Yeah, as you said, Vallis is a pretty boring plant but I suppose at least it forms a green curtain at the back of the tank and goes some way towards hiding some of the equipment - not to mention the wall behind the tank ! I find it one of the hardest species to plant as it is extremely bouyant. It also tends to be very brittle which makes wrapping lead weights around it a problem. It can look nice though in a tank with a school of Cardinals in front of it.

Ever since I was a little kid I liked the idea of setting up a South American tank with Cardinals, Discus, Angels and Rams. By the way, I know Discus have a reputation of being hard to keep but the same applies to Rams. I think very soft, very acid water and lots of bogwood to hide behind is a must. To my mind, a large shoal of Cardinals is a sight to behold. That was one of the reasons I bought a large tank - to set up a large shoal. Buying an RO unit is a bit beyond my budget at the moment though. I've always had Cardinals in whatever tank I set up but have never done the 'full-blown' Amazon thing. The other thing I always wanted was a planted tank but I was always hamstrung by having an undergravel filter and the things that go with it like using large-grade gravel and not being able to have a clay/laterite layer. Also having too much nutrient in the water column (and the B/G algea that causes) as a consequence of the UG filter. Anyway, to some extent though those two ideals - a planted tank and a Amazon tank - run counter to each other so I will go for a fully planted tank and bias it towards South American species.

Yeah, get some piccies taken, it'll be nice see how things develop. What you said about the wood didn't surprise me. No amount of soaking seems to get rid of the tannins. Still, I suppose it adds to the authenticity of the tank and most fish like it - or so I'm told !

 

[Sanj]

The cardinal tetra thing did concern me at first because i read about apparently healthy fish just dieing because the calcium build up blocked their tubes!!!

However it was a 'can' not that hard water will kill them. I think alot of it is down to adaptation. My lfs has the fish acclimatised before they receive them. They use treated coventry water even for their discus. I also have Rummy noese whaich are even more notorious for being sensitive, but mine have bright red noses and seem really happy. The downside to Cardinals is that they do not always school (when they look most impressive). They are nice fish. I have 25 at the mo. Consider Rummies because they are excellent at keeping together.

I am receiving an order tomorrow from Trimar. I am getting 8x Emperor tetras and 3x chain loaches for the Rena. The loaches are not S American , but they are very good snail eaters and I have a snail population explosion.

I will also be getting 3x Red line Torpedo barbs for my juwel aquarium. These are expensive fish from the Nilgiri mountains Karnataka/Kerala in India. My Juwel is domianted my Asians. Its a bit like Southhall Lol.

When will you be getting your T5s. Have you decised what to do?

 

[Nav]

Hi Sanj !

Setting up an Asian tank. That's a good idea. I've not even heard of the Red Line Torpedo Barb ! I'm quite impreesed that you've tracked this fish down even to the extent of knowing exactly where it comes from. That's my idea of fishkeeping - going for specific fish instead of having a hotchpotch of mismatched fish in a community aquarium as a lot of fishkeepers do. I considered setting up a South-East Asian tank a while ago but I guess that I don't really have the space for yet another tank - in the interests of domestic harmony and all ! My original idea was to have a tank full of barbs of various types (especially the Cherry barb, which I like) and plant it full of crypts which are also from that region. If you've not guessed by now; I love the idea of biotope tanks !

Yeah, I am considering Rummy Nose Tetras too. I've seen them a few times in the LFS and thought about them. Have you got your delivery from Trimar ? I've had a look at Trimar a few times but been discouraged by what I consider are high prices, compared to my LFS. I suppose they are useful for rare or difficult to find fish. I've never had Emperor Tetras before. Let me know how you get on with them.

What finally happened with the T5s is that my LFS decided that although they would not give me a refund in the event of the Arcadia IP67s not fitting, they would be prepared to take them back and swap them for the IP64s. So I suppose that is quite a good solution and sorts out my dilemma. The trouble is I'm going to have to wait for their next delivery which is next Tuesday !
As for the T5 tubes, I rang Anglia Aquatics as you recommended. They stock the AquaFlora and the AquaBlue at £15.99 (+£7.50 postage) each but said they hadn't any in stock at the moment. They'll get some more in next week. So I'll order it from them next week. Sanj, thanks for that suggestion, mate. I appreciate it.

 

[Sanj]

Hellooo,

I spoke to Anglia yesterday and yes they only had Aqua blues in, but the Aqua Floras and biolights are on order.

The order from STM (Sevenoaks Tropical Marine) came and the T5 lights were broken when i opened the box, although they were well packed so I can only guess they were knocked quite badbly even theough there was a sticker on it saying 'very fragile'.

I had to send them back to be able to get thenm replaced, i was a bit miffed, but it is understandable because these guys had people trying to rip them off beofre.

Anyway what I found out from them was that the Osram Lumilux 860 (which I ordered) is usually combined with Narva Biolights (by them) whereas The D&D Solutions(as sold by Anglia Aquatics) recomended combination is the Narva Aqua Flora with the Narva Aquablue (60% biolight/40% Actinic).

