Pecktec
Aquarium Advice Freak
I just set up a Fluval Flora at work. The tank itself is pretty nice. I love the rounded corners, the 3D background and the size of it. I didn't like the enormous box filter it came with so I swapped it for a smaller one (DJ50). I think the little CO2 backpack it comes with is cool but again the defuser is really big. The idea is to fill the defuser with CO2 gas once a day and let the bubbles desolve inside the plastic cups. It doesn't run continuously like regular CO2 kits but it is much cheeper. The bubbles last for several hours. The substrate the kit comes with seems to work well. It does have it's downside though in that its very light and difficult to plant in. I once again augmented (against the printed directions on the bag saying not to) the kit by adding Florish Substrate to the bottom back of the tank to add perspective and some added rooting area. The bag it comes with would be ok for some plants but really does not cover the floor of the tank very deeply so i thought it could use more. Also its very difficult to get it washed out. I rinsed it well and put water in using a small bowl so it wouldn't disturb the water to much, but it was still a mud pool for a day. It has a very nice light but I wanted a bit more wattage per gallon, so I added a second one. I'm not sure if the CO2 will be effective with only 13 watts. I added a Bio wheel to the initial startup as well. It helped get the bacteria going. The tank cycled up in about 9 days. I removed the wheel and it was stable and has remained so. I grabbed lots of Anubis moss and other stuff I could scavenge from my other tanks. I have added a few fish now and all seems well. The Anubis seemed to have handled the planting the best but the other plants are starting to get new growth also. All in all it's a neat kit. You can run with it out of the box but only with low light plants that don't need lots of rooting area. I put a video of the Bio Wheel set up I used to jump start the biological filter. it here on YouTube.
