IS250 F-Sport Build Thread

[Shahpor]

Nice one.

I used to get annoyed when manufacturers made you take off the inlet manifold to get to the plugs, but since it is once every 60k in this case, it is fair enough.

It is good to get things done yourself.  On a completely unrelated topic, it took me over 5 hours of messing around to fit a UV Steriliser to my fish tank today, and despite being a complete pain in the arse, you can't help but feel good when you turn it on and it works fine.

By the same token, I do miss tinkering with my cars.

[jackcramerr]

I can see some clean oil on the old plug... that golden residue on the white part and threads...

[dougie175]

On ‎10‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 9:27 AM, jackcramerr said:

I can see some clean oil on the old plug... that golden residue on the white part and threads...

I had to double check my plugs this morning after this comment before replying as I thought I had missed something.

I have double checked every plug I removed there is zero oil on any of the plugs they are nice and dry so no leaking seals.

I got the new "customer satisfaction manager" at work to check the plugs this morning also as he was service manager for 25 years and mechanic for Toyota for over 30 years at Batemans in Grange over sands, he confirmed the slight discoloration on the white part of the plugs is consistent with a Toyota engine that has done 6 years on a set of plugs and he has seen very few plugs changed in the last 20 years that didn't have this, he said if it was his car he would be happy with the condition of the plugs

[dougie175]

On ‎09‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 10:19 PM, Shahpor said:

Nice one.

I used to get annoyed when manufacturers made you take off the inlet manifold to get to the plugs, but since it is once every 60k in this case, it is fair enough.

It is good to get things done yourself.  On a completely unrelated topic, it took me over 5 hours of messing around to fit a UV Steriliser to my fish tank today, and despite being a complete pain in the arse, you can't help but feel good when you turn it on and it works fine.

By the same token, I do miss tinkering with my cars.

What type of fish do you keep mate? I was big into keeping Malawi Cichlids a few years back and have also kept a nano marine tank. Love keeping fish but don't have the time anymore

[Shahpor]

Got a couple of Comet Goldfish at the moment, so nothing exotic.  Had a few bristlenose Catfish for a while.  I inherited the Goldfish from someone keeping them in a bowl, so not much choice really

I have only been doing it a year, and it has taken quite a bit of time, effort and money, but I do like watching them swim around.

People make it sound so simple, but I have had so many problem with Nitrates, algae, fin rot, cloudy water, ph levels and so on, that either I am unlucky or it is not as easy as it looks!

If something were to happen to these fish (have had a few casualties already), then I am tempted to convert to marine or cold salt water.  Gone too far now to not have some sort of fish!

[dougie175]

No its not as easy as some people make it sound, understanding the nitrogen cycle will give you a huge understanding of what's happening and why things go wrong!

If it is of any use, this is a video of a tank I built for a side project I had years ago putting fish tanks in home / businesses and maintaining them, this is a Male Only cichlid show tank, I no longer have access to the youtube account, but thought you may enjoy watching it, this is the closet thing I could build to a marine tank without the need for salt and extra work.

The key to any tank is water changes and lots of them!

 

 

[Shahpor]

That is a great looking tank!  Thanks for the video.  I wish I could manage something like that.  Mine is rather boring at the moment with only a piece of bogwood and some plants.

Yep, got my bacteria going with 0 ammonia and nitrites, it is just the nitrates that are going up too fast!

Currently doing fortnightly water changes using DI water since the local tap water has 30 ppm nitrates in it.  Pain in the arse cause I live in a second floor flat.

[dougie175]

1 minute ago, Shahpor said:

That is a great looking tank!  Thanks for the video.  I wish I could manage something like that.  Mine is rather boring at the moment with only a piece of bogwood and some plants.

Yep, got my bacteria going with 0 ammonia and nitrites, it is just the nitrates that are going up too fast!

Currently doing fortnightly water changes using DI water since the local tap water has 30 ppm nitrates in it.  Pain in the arse cause I live in a second floor flat.

On a non established tank mate you want to do them a lot more frequent than that. What level nitrates are you seeing? You can get it down to 30 by doing at 20% changes every other day for the next few weeks, then get it down to every week then eventually for to fortnightly.

