Ever since my wife suggested buying me a tropical fish tank for my birthday I've been like an over-excited kid. I haven't had fish for over 15 years, and i'm fit to bursting with suppressed geekiness (I used to work in an aquatics shop).
So after numerous visits to garden centres / aquatics shops and poring over an issue of PFK I am now the proud owner of a Juwel Rekord 800. Choosing a decent tank without a cabinet or strange dimensions seems pretty tough these days. It seems the current trend is for tiny cubes, or massive bowed cabinets. The ads/brochures make the Rekord range look a bit plastik skuare korners, but in reality I think it looks elegant in a 'form-follows-function' kind of way, and is of a good solid construction.
Anyway, I've opted for some plant-friendly substrate with gravel on top. Filling it up was pretty straightforward (pouring into a bowl to avoid mixing substrates), as was setting up the included filter/heater kit. I put in a few plants, the obligatory piece of bogwood, and sat back to admire my handiwork.
It's cloudy. No, it's murky. Brown. But I'm convinced I can just about see a little bit of green through the circulating sediment.
