Superfish Scaper 45 Aquarium Starter Set Up, White,Black

Product Information

Did we realise that the stem plants should probably be separated from their little weighted bunches and planted individually? No.

The Client was very pleased, but almost immediately followed up with “why are they so small, are they going to get any bigger?” “ermmmm …” So, the day before “the big reveal” my wife and I ventured to our LFS, I was prepared to bluff my way past the scandalous fish in cycling bit, but it turns out that was actually their advised method anyway. “Just be sure to keep an eye on Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels, and keep changing water as needed” … so, another test kit then, this time for all three nasties (as well as pH, KH and GH). Finally, the beginnings of “the fun stuff”. A couple of Cyperus helferi (because I like the look of it), a bunch of Limnophila heterophylla (because the salesperson said it was easy to grow and propagate) and a single solitary bit of Pistia statiotes (dwarf water lettuce) “You'll only need one” said the salesperson “yeah, right” I think to myself. Large pallet items like aquariums are deemed delivered successfully with no damage once the the driver has left the property. If a report of damage is submitted after the driver has left we may be unable to assist with replacements. We recommend refusing a damaged delivery, this is the fastest resolution.

Onto the internal filter. This has a spray bar, initially I had the spray bar above the water level (the instructions aren’t very clear, but in one part it seems as if this is mandatory for the filter) if I aim it across the tank I get splashes onto the shelf above (not a good idea, unless I fancy a mould farm), if I aim it straight down I’m not sure I’ll get much circulation, I end up aiming it at the side, not least because it is quieter that way. After a few days I have confidence (from looking at pretty much every other set up) that I can safely submerge the spray bar. Then I spend the coming weeks anxiously making adjustments to the angle as I worry about new things. Last but not least, some fish. After a lot of “oooh, aaaah ... oh, it gets too big/jumps/is not for beginners” we settled on some generic assorted male guppies. This enabled us to get fish that all looked different from one another for interest/variety, but would provide a suitable shoal of the same species to keep each other company. A couple of months ago, The Creative Director announced to The Chief Technical Officer that she’d like to get The Client a goldfish (in a traditional bowl/small tank) for his sixth birthday. “I’m not sure that’s considered fair on the goldfish these days” said The Chief Technical Officer “Let me just do some research”. Ok, so probably a good time to go into that “ substrate regret” mentioned in the first post. Other than the cost, my two concerns are :

Noticed afterwards that a lot of the products I was advised to get were "Aqua" which appears to be MA's own brand. Funny that.Notice in the substrate on the right mystery plant number 3 (a red lotus? a red lilly? a red lotus lilly?) from first trip to LFS all I know is that it will get a lot bigger (wife saw a fully grown one in the shop and fell in love with it), though it is taking its sweet time over it. No sign of a bulb though, so does that rule out a lotus?

So, how did that birthday reveal go? We wrapped up the pot of fish food as a “clue”. Inevitably, this led to confusion, which promptly led (immediately after cries of “no, no, don’t open it the lid!”) to smelly fish food flakes being spilled all over our bed (fish-keeping disaster #1 in a series of, no doubt, many). The Scaper LED lighting is tailor-made for the Scaper Aquariums it sits nicely above the aquarium so it doesn’t distribute the view and can provide even coverage of lighting. With a high light output, it’s optimal for plant growth. The highly energy efficient LED light can be controlled by a finger touch dimmable switch.

I should warn the faint of heart that I’ll talk about water testing a lot here. I know that a lot of users of this forum consider them inaccurate and pointless. Well, partly I was testing a lot at the start because at that point nothing I read had suggested otherwise. But also, for me as a complete beginner I still feel they are “good enough” to spot various trends and issues I might not otherwise have discovered (until it was too late anyway). I accept that they are flawed, and that using your eyes, nose and common sense is often more helpful, but until you get your eyes and nose tuned in with experience, these are not that much use either (and sadly, in my case, common sense may never come).