I used to do 50% water changes twice a week on my heavily stocked cichlid tanks. The bacteria isn't lost as this is kept in the filter. You can essentially remove all the water and top it up straight or the tap without causing a cycle providing you have a nice well established filtration system 

[Shahpor]

Sorry, should have provided some figures.

The nitrate isn't too bad at the moment, it is on 13.  The problem is, it is going up by more than 1 point a day.  Perhaps I am feeding the fish too much, but I have 2 1 year old comets in a 120 litre tank, so was hoping for a slower build up.

If I could use tap water, I wouldn't have a problem doing many changes.  It is just having to go to the aquarium to get it and then lug it up the stairs that is a pain.  When I get home, I can upload a couple of pics of my current setup if you like?

Thanks for the help, appreciate it mate.

[dougie175]

Ah right thought you were making the di water yourself. You can get ro filets very cheap that could work for you if you're not on a meter?

If changing water more frequent is not possible then you have other options. My first thought would be to increase the filter media to help control the nitrates. Reduce feeding they really don't need a lot. Install some plants, however you do need to be careful to pick something they don't eat otherwise you end up with lots of plant waste which gets broken down and nitrates go up again. 

Onion plants often work well and very few fish eat them

Yeah get some pics up

[Shahpor]

Unfortunately, I am on a metered water supply.

I have tried some 'goldfish proof' plants that have been eaten, but never heard of onion plants before, so will have a look.

Here are a couple of snaps:

 

 

The two plants of on the far right at the front are the only real ones, and as you can see, there is not much left.

The water is a little cloudy as well, hence why I installed the UV Steriliser at the weekend.

[dougie175]

Looks well that mate, is that bogwood in there? It does serve a purpose bogwood but you will find it leeches into your water and will be sending the water cloudy also!

I haven't kept a lot of goldfish if I am honest, but onion plants are usually pretty much left by everything!

Given the filtration and tank volume I would say you should be looking good, that's a nice amount of filtration for 2 fish.

How long has the tank been setup? And how long ago did it finish cycling?

[dougie175]

Also ideally the lower the better with nitrates but even 30 would do no harm to those hard goldfish. 30 is a long way from starting to burn them or anything, obviously below 10 is ideal, but compared to the levels a lot of people keep unfiltered goldfish tanks at 30 is luxury.

If it was my tank I would stop buying di water and do regular tap water changes

I'm lucky as I live somewhere it rains 95% our water is very clean and nitrates are un-detectable, at 30 I would personally look to do regular water changes and just ensure it never goes over 40

[Shahpor]

The tank has been setup and cycled for about a year now.

The problem is, with the tap water at 30 and goldfish being dirty fish, keeping it under 40 would be hard.  Tried for a while before switching to DI.  Nitrates were at 80 at one point!

Apart from the cloudiness, another problem appeared the other day.  I tested the ph for the first time in a while and it was sitting at 4!  Did a water change, which brought it back to 7, but then the next morning it was back to 4 again.  Have taken all the ornaments and the bog wood out of the tank and did another water change and it seems to be hold at 7.3 for the moment.  I am amazed my fish have been able to cope so well!  They are not showing any signs of distress at all.

I do appreciate you help Robb, thanks a lot.  However, I am mindful that we are derailing your thread!  

[dougie175]

Ah right well if it has been established for a year should be pretty well established yeah.

Nitrates at 80 is too high yeah! Guess I'm really lucky in this area having nice clean water. As said you can get RO filters quite cheap, the only issue is they waste lots of water! Even with how clean the water is here about 80% is waste making RO water here.

Be careful with PH drops and rises very quickly like that, fish do not like big PH changes. Fish are very adaptable and can put up with most ph levels and a hard or soft water as long as it is consistent, it is quick changes that stresses them and leaves them susceptible to disease. You do want your water closer to 7ph for goldfish than 4ph I believe, however you want to bring it up slowly.

Unless the ornaments are leeching then they wont effect the PH, the bogwood will however it is known to leech into water that is why people use it to lower PH's

Don't worry about my thread mate there is nothing much happening on my car at the moment anyway, bit busy!

[Shahpor]

Hey mate.

Thanks for the info.

