150g for Suki the Fahaka- updated pics 1/14

[LooksLater]

Thanks, guys. I think she's definitely looking forward to meeting these tasty, tasty interlopers.

[LooksLater]

Okay, so I finally got this stuff in yesterday from Big Al's....woo hoo!



And now I'm just waiting for my second 2262 order, from Marine Depot this time...had to send the first one back, after all this waiting. What a nightmare. :furious:

Here's what happened (a cautionary tale):
I'd ordered it from some place online we'd never used before- valuepetsupplies.com (they also fill orders on amazon and ebay, so watch for them). They had a good price, decent reviews, and were showing it "in-stock" on the website. Days go by, and they'd processed the $$, but we still hadn't gotten a confirmation email or tracking info, so Roy calls. They tell him it actually WASN'T in stock, oops, it's on backorder- but due to arrive the next day, no sweat. A couple more days go by. We call again. They say oh, it actually DID arrive yesterday, the warehouse just hasn't gotten around to updating, etc. Due to ship tomorrow, so sorry. Okay.
I get a call the next afternoon...she says, "Oh, it turns out the box was damaged in shipping. There's a hole in the box...but don't worry, our Quality Control opened it and thoroughly checked every component, they say it is in perfect shape, everything is fine. Can we go ahead and mail it to you, for say...$15 off? Or we can order another one from Germany and you can wait?" She also refused to upgrade shipping, saying priority "always ends up getting lost".

:aua:

I give in and agree after giving her a good lecture on customer service, seeing as how that was the only one they ordered, (though the website is still showing it as "in-stock", which I told her she might want to change), on the condition that they get it in the mail that day, and if there's anything wrong with it, they'll pay return shipping and give me a refund no questions asked. I'm pretty hot at this point, but I want it...bad. And fast. So I cross my fingers.

It finally gets here. There are at least two holes in every side of the box except one. I dig through, checking everything, and sure enough...the plastic casing on the pump is cracked, split into pieces and falling off. I'm thinking, there is no way they didn't see this... I call for my return label and got the lamest apology I've ever heard. "We just don't have control over things like this, unfortunately...QC must not have caught that this time." ...
Are you kidding? There were 4 broken pieces of plastic in the bottom of the canister. I also tell her their website is STILL showing it as in-stock.
So back it went. Here's hoping they can handle my refund better than they handled everything else. I swear, I'll never order from a new place again without people I know to vouch!! Jeez. Caveat emptor...for realz.

So I price check and call around...Marine Depot is the best! I got them to price match another never-heard-of-them website, so I'm getting the 2262 from them for about $100 off their price. And they shipped same day. :love: It's almost here, I can't wait to get that beast started...!!

Anyone else have ridiculous problems like that with mail-order fish stuff? I didn't think any company could do biz that way anymore, not and STAY in biz...

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: 150g Build Thread for Suki the Fahaka

Care to share the name of the first site?

[LooksLater]

Care to share the name of the first site?

Oh, don't worry. As soon as I get my refund, they're getting blasted at every site I can find that will take a review.

[nightster]

Care to share the name of the first site?

+1

EDIT: Sorry didn't see you had already posted...

[LooksLater]

The 2262 got here today! That was fast.

ULTIMATE POWER!!


I played Eheim Tetris for a few hours, picked through the old Pro II (now retired; RIP you POS...!) then filled it with-
4L of new+ 1L seasoned Ehfimech,
a solid 2'' layer of eheim Fix (about 4L I think),
4L of new Substrat pro + 1-2L of seasoned Ehfilav,
then a single layer of filterwatte.

Hopefully that works well for me. I want to strike a balance between mechanical and biological, figured I'd try the recommended media stacking and see how it does. Then maybe start tweaking. Who's got one of these or a similar giant, and what do you keep in it?

This thing is a BEAST!!! The flow is killer, I am so thrilled with it... I'm going to have to tweak the plant placement, and figure out where I want all this flow- it's trying to lay some of the jungle val down right now, hahahah.

Now that I've got the big ugly HOBs off the front and it's cleared up, I'll take a video tomorrow...but for now it's bedtime, I'm beat!
g'nite Box!

[eklikewhoa]

I love these things, coarse sponge on the bottom, filled to the top with bio and then a layer of fine padding.

Most of mine in the past have been filled completely with ehfisubstrat pro.

