What did you do with your tank(s) today?

[DMD123]

The rain brings out the earthworms, so treats for the fish tonight. Did a drain and fill on the 300 tonight since Ive been busy and haven’t had a chance to clean it the way I like.

Been starting to shop for the possible inhabitants of the 65B once the puffer gets his new home. So far lots of catfish and plecos but nothing else Ive come up with.

The new Fluval taunts me to set it up, lol. I just need to order a stupid heater but can’t decide on which one. But in the meantime I’m loving the blue tooth lighting controls on this. Seems to be a very smooth process of turning the lights on and off. Quite a fancy look compared with the Beamswork I have but then again these are like three times the price.

 

[Madness]

What size were the juveniles you sold them? I'm thinking about taking all the rainbow cichlids to them.

Ranging from 3/4"-2"

 

[DMD123]

Decided to try and clean all the fake rocks and plants in the 300. Used a light bleach solution and did a very light scrub and they looked like new. The tank looks very clean at the moment.

Ordered a Finnex titianium heater with an external controller for the Fluval Flex. This seemed like the easiest thing to do to be able to change temps without reaching into the little chamber in the back.

 

[fishguy1978]

Decided to try and clean all the fake rocks and plants in the 300. Used a light bleach solution and did a very light scrub and they looked like new. The tank looks very clean at the moment.

Ordered a Finnex titianium heater with an external controller for the Fluval Flex. This seemed like the easiest thing to do to be able to change temps without reaching into the little chamber in the back.

No chewed on heater cords

 

[John58Ford]

The DC pump came today. Honestly I think it was under rated. I did all the original set up and testing with the spray bars in the pent using a traditional AC pump, also rated at 2000 liter per hour, personally tested to output 1800 (480gph) with an 18" head. I know this tank is 21+" head but with this dc pump turned all the way down it seems to be outputing more than 480. Turned up it's a cyclone.

The thing is pretty neat though, it does all the fancy saltwater tricks with variable intensity and set timing in wave mode, feeding hold for 15 or 60 minutes in one touch. It supposedly monitors the motor speed through the sensors and keeps it constant despite back pressure. Only thing that makes me think that might be a little true is that it displays the real time wattage draw on the faceplate as default, not the flow/speed setting. And here's me just trying to find a non-resonant pump. Mission complete, the thing is whisper quiet up to ~75% and then it has a very quiet whir, not the 60 cycle hum that plagues my fish room.

Now that I've fallen all over myself on this new old technology... It is a little strange looking around, all my tanks are a natural planted aquascape, no fake ornaments etc. I don't even leave gear exposed in any tank larger than 10 gallons. But every tank has at least one external digital heater display and now this one also has the pump robot staring right back at me too. With the rack tanks I hide the controllers between the tanks. This one being a corner tank that wasn't an option.

Here's the LED mood killers, I hid them behind the lights for now. The pump is telling me the motor is using 5 watts, and the heater is heating, currently at 26c.

Do you have stuff like that that you really like, but just don't want to see? Any other freshwater fish friends really on the DC pump bandwagon lately?

 

[DMD123]

No chewed on heater cords

lol, my hairy puffers never did it, it was the arrowhead that was the worst.

 

[DMD123]

Do you have stuff like that that you really like, but just don't want to see?

For me its a love hate relationship with my garage tanks heaters…easy to glance at and see what’s going on but the bright blue numbers really take away from any natural look, lol. Or maybe Im teaching my fish how to count.

I think this is why Im digging the look of the Fluval Flex. All the mechanics of it all is hidden behind the wall inside and even the lighting is incorporated in the hood.

 

[DMD123]

Received my heater from Aquacave.com, went with a Finnex titanium to use in the Fluval Flex. I had used heated tank water from the puffers tank so it would be an easy time to set up the new tank… right? lol, as luck would have it, it didn’t help me at all. I got a totally defective heater. It would not clear the error audible siren that the sensor was out of the water. After multiple attempts to clear the code and testing in another tanks, I called it ‘time of death, 8:45pm.’ Sent Aquacave.com an email but likely wont hear from them until Monday.

The Flex has a reputation of running around 72 degrees with just the pump alone running but I still need a heater for my puffer. Not sure if I am just going to the store and buy one or let Aqua Cave fix things…

 

[lloyd378]

Received my heater from Aquacave.com, went with a Finnex titanium to use in the Fluval Flex. I had used heated tank water from the puffers tank so it would be an easy time to set up the new tank… right? lol, as luck would have it, it didn’t help me at all. I got a totally defective heater. It would not clear the error audible siren that the sensor was out of the water. After multiple attempts to clear the code and testing in another tanks, I called it ‘time of death, 8:45pm.’ Sent Aquacave.com an email but likely wont hear from them until Monday.

