Day 1 Planted

I'm declaring "day 1" of the planted tank. Looking pretty good. I just learned that Anubias should have their rhizomes out of the substrate, so I corrected that and will provide an updated pic soon. See the posts below of a list of the plants. As a reminder, this is a 50 gallon tank with 100 watts of fluorescent lighting, eco-complete substrate, and no CO2 (yet). My water is warm, slightly acid, and moderately hard. Reading more: I may be able to add a emerald cory or two tomorrow. More fish in a week.
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Missing dwarf hairgrass and yellow hornwort. Follow-up (AquariumGarden.com)

My email to aquairumgarden.com and the reply:

Hey Vic,
I received my order today (36 Discus Assortment order placed 6/11/09).
Pros:
Lots of plants that traveled well.
Cons:
-Lots of anacharis and yellow/brown hornwort.
-And no dwarf hairgrass as indicated on the web and especially disappointing as I specifically requested some ground cover.

I attached a picture of the anacharis and hornwort.
I don't really care about the yellow hornwort, but it would be nice to have some some ground cover.

Thanks! David

Dear David,

Thank you for your interest in our products and your order with us.

We are glad to hear that most plants arrived in good shape. We apologize for the yellow hornwort: unfortunately, such things happen sometimes with live item shipments especially during hot weather.

Unfortunately, we do not have hairgrass in stock at the moment - we may be able to get some this or next week, we'll make sure to send it to you if that happens. Also - would you please let me know what kind of ground cover you are looking for? We may be able to include it as well.

Once again, we apologize for the issues and thank you for your purchase. Please let us know if you have more questions, we'll be happy to help.

Sincerely Yours,
Vic.
AquariumGarden.com

Nothing more to report.
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Impressed with Hydor Customer Service

Here is the email I received today from Hydor Customer Service!

David

Thank you for the photo. You can't just put those parts back in. I will have to send you a new regulator. I also send you a new CO2 canister. I need the following information.

SHIPPING ADDRESS

The key to this system is to not over tighten the canister. Also make sure there are no sharp edges or debris in the regulator. Follow the picture instructions. You turn the rugulator top counter clockwise to close it.

Once I get your shipping info, I will send you the parts.

Sincerely,

Mike

Hydor USA, Inc.
Customer Service
4740 Northgate Blvd #125
Sacramento, CA 95834
866-493-6787 Phone
866-629-4937 Fax Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it. Read more!

Plants have arrived! (from AquariumGarden.com )

The pics are arranged 1-8 with 8 at the top and 1 at the bottom. The narrative is below. See post below for narrative. Read more!

Plants have arrived! (from AquariumGarden.com)

Pics above are the contents of each bag!
Priority Mail box unpacked. So far so good (pic 1, check jpg label to confirm which pic is which).
First bag labeled Anacharis and Java Fern (pic 2). Second bag labeled Wisteria, three included(pic 3). Third bag labeled Rotala Indica, Anubias Nana, and Hornwort, lots of Hornwort that looks yellow (pic 4). Fourth bag labeled Anubias Barteri and Hygro-gaint (pic 5). Fifth bag labeled Vallisneria-Corkscrew (pic 6). Sixth bag labeled Anubias Frazeri and Sword-Ruffled (pic 7). Seventh bag labeled Vallisneria-Italian and Sword-Amazon (pic 8).

Summary,
Pros:
Lots of plants that traveled well.
Cons:
Lots of anacharis and yellow/brown hornwort.
No dwarf hairgrass as indicated. Especially disappointing as I specifically requested some ground cover. "The plants are selected to tolerate discus tank environment conditions, specificaly - higher temperatures up to about 85F. The plants we include are a collection of several anubias species, hygrophila species, anacharis, hornwort, rotala indica, wisteria, java fern species, amazon and ruffle swords, and also some dwarf hairgrass."
See above for pics of all plants as received.

Reading more: No more here. Read more!

Hydor Help!

Here is the email I sent to Hydor customer care this morning (hydor.usa@hydor.com;
customercare@hydor.com).

Hi!
I've recently been having trouble with a CO2 green NRG Exclusive kit I purchased.
The first time I attached a disposable cartridge I turned the cartridge too tightly and one of the silicone disks tore.
The second time I attached a disposable cartridge I turned the valve in the direction indicated on the instruction picture and burned my hand.
The instructions and instruction picture do not match.
When I removed the disposable cartridge the needle valve came out.

-Can you please give me a diagram of the valve so I can make sure I put the spring and needle in correctly?

-Can you replace the two wasted disposable cartridges?

-Can you explain how to install the disposable cartridge as the instructions in English say one thing and the picture shows another (the text says turn clock-wise and the picture shows counter-clockwise).

Thank you very much.
David

and

Also the instructions read:

"Take the pressure reducer (N) and make sure
that the regulation knob is closed (turn clockwise)
-Fig. 1-, then turn the pressure reducer
upside-down and make sure that the o-ring is in
the correct position and there are no particles or
dust inside the connection or on the top of the
cartridge. (M). Screw on the CO2 cartridge slowly..."

Note that the instructions say "turn the pressure reducer upside-down" and next instruct to "screw on the CO2 cartridge". Having the upside-down when screwing on the CO2 cartridge would seem especially dangerous if someone had turned the valve counter-clockwise as indicated in Fig 1.

Thank you,
David

And here is the rest of it. Read more!