Fluval Accent Tutorial - Please offer your advice

[nabokovfan87]

Hey everyone,

I know we see a lot of efforts by a lot of people to try and steer good companies in the right direction. Honestly, this is my first time seeing what this tank can do and it absolutely blew my mind when I realized what the "feature" is.  It led me to want to ask so many questions as a hobbyist.

We've all had conversations about how some aquarium equipment and "technology" is 30-50+ years old and hasn't seen a design improvement in such a long time.

We even have a thread here talking about what things we'd like to see in the hobby.  I would like to ask, if you may, please watch this tutorial and provide whatever comes to mind. I don't want to poke fun at the commerical or the quality of the audio/video.

I see so many missing, necessary bits of advice and I really don't understand how this could really be the final version released to help customers.

And yes.... I clicked on this because I actually was interested in the tank and wanted to know more.

For me, the standout line was:

"We we have is the 2-2-2-1-1 rule"

"Wow that's so easy"

I also never thought I'd see a plastic moss ball.

 

I'd love to see one of these tanks after a year of use. Just to see how it held up.

[Guppysnail]

This seems to me to be a video version of a setup guide/user manual for the actual equipment.  For what it was designed for (learn to set up and operate the actual equipment and features you are buying and able to be understood by someone never having set up a tank) I think it was a good set up guide/owners manual.  Tons of overwhelming info on actual fish keeping is not included but the intent of the video was not to teach fishkeeping but how to setup and operate the tank features making it seem doable to anyone without being overwhelming.  I think it would be nice if all companies not just aquarium but all things that require setup instructions would make videos like this. 
 

I would be Leary of the “tea dispenser” function as I know my tea dispenser parts wear out quick and leak. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/17/2022 at 4:02 AM, Guppysnail said:

Tons of overwhelming info on actual fish keeping is not included but the intent of the video was not to teach fishkeeping but how to setup and operate the tank features making it seem doable to anyone without being overwhelming.

I think this was absolutely the premise for the tank.

The only real video I saw online was hobbyist who removed the filter and just used the tank. (missing a section of rim basically)

Things really stood out to me as someone who has seen my siblings struggle and they do want things to be this easy to care for. Something like gravel vac they'd likely never do, but an UGF might alleviate that issue and provide a better design.

It touches on using media but specifically avoids sponge and having to touch anything to clean it (again, besides gravel vac) and I know that's a plus for some.

The bucket isn't overwhelming but seems very small.

I don't like how it glosses over topics like water testing or using dechlorinator properly. At least saying "we have other products that make this easy," seems to be a better way to go than their renewal kits, if you can even find those.

There was a lot of thoughts walking away from this video in comparison to my own experience keeping tanks. It seems like every company wants to have this "all in one" or "tank in a box" situation but doesn't really want to make it affordable (PetSmart) or make it easy.

The last time I went into the big box store the only thing on sale was kits. $200 for a 20G tank. Because it was a tank with a HoB. Nothing else.

The next week I got the tank I wanted for $40.

[Patrick_G]

This checks a lot of boxes for me. I like all-in-one tanks, and I like anything that makes it easier to change water. It's also living room friendly so that's another plus. I hope the pump motor is easy to replace or there could be some long term durability issues. 

[Flumpweesel]

Ok I'm far to impressed by the fact you get buckets with the tank but it does the idea that water changes will be a thing from the get go which is important for first timers

I was also impressed it included a heater which is uncommon in these all in ones and I liked how tidy it all was in the tank.

I have a fluval chi all in one and I just replaced their filter material with my own foam but only after the one it came with had been in dry storage for a few years and had got a bit grotty. For a tiny tank it cycles really quickly and is a really stress free so I would expect the accent to perform well draining the water through the filter seems like a great idea to the extra force will be like shaking the media without splashing everywhere.

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:35 AM, Patrick_G said:

I hope the pump motor is easy to replace or there could be some long term durability issues. 

Yeah. There's a lot of things glossed over.

[nabokovfan87]

I finally have a chance to sit, think, and type out a few notes.  When I first watched this I was very, very confused.

1.  I don't think it's ethically "OK" to offer this tank and not offer the stand. If that's the plan, there should be a "rimless" version that has the decor piece but not the same pump/cabinet integration.  From a manufacturing perspective, this is a VERY easy thing to do.  You buy the tank, you get X items, you buy the stand and you get the products to upgrade your experience and make it easy to WC.  The tank itself should be a bit more standalone or they should've just gone full into the easy WC ecosystem.

2. He wants the new hobbyist to set it up, but then does all the work for her except pouring a thing in.  He was very emphatic in his "I'm not putting this together, you are!".  As a designer, this is part of the job. Being able to let others show you flaws in the product. This is something where my experience viewing it was probably very different than others.

3.  I think the "nicest" feature of the tank is actually the hood design. I saw a video where the light failed and was replaced with an aquasky, there was a pretty big gap on the hood as a result. I've seen their hood designs in other situations, I don't know why (and assumed) the light in there was already an aquasky.  Just a note.  An updated version should just use that light.

4. The "2 buckets of water" should probably be 3. I'm going to suggest 2 buckets of tank water, 1 bucket out of the spout to clean the media.  Gravel vac wasn't often enough for most "new hobbyists" and the focus as mentioned in the OP was to keep things hands off.  I think the best logic for this is to use an UGF instead of the back mounted iteration of that type of filter. you can "revolutionize" the hobby so to speak by actually offering a modern UGF design with a system like this. Just a note.

5. I would've liked to see a nod or mention to real plants. Even to fluval's own products.

6. Maybe there could be an app or something to give you a water test result. This is something extremely common to the coffee industry where you get a strip to test hardness. One of the standard "6 in 1" test strips that give you PH, KH, GH is all you need.  Giving this information to a new hobbyist up front as well as a recommendation of how to use that information should be part of the process. You integrate all of this into an app or video tutorial and that information is easily digested for "good ranges" for a typical community tank.  This also pushes their own products that help to fix any GH/KH/PH issues and would point towards something like a chemical media spot on the filter box.  Even as simple as, "if you ever have sick fish, this compartment can be used to add extra carbon or other products to your tank as well as your heater to keep it out of sight"

7. There should've been some mention of cleaning the filter inlet.  This all goes back to the hood design. Demonstrating the gravel vac and 2-2-2-1-1 rule is weird to me when you're trying to talk through it, but not actually showing the process yourself (their recharge product should've been in the video, or at least just use STD water conditioner).

8. Having 2 months between each gravel vac is just.... too much time for me and is going to lead to a lot of issues with algae I would think.  They should've had a small stool, or a longer hose to at least reach the flow. This highlights a flaw in the bucket design because it's not something that is used to hold the hose in place and prevent a spill in some way.  Aqueon WC system comes with the exact same product, but includes a bucket/rim attachment to hold the hose. Just would've been nice to see that simply integrated into the bucket design.  No replacement of filter media?

9. A heater included but no thermometer might be a pretty simple spot of failure.

10. It would've been nice to see some sort of indication of water line level, evaporation, and making sure water doesn't go below a certain point. Part of their method should include top-offs.  This isn't included because of the whole recharge product system and not use of STD water conditioner.

11. Might've been nice to have an integrated power plug and some cheap in cabinet LED lighting to highlight the spigot. This also would highlight spills and help to give some light for anyone who can't tell they just spilled a bunch of water. Probably should've included a towel too.

Edited May 18, 2022 by nabokovfan87