After removing the décor and bogwood, the ph in the tank seems to have stabilised.  It is going down still, but quite slowly.

In the meantime, it was another busy day working on the tank!  Plumbed the UV Steriliser again cause I wasn't happy with, full clean of the tank and pump as well as changing the substrate from gravel to sand.  Of course, this mean the tank is seriously cloudy now, but it is clearing up slowly.

These fish are going to give me a heart attack   Had to carry 30kg up two flights of stairs because of them today.

Still, it is coming along, so hopefully the result will be worth it.

[dougie175]

Been a while since I have done an update on this one, basically at the end of December me and my wife are all set to have a baby girl so "Modifications" to the Lexus have been few and far between.

After buying lots of baby stuff I have realised the IS250 is far from an ideal baby car! I have managed to get the push chair in the boot and hopefully I can fit everything in we need for a baby without the need to go buying an estate car.

Only estate car that actually tickles my fancy is the New Subaru Levorg, ticks almost every box for me apart from the fact I couldn't afford one and getting finance on a vehicle just before having a child and my wife dropping down to maternity pay doesn't seem the most wise decision to make.

Anywho..... I have been baby proofing the car a little in the form of a nice rubber boot protector, and looking at a possible roof rack and roof box combination.

In the mean time the car has been getting lots of valeting and I have finally managed to get the 4 wheel alignment sorted. As you can see with the camber bolts fitted the car is all nicely within spec despite being lowered so shouldn't suffer any additional tyre wear.

Before wheel alignment results, the camber is already correct as I had already set the camber a month or so ago

After:

1 Random picture of the car sat out in the miserable weather beeding away after all my hard work with the Autoglym HD wax treatments, the old girl has had a lot of wax applied in the last few weeks!

So as far as future modifications go I am have decided to probably go with the Whispbar roof rack as they look the nicest, then I have literally no idea on roof boxes, I want something that suits the car and looks ok but can fit suit cases or baby things in as and when required. Any help and suggestions on roof racks and space would be really appreciated

 

[bobmc]

Back on topic then (fish tanks? pah! :)

Seriously though, I hope you find a way to keep the IS-F especially after all the hard work you've put in. 

Congrats on the Baby front although your life will never be the same again.

 

 

[dougie175]

Yeah have a feeling life is about to change forever!

Yeah I really don't want to get rid of the car but also don't want it to get trashed or make me hate it trying to get everything in that just wont fit. Hopefully I can find a solution though!

[bobmc]

Cheap runabout for wife and kids, keep the IS for Daddy :)

 

[Shahpor]

3 hours ago, bobmc said:

Back on topic then (fish tanks? pah! :)

 

 

Oi! fish tanks are seriously business!

Congrats on the baby

I do agree with Bob on the idea of another car though.  I am sure you can use the IS to get away when it all gets too much

[dougie175]

Yeah we also have a Seat Leon as my wife's car so guess we will just have to use that when we need more space! Seems daft but the boot on those things are amazing!

Just don't like the idea of not having the car we use to go away for a day or something

[dougie175]

Another quick update this weekend, managed to get hold of a nice clean Genuine Roof Rack

So made myself some clear paint protectors and got the rack fitted, really nice bit of kit, wont be on very often hopefully, but the plan is to buy a nice roof box and use these on the days I need lots of things plus the new baby!

They don't really suit the sporty theme I have been going with for the car but I also think they could look a lot worse, I'm quite surprised just how quiet they are if you don't mind the slight hum you could leave these on 24/7

[Cracksta]

That looks awesome as always, with 1 kid the IS250 is fine, with 2 i dont know. We have another one on the way (still quite early) so will be looking at possibly selling my IS250 in the new year time :(

No idea what I can replace it, only if the NX was more affordable lol

[dougie175]

1 minute ago, Cracksta said:

That looks awesome as always, with 1 kid the IS250 is fine, with 2 i dont know. We have another one on the way (still quite early) so will be looking at possibly selling my IS250 in the new year time :(

No idea what I can replace it, only if the NX was more affordable lol

Thanks

Yeah hopefully I can cope with the car with 1 child.

Agreed the NX F-sport is something else but then so is the price!