Did we realise how bloody hard it would be to plant stem plants in an incredibly loose and light clay ball substrate? No. SuperFish Scaper aquariums are made of Crystal Clear glass, which ensures a crystal clear underwater image. The 3 models have been specially developed for Aquascaping, so the dimensions are perfect for creating beautifully planted underwater landscapes. The smallest version of the aquarium is recommended for keeping shrimp, in the two larger models you can also keep fish. 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). 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 LEDlight can be controlled by a finger touch dimmable switch. The Chief Technical Officer - never had any fish, was always jealous of their cousin’s fish tank as a kid (a “Japanese Fighting Fish” as it was known then, and some neon tetras). Prone to over-researching/over-thinking every decision, either beforehand (invariably leading to Analysis Paralysis), or afterwards (invariably leading to Buyer’s Remorse). Often somehow manages to achieve both with the same decision.

Over the first couple of weeks I have to do a lot of water changes to keep the ammonia down (daily 25% - 50% to begin with) whilst the bacteria and plants get going. I suspect that more of this ammonia is coming from the substrate (and perhaps the melting plants) than from the fish themselves. I may possibly be over feeding a little, but from the start I have been pretty wary and cautious of this as a potential problem, so probably feeding a lot less than the average beginner. Fish are all doing well, I don’t really know them well enough to say if they are “thriving”, but with all these water changes I’m sure I am shortening the useful life of the substrate, so that’s yet another con for the fish-in-cycling, what’s good for the fish is not good for the plants. Oh no, with too much surface disturbance all the CO2 needed for the plants will diffuse out of the water, so I must minimise it" 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. 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.

Here, time for a guilty confession. Despite nearly everyone advising against it these days, I opted for fish-in-cycling. As previously mentioned, the tank (and fish) were to be a birthday present, and, while personally I could have happily adopted the policy of “ start with a garden, and then introduce the animals”, The Creative Director felt an empty fish tank would have made for a lousy present. In retrospect, I probably could have argued it from a delayed gratification / good things come to those who wait / appreciate nature / learning responsibility angle, but hey, it was a 6th birthday … so quite possibly it would have led to tears. Not as many tears as being presented with a tank of dead or dying fish of course, so I proceeded with caution, but still, in retrospect I wish we had gone for the patience, patience, patience approach. Bottom line is - it was better than getting a goldfish in a bowl, but that’s a pretty low bar. 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). Did I realise I realise how hard it would be to maintain a planted tank when there is a shelf above it obscuring about half of the top of the tank? No 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. Is it really Seiryu though? I’d never heard of it, and when I later looked it up it seemed unlikely it would actually be authentic Seiryu stone. But seeing as I’d not been in search of it, it doesn’t bother me if it is just something similar (and it wasn't particularly expensive). I like how it looks which is the main thing ... or is it?

Did we get there in the end? Yes. Come midnight I was finally able to get to bed with a tank with some water, some plants, and some fish in it, reasonably secure that they would all still be alive in the morning.

The hope was to establish a wide diversity of microflora and microfauna in the tank, and to establish a bit of an ecosystem, even if not exactly “closed” because I am having to provide some inputs (ie food) and deal with some outputs (ie water changes). I was doing this not because I thought it meant I could get away with no cleaning or water changes, but because an ecosystem, or just a slice of nature, is much more interesting and beautiful to me than a sterile glass box with some plants and fish in it. I also hoped, and believed based on lots of reading (albeit perhaps self-selected reading), that the more diverse the life in the tank, the more resilient it would be. 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. 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”. Speaking of filters, this is an exemplar of the “Descent into madness” part of the process for me. I have spent a huge amount of time and energy over the past month worrying (ie. overthinking) about many things with regards to the tank, and a big chunk of that is endlessly worrying about position, angle and flow with the filters.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. 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. 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. Oh no, the plants right by the outflow are getting BBA on the bits in the strongest jet, so I must baffle it again”