The choice is yours

With regard to fish stocking I dont likr totally mixing of fish, like many people do when starting out. I ti si understandable if you are new to the hobby because of the sheer variety and you want to keep som many kinds. However now i just dont feel right about mixing say S Americans with Asians unless they have a specific use like SAEs for cleaning algae and loaches for keeping snail populations down.

Even so I dont actually have a biotope aquariam , just broad geographical regions. My Asian tank has fish with origins from India to New Guinea, mostly barbs.

The plant thing can be even harder to do, so i dont get too hung up on it. I have crypts in both tanks and Amazon swords.

Biotopes do sound good though, its just when space is limited and you like so many fish they can be hard to do.

Well I am considering what to do with my 240, maybe lake Malawi Mbuna? I am not going to rush into that one yet (he says).

Also three tanks in the living room erm, well maybe its getting a bit full lol.

 

[Sanj]

Oh in regard to Rummys, I got them from my Lfs.

Trimar do stock them though.

I was umming and arring alot befor I got them because of sensitivitiy issues (basically they need stable water conditions), however I bought 9 and there are still 9 and bright red faces .

They are often kept with discus and can act like an early warning sytem. if water conditions are not to their liking their noses fade to pink.

You might know this, but there are three species, The false Rummy (I forgot its scientific name), The Rhodostomus and Blehri.

I thought I had Rhdostomous I know they are not the false one, but I am now not 100% sure if they are not Blehri?

They are good close packed shoalers, if you can keep them happy.

 

[Sanj]

Nav,

warning on ordering T5 lights make sure they are packed in cardboard tubes and well padded.

I have just recieved orders from Anglia and STM and they were both broken.
Erm well ive had a very bad week.

Anglia do usually pack them well my fist order was fine. I have phoned the guy there, he was very good about it, but im getting a refund. Going to see if I can get my lfs to order some.

STM want you to send the parcel back, I received some yesterday (broken) sent them back as requested, but i think they arent going to send anymore out but will refund.

Bah crappy, crappy week

 

[Nav]

Hiya Sanj ! Sorry to hear you've had a bad week. Yeah, you have been extremely unlucky, what with the broke tubes and all last week, haven't you ? Well, let's hope this week's much better !

Thanks for your warning regarding tubes broken in the post. I will have to watch out for that. Some interesting developments have occured with my Rena. On Friday I visited one of my LFS's (not the one I ordered the Arcadia from - I have about 4 LFSs nearby !) and noticed that they had the dual 54W controller on their shelves. Although I had it on order at the other LFS, I couldn't be bothered to wait only to find they hadn't got it in again. So, I bought the controller and two actinic bulbs. They didn't have freshwater bulbs but I bought the actinics just to check for fit. I told them I was going to take it home and try it and if it didn't fit I would want a refund on the whole lot. I also told them that, in whichever case, I was going to return the actinic tubes. They agreed to this so I took it home to try out on my Rena. It was a couple of millimetres too big but I was able to squeeze it in without breaking the tubes as there are springs in the endcaps - the bulb has a degree of 'give' too ! As the LFS did not have IP64 controllers, I decided to keep this controller. My only slight fear is that when I fit the tubes in and they warm up they might expand to the point where they are pushing very hard on the side walls of my Rena. If that happens, there is a chance that they might shatter. If my memory of school physics is correct, the coefficient of expansion of glass is not that great (compared to metals, say) so they shouldn't expand too much - I hope I won't have the problem !! If I do, the LFS agreed to take back the Arcadia IP67 controller and order an IP64 unit for me.

Obtaining Freshwater T5 tubes is turning out to a real mission impossible ! As I've mentioned, none of my several LFSs stock them. Bearing in mind your warning about broken tubes, buying it from my LFS would be my preferred option. Anyway, I called Anglia on Thursday. As you said, they are out of AquaFloras and Biolights. Craig said "they'll be in next week". So I tried again today, Tuesday, and they still aren't in. I've looked into other options but to no avail. I phoned STM who told me that they had the 'colour 860 & colour 960' but the lady on the phone didn't seem too knowledgable so I was a tad reluctant to commit my hard-earned cash on the phone. I wasn't too sure how they had arrived at their combination; that is how they had decided to partner the Osram Lumilux with the Narva Biolights. She said that the 860 was too yellow so they compensated by adding the 960 which was more white ! That seems a bit random to me. I wanted to ask more questions but she didn't seem up to it.

As far as my setup is concerned, my plants are coming along quite nicely. The Valisneria Gigantea aren't growing but the Valis. Spirallis are growing fast. Some of them have reached the water surface and are throwing out runners. The E. Tennelus are also sending out runners. The C. Wendtii and the previously mentioned E. Cordifolius are doing well too. The Glossostigma is doing badly but I hope will recover when I add my T5s ! I've now got a some Cardinals in it and a couple of Corys and SAEs.

With your 240L tank, I think Mbunas will be a great idea !! I've always been intrigued by those setups. Also, let's face it, the water won't be a problem any more ! Finally, how the hell do you fit three large tanks in one room ??!! You must live in a mansion, Sanj ! LOL