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Superfish Scaper Tanks

I have just set my superfish Scaper 60 up.
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You can see a thread for this in the journals called Learning Curve! I also have the S2 Pro dimmer. For the first week the lights have been set to 50% on the dimmer while the plants settle and root. The photo period is 6 hours. And either side is a 15min ramp up and ramp down from 0 to 50%. So 6.5hrs total. There is no algae yet. I have been changing as much of the water as I can get out, every day for first week to dilute any organics in the water. And adding Seachem Prime , Stability, and Excel at 1ml to 50ltrs. I will do this massive water change for a month as per journal New decade new Decadence :) I think believe the advice there after is to increase the lights by 10% approx weekly as the plant mass grows to utilise the extra light. And monitor the tank. I hope this helps!
 
Dear ukaps people. I just ordered a Superfish Scaper 60. After being out of the hobby for a couple of years I couldn`t resist after seeing this tank and for that price. I should have known better that costs will add up soon because of all the extra nice things we need (want) :)

Anyway my question is this. Reading this topic I understand the light supplied with the tank is quite powerful. Now that can be a good thing and a not so good thing of course. The type of tank I`m after is a Dutch style aquarium, you know, no hardscape and lots of plants. I also have a diy co2 system with a solenoid so I can turn off the co2 when I want. Is the light provided with the tank too much? Will it trigger algae? I also ordered the s2 pro dimmer but since it comes from China and the tank will arrive monday I was wondering if it is smart to wait for the dimmer or just start with the light on full blast and not wait for the dimmer? If you say it is ok to start without the dimmer, what would be a safe place to start with? 5 hours of light? If you say wait for the dimmer, what would be a good percentage power output for the light to start out with, 75%?
I`m starting the tank with lots of plants and will be feeding the plants with the EI method.

Would love to hear your advice. Thank you and greetings from the Netherlands.

Tom
Forgot to tag you.. Now your tagged! :)
 
That is a beautiful tank right there! Thank you for replying. Good thing I asked. So no full blast with the lights but start at 50%. I will wait starting with setting up until my dimmer arrives. Again, thanks!
 
That is a beautiful tank right there! Thank you for replying. Good thing I asked. So no full blast with the lights but start at 50%. I will wait starting with setting up until my dimmer arrives. Again, thanks!
Thank you :) It's my first so still learn g and asking lots of questions, myself! Ukaps has loads of good advice. Don't forget to post pics, I would love to see :)
 
I will post photos for sure! Will you ever ramp up your light to 100% procent or is it just too much you think?
I don't have a clue yet about this. I am waiting to flush the excess organics out of the substrate first and cycling the tank. I have no ammonia, but I get nitrite still at the moment. The plan is, when this has finished I will try increasing the lights by 10% and see what happens. I want the nitrites to be gone so I can put shrimp and snails in if I need to to counter algae growth, if (when?) it starts . And there is a little biofilm and diatoms on the wood that I would like to see cleaned up. So I don't want to up the lights yet and risk any problems.

Today I have removed the big rock that was weighing down the wood. The rock was having an effect on the water flow. And also shading some of the light into the tank. So I will be looking to see if they extra light is now there is no shade, is still OK for the plants.
I will post some pictures later when the lights come in :)
 
Hi @tomerus I can only speak from my experience but I have experienced algal blooms in my setup.

The things I would have done differently from the start are as follows:
1) Ensure that CO2 levels are at 30ppm at lights on every day. I had an issue with a blockage in my regulator which saw me without sufficient co2 until I cleared it. Its one variable you can keep constant fairly easily.

2) Think more about hardscape placement and flow. I've recently changed my lily pipe to a downward facing outlet as opposed to the standard output that flows just under the surface. Not only should that help minimise CO2 wastage (i think?) but it directs flow towards an area that I had green hair algae and staghorn algae recently. It may turn out that the flow suffers somewhere else but this comes down to hardscape placement which Im unable to change now.

3) A dimmer allows for more flexibility when trying to balance your tank. If CO2 and nutrients remain the same, light will be the variable you can alter when you need to, provided you keep up with maintenance. 50% once a week after tank cycling is advised but to be honest, i've had to change it about twice every 10 days. As @Kimbubbley mentioned, change as much water as you can initially.

Ive asked about the lighting and done some research online and its 269 PAR rating does seem quite high for a 40cm deep tank but again others may know more about the subject. What i would say is think about plant selection. I have some Anubias and Buce that would probably have preferred some more shade but they're doing ok. Again, with a dimmer you're not stuck with that intensity if it does become a problem.

I hope some of this helps, I've been chasing my tail so to speak through inexperience with CO2 injection but I have learnt from it through trial and error and also help from many of the members on the forum. You learn from your mistakes so don't despair if you have any issues, it might not be anything you could have helped after all.
I'd just say enjoy it and don't think twice about asking for help, even if its just to confirm something you think is the case 👍
 
Hi all.
Regarding the Superfish HOB Filter with these sets, has anyone stripped one down and redone the filter media? I like the profile of the filter for limited spaces and was wondering how it will work out?
Take care.
Simon
 
I bought one if these just over a month ago to house crystal reds and I'm very impressed. The tank build quality is good, the light is excellent, the HOB as supplied is useless but becomes acceptable after a few modifications and replacing the filter media.
I also bought a programmable controller for the light, which gives the light it's excellent rating. As a package, it's superb value for money, especially taking into consideration that my wife bought it for me as a gift!
 

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I bought one if these just over a month ago to house crystal reds and I'm very impressed. The tank build quality is good, the light is excellent, the HOB as supplied is useless but becomes acceptable after a few modifications and replacing the filter media.
I also bought a programmable controller for the light, which gives the light it's excellent rating. As a package, it's superb value for money, especially taking into consideration that my wife bought it for me as a gift!
Hello, could you share how you modified the filter please? I also have one and I want to get out of the cartridges nonsense. Thank you.
 
I took out the cartridges, put coarse foam in the first section and mini siporax held in filter bags in the second and third.
Seems to be working ok in a heavily planted low tech tank.
 
I removed the cartridges and added some pvc pipe fittings to redirect the flow to the bottom of the chamber, then put a sponge on top of that, then biohome media. It can be a pain to prime but once primed it's great.
 
I bought one if these just over a month ago to house crystal reds and I'm very impressed. The tank build quality is good, the light is excellent, the HOB as supplied is useless but becomes acceptable after a few modifications and replacing the filter media.
I also bought a programmable controller for the light, which gives the light it's excellent rating. As a package, it's superb value for money, especially taking into consideration that my wife bought it for me as a gift!

How did you shrimp proof the hob inlet?
 
The internals are next to useless. I removed the cartridges and using some pvc pipe fittings, redirected the flow to the bottom of the chamber, through a piece of sponge with a slit cut into it. I placed media on top of that. It can be a bit of a challenge to prime but imo it really improves the filter.
 
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