The Flex has a reputation of running around 72 degrees with just the pump alone running but I still need a heater for my puffer. Not sure if I am just going to the store and buy one or let Aqua Cave fix things…

You’re headed to the store…. Haha at least that’s what I would do. Doesn’t hurt to have an extra heater once the online one gets replaced!

 

[DMD123]

You’re headed to the store…. Haha at least that’s what I would do. Doesn’t hurt to have an extra heater once the online one gets replaced!

I have extra heaters but they are all bigger 300 watt types. I need a little 100|150 watt one. I have a Petsmart coupon so maybe I might just buy a Fluval from them.

 

[DMD123]

I got a call from Aquacave where I ordered the heater from and they did not offer a solution to return the item but gave the information to pursue a warranty claim with Finnex. I will attempt this but let them know if any additional money was asked of me to ship the bad heater in on my dime then I would contact Visa and get reimbursed. I let them also know that they would lose a customer, in fact one of their very active customers who writes reviews for products on the website, lol. Aquacave was reassuring and said if Finnex did not make it right then they would help... will see. So I now wait on Finnex to see what they will do.

In the past with Aqueon and a failed heater, they had me send a reciept and a picture of the heater and a replacement was sent. I had heard other reviews say that Aqueon asked them to cut the cord above the heater and send a pic in but I dont think that was even required. Anyway will update with what happens but waiting to get the flex set up because of this.

 

[fishguy1978]

I swapped the sumbu and the j ornatus to the upper 55g after I cleared out the plants and gravel. Now they will be easier to watch. Still a bit to cloudy for pictures.

 

[DMD123]

Was cutting up tilapia fillet to feed my bichir and thought about why not feed it to the red wolf and puffer too? I think they appreciated the change, and ate it well. Sometimes with the fish like these where raw foods are the majority of the diet you feel like your feeding the same stuff all the time. Usually the puffer and wolf eat frozen krill and clam and the occasional earthworms when it rains. No pesticides or fertilizer being used on lawn so I feel safe feed those. But I always keep tilapia in the freezer for the bichirs so another thing to add to their diet. Usually will soak the fillet in Boyd’s vitamin before feeding.

 

[DMD123]

Saturday morning water changes. Just finished my last one. Did all 7 tanks this morning.

Still dealing with stupid Finnex about the heater. Sounds like they will send a call tag but not sure as to when. Then they test and blah, blah blah. Lesson learned, no online equipment purchase from places like Aquacave, will just do Amazon where I can return. Still debating just dealing with my credit card company and getting reimbursed…

 

[lloyd378]

Today I ran to AP to drop off my 10” blackbelt cichlid…. He was getting too aggressive toward my jewels but not aggressive enough to hang with my male RTM.

While there, I picked up some frozen blood worms for my fire eel, some algae wafers for my wife’s work tank, and then two 4-line pictus cats for my living room tank.

 

[DMD123]

Well I had it with Finnex and the 'warranty' on a new out of the box, defective heater. They left me hanging on Friday afternoon with an RMA and to wait for a call tag... so likely closed over weekend and here it is Wednesday and nothing. So 5 days of just waiting. I contacted Aquacave who said they would make it right in a pervious email and so far nothing. Im likely contacting my credit card company and dealing with this. At this point I will no longer give any of my money to Finnex or Aqucave ever again. Should have ordered on Amazon where a defective out of box item would not have been two weeks worth of headache and still no heater. I had heard some bad things about Finnex customer service, didnt give it much thought until I had to deal with it.

I still need to figure out what heater I want to use in that Fluval Flex. The external controls were nice on the Finnex because the heater goes into an equipment chamber on the flex and hard to see what you are dealing with in that tiny area.

 

[sir_keith]

I don't know how much you paid for that heater, but it seems to me that you've spent way more than that in aggravation. Throw it in the bin and cut your loss; it's not worth it.

 

[DMD123]

I don't know how much you paid for that heater, but it seems to me that you've spent way more than that in aggravation. Throw it in the bin and cut your loss; it's not worth it.

$50 is worth the fuss to me. This was supposed to be a high quality titanium heater with external controls and a out of water safety sensor. Currently a paper weight…

 

[DMD123]

Not what I wanted permanent but ordered a preset Aqueon 150 watt so I can get the tank up and running. I needed pellets so I added a cheap $15 heater to get things in motion.

I need to cut down my driftwood in the 65B to fit in the Flex. This is the puffers cave that he sleeps in. It is heavy Mopani so it will displace a lot of water. Might take the dremel to it some more to lighten it up a bit.

 

[DMD123]

Just a waiting game now… waiting 3 days before I can proceed with the credit card claim on the heater. But hey $50 at stake, along with terrible customer service from a store and a manufacturer.

Also waiting for my Aqueon heater for the Flex to come in. Excited to get the puffer moved over and opening up the 65B for another project. Just trying to decide what to do with this….