In this video I set up and aquascape the S1 smart aquarium and give you my true first impressions. Because the tank is small (and shallow), I kept the scape simple and let the light do the “spotlight” thing it naturally wants to do—bright center, dim edges—so I built around that with a few lighter stones I’ve been wanting to use for a long time. Substrate-wise I went with a mix I’ve had success with over and over again (a little Eco-Complete, some Fluorite Dark, and a bit of soil-style “live” substrate), then planted it lightly with rescued Buce and a couple Anubias pieces so I could treat this as an experiment instead of going hog wild. Then I get into the part that matters: do I recommend the S1 right now? At this point, no—mainly because the app and light scheduling are confusing, and you have to set your region to China just to connect, meaning commands bounce up to a cloud server and back. I also don’t love that everything is integrated into one-wire “low cable” design, because if you decide you hate the light, you can’t just unplug it without unraveling the whole smart ecosystem. There are a couple neat ideas here (like pausing the pump during feeding), and I’ll keep you updated, but for now the software experience drags the whole thing down.