Martin Cook
New Member
Hello to each and every one of you.
I am new here, hence being post #1 - ha.
My name is Martin, 15 miles out of Manchester and lucky enough to have the Abyss 5 minutes away.
I have always enjoyed fish keeping and in the past kept both fresh and salt water aquariums, my last being salt. We sold up when we moved houses about 5 years ago. I would like to say that things are calming down now... they are not! still a building site. Anyway, its time i got back into the hobby.
I am here today looking for help, advice and inspiration on A Planted Aquascape with a real mixture of plants - we want bright and active fish so likely to be a tank of tetras and rummy noses with some fillers - really am open to suggestions etc.
We are about to have an extension drawn up and plans submitted to LA, the tank will eventually be moved into another room so we could class this as a dummy run for my first scape BUT ideally i would like to try and be happy first time and worry about the weight and moving later down the line.
So, here is what i have just bought:
Eheim Incpiria 330
Eheim pro 4 600 (was a toss up with the FX6 but couldn’t be bothered with the maintenance set back on the fx) i will get some BioHome ultimate and new sponges for the filter
2x Eheim Quick Release double taps - for either side of my UV - Do i need these... really? £30 each i can take back for credit.
JBL pro 500 inline heater
JBL m502 co2 kit
JBL in-line diffuser
Tmc vectron 600 uv
2x JBL volcano mineral (18l)
3x JBL Aqua basis plus (15l)
1x JBL mando (21l)
2x Juwel Stone Granite 3D backgrounds
I only went into the shop for a "look" and came out a lot of cash down, oops. So, i dont even know if what ive come away with is the best for needs really, i guess that is the first question, should i take anything back to change it?
related to my first aforementioned question, i dont think i want A 3D background, i like the look of some of the tanks i have seen where you can see the glass back, what are your thoughts on this? for NOW the tank is sat in an internal window area and can be viewed from all 4 sides - if i opt for the background, can it be added later down the line?
I plan on building up some raised sections with the Volcano min followed by a layer of basis plus and topped off with natural mando - am i on the right path with this?
the Eheim tank comes with the two LED lights but no controller - do you think i would benefit from the controller? it is an extra £110 but will allow me to set sunrise and sunset and moon lighting etc.
UV - I have always had UV on my salt'ys but never fresh - is this required/beneficial ?
Finally, for now. my M502 kit... should i have spent the extra money and gone with the M503 and taken onboard the computer? - i have the chance to pay the difference and swap over.
What else do i need to think about guys? Have i missed anything?
I know i need testing kits and chems etc, i just need to go over what i have here before i commit, JBL the way to go for testing?
Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this and even bigger thanks to those who take their time to respond ;-)
I am new here, hence being post #1 - ha.
My name is Martin, 15 miles out of Manchester and lucky enough to have the Abyss 5 minutes away.
I have always enjoyed fish keeping and in the past kept both fresh and salt water aquariums, my last being salt. We sold up when we moved houses about 5 years ago. I would like to say that things are calming down now... they are not! still a building site. Anyway, its time i got back into the hobby.
I am here today looking for help, advice and inspiration on A Planted Aquascape with a real mixture of plants - we want bright and active fish so likely to be a tank of tetras and rummy noses with some fillers - really am open to suggestions etc.
We are about to have an extension drawn up and plans submitted to LA, the tank will eventually be moved into another room so we could class this as a dummy run for my first scape BUT ideally i would like to try and be happy first time and worry about the weight and moving later down the line.
So, here is what i have just bought:
Eheim Incpiria 330
Eheim pro 4 600 (was a toss up with the FX6 but couldn’t be bothered with the maintenance set back on the fx) i will get some BioHome ultimate and new sponges for the filter
2x Eheim Quick Release double taps - for either side of my UV - Do i need these... really? £30 each i can take back for credit.
JBL pro 500 inline heater
JBL m502 co2 kit
JBL in-line diffuser
Tmc vectron 600 uv
2x JBL volcano mineral (18l)
3x JBL Aqua basis plus (15l)
1x JBL mando (21l)
2x Juwel Stone Granite 3D backgrounds
I only went into the shop for a "look" and came out a lot of cash down, oops. So, i dont even know if what ive come away with is the best for needs really, i guess that is the first question, should i take anything back to change it?
related to my first aforementioned question, i dont think i want A 3D background, i like the look of some of the tanks i have seen where you can see the glass back, what are your thoughts on this? for NOW the tank is sat in an internal window area and can be viewed from all 4 sides - if i opt for the background, can it be added later down the line?
I plan on building up some raised sections with the Volcano min followed by a layer of basis plus and topped off with natural mando - am i on the right path with this?
the Eheim tank comes with the two LED lights but no controller - do you think i would benefit from the controller? it is an extra £110 but will allow me to set sunrise and sunset and moon lighting etc.
UV - I have always had UV on my salt'ys but never fresh - is this required/beneficial ?
Finally, for now. my M502 kit... should i have spent the extra money and gone with the M503 and taken onboard the computer? - i have the chance to pay the difference and swap over.
What else do i need to think about guys? Have i missed anything?
I know i need testing kits and chems etc, i just need to go over what i have here before i commit, JBL the way to go for testing?
Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this and even bigger thanks to those who take their time to respond ;-)