[mnemenoi]

Woo Hoo, no more HOB's!!! Looking forward to seeing that beast. Now to get it all seasoned up and cycled, then we can finally add the queen to her new tank.

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: 150g Build Thread for Suki the Fahaka

I love these things, coarse sponge on the bottom, filled to the top with bio and then a layer of fine padding.

Most of mine in the past have been filled completely with ehfisubstrat pro.

That's what I would do as well

[LooksLater]

I love these things, coarse sponge on the bottom, filled to the top with bio and then a layer of fine padding.

Most of mine in the past have been filled completely with ehfisubstrat pro.

That's what I would do as well

Thanks guys.
So mostly bio, with enough mech to keep it from getting plugged up too fast? I'm assuming you were running a Fx5 or something else for mostly mech, Quoc? How often would you have to service the bio canister?
Sunny do you do the same, run focused mech in a canister...you have your wet/dry for bio,eh?

I just learned for the first time that ehfimech is considered mechanical, with possibly some bio benefits. And I've been using that stuff forever, as bio. haha. Der. With Suki's messiness...her filters pick up so much detritus, I'm hoping all the mech at the bottom, then coarse pad will help stretch out maintenance.
I'm looking forward to the back-flush feature on here, that's pretty sweet and I can see that helping a lot.

I'm going to put the 2017 on this tank as well- but that's probably way too weak to use as mostly mech, and really get anywhere, right?

[LooksLater]

Woo Hoo, no more HOB's!!! Looking forward to seeing that beast. Now to get it all seasoned up and cycled, then we can finally add the queen to her new tank.

I know. It looks so much better without those ugly thangs on the front...now the 110's on the side of Suki's 45, ugly-ing IT up! I don't think she knows what to make of the lid being propped up. She keeps patrolling and watching the surface- "is is food time? Now? How about....now?"
Can't wait to get her moved! She's going to be so happy...:love:

[LooksLater]

I trimmed and moved a few plants that were losing leaves, and messed up the nice clear water today, haha. Still a work in progress, I might rearrange as needed once I figure out how flow is going to work in here.

Got my good friend at Barking Squirrel Photography Studios to snap a couple shots for me, since my camera is dead...and lets face it, I'm not very good with it anyway...here's some pics, finally!

[Andrew_B]

Very nice!! That long piece of wood is kind of awkward how it sits now. I think if it was more horizontal, near the sand bed and only have the big right piece of wood and plants go high in the tank, it could look better imo. That big piece of wood is such a show piece, show it off!

Looks good regardless!

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: 150g for Suki the Fahaka- updated pics 2/9

Thanks guys.
So mostly bio, with enough mech to keep it from getting plugged up too fast? I'm assuming you were running a Fx5 or something else for mostly mech, Quoc? How often would you have to service the bio canister?
Sunny do you do the same, run focused mech in a canister...you have your wet/dry for bio,eh?

I just learned for the first time that ehfimech is considered mechanical, with possibly some bio benefits. And I've been using that stuff forever, as bio. haha. Der. With Suki's messiness...her filters pick up so much detritus, I'm hoping all the mech at the bottom, then coarse pad will help stretch out maintenance.
I'm looking forward to the back-flush feature on here, that's pretty sweet and I can see that helping a lot.

I'm going to put the 2017 on this tank as well- but that's probably way too weak to use as mostly mech, and really get anywhere, right?

Sasha, I have my 2262 canisters set up with mostly bio media with one bonded blue pad on top doing mechanical and my wet dry filters also have a bonded blue pad under the drip trays, that's the only mechanical filtration I have TBH. Water stays pretty clean, helped with 90% weekly WC.

So I see you've completely glossed over the "mech" in EhfiMECH? I take it you've already filed that in the blond moments drawer?

IME, back washing doesn't really do much for me. Just better to properly clean the canister every 2 - 3 months, give or take

[LooksLater]

Re: 150g for Suki the Fahaka- updated pics 2/9

Thanks, Sunny. That makes sense. Though I'm surprised that's all the mechanical you run. Your tanks always look so ridiculously clear! Though I'm sure the W/C schedule helps.

...and yes, totally did not acknowledge the MECH in the name. Filing that in my (all-too-small to hold all my blonde moments) drawer!

Sent from my C5155 using Tapatalk 2