21 replies to this topic

[Musicman88]

Ok guys, I'm new to keeping fish and this is the set up I've decided to buy. I've been researching it on the Internet and I've heard good and bad reviews. The bad points I've heard are that the tank hood leaks and that the stand bows and the doors stick. Could anyone shed any light on this for me and tell me your experiences with this setup etc?

Cheers

[sadguppy]

Mine is around six months old and is still perfect. I use an external filter instead of the U4 provided but that's more a personal choice, have had no trouble with the cabinet apart from the instructions which were missing but we managed it in the end! You can see pics of it up and running in my signature.

[Musicman88]

That's great. Would hate to spend the money to then having problems from the word go

[Musicman88]

Also, how much room is there when opening the hood for maintenance etc?

[Livewire88]

My Roma 200 is a year old and I cant see how the stand could possibly bow and cause the doors to stick, the two centre pieces of wood prevent this from happening. However the hinge design is poor and Over time the door will drop slightly which will cause the door to stick, this problem is easily fixed by fitting a cheap set of metal hinges.

Also the hood has not leaked at all, and when it is open there is plenty of room to do your maintence, you wont regret buying one IMO.

[Musicman88]

My Roma 200 is a year old and I cant see how the stand could possibly bow and cause the doors to stick, the two centre pieces of wood prevent this from happening. However the hinge design is poor and Over time the door will drop slightly which will cause the door to stick, this problem is easily fixed by fitting a cheap set of metal hinges.

Also the hood has not leaked at all, and when it is open there is plenty of room to do your maintence, you wont regret buying one IMO.

Cheers for that mate. Glad to have advice from owners of the setup.

[delta]

HI there

I have the Roma 200 which I've for over a year, we also have one at work which has been there for about two years and neither of them have ever leaked, dripped or bowed. I've also recently finished cycling a Roma 240.

The lid is in three parts, the centre part being the section that includes the light unit. The beauty of this set up is that you can remove all three parts completely which is so much easier for maintenance.

Having two Romas of my own and another that I look after I would always recommend them, my only grievance is that you don't get the option to purchase them with upgraded lighting.

[Musicman88]

I feel a lot better now thanks to all the good feedback. I shall be ordering my tank within the next week. What's the u4 filter like or would anyone suggest changing it?

[delta]

Well, I had the U4 and a U2 I'd inherited with another tank running simultaneously in my 200L until I upgraded to the 306 external (I used the 306 I that came with the 240L and upgraded the 240L to a 406). I suppose it depends on your stocking. I have noticed a difference for the better with the external plus it does mean less clutter in the tank.

[Musicman88]

Thank you everyone for your advice. My mind is now 100% made up and will be ordering next week )

[sadguppy]

Personally I would decide now whether you want to go external. Then you can keep the u4 boxed and sell it on eBay as new as you will get more for it. I used mine for a month before I switched to an eheim 2217 (Which I got second hand from eBay). I now the U4 in my garage a it's not really worth selling used with no media... Along with a U3, interpet PF2 and an eheim aquaball all of which have been upgraded at one time or another! Oops.

The Eheim classic series are very good external filters but I hear the fluvals are good too. I was looking at the 406 for the 200l tank.

[Musicman88]

Is there any advantages of an external filter and what sort of things should I be looking for when buying one for a 200ltr tank?

[webbie]

Musicman I run my Roma 200n ltr tank on a Fluval 405 in a Tang set up,apart from freeing up space in your tank, an external is a lot easier to maintain,cleaning etc,what sort of set up you thinking of doing?

Edited by webbie, 02 September 2012 - 11:40 AM.

[Musicman88]

I'm thinking of a simple freshwater community setup as its my first tank and don't want to start with anything complicated.

[webbie]

Perfect tank for starting out keeping tropicals IMO,All Pond Solutions do some reasonably priced external filters if you decide to go down that route,and I really would reccomend an external

[sadguppy]

The main advantage is that it frees up space so it looks better. It's also a lot quieter and if you get a good make it makes it easier to maintain and I have found you have to do it less often. People also say it leaves the tank water clearer. The media in my U4 needed rinsing out in dirty tank water) every week and I have done my eheim once since I've had it. It wasn't entirely pleasant but less time consuming in the long run.

[Musicman88]

How often should a filter be cleaned etc? I need all the info I can get.

[webbie]

Externals less often than internals for sure,depends on your stock levels really ,my Tang set up is quite heavily stocked and I give it a quick rinse perhaps once a month when I do a water change ,the filter takes 5 mins to rinse out,in old tank water of course,thats the beauty of externals as opposed to internals,if you are going for an ordinary tropical set up you could leave it longer than that if you want,I do mine once a month as Tangs are such messy eaters

[delta]

Having upgraded from internals to externals I would say go for the external option every time

[Livewire88]

I purchased an TetraTec EX700 with my Roma 200 and it soon became apparent it was not up to the task, so I added a TetraTec EX1200 so I now have two externals running and along with my 50% weekly water changes my tank water is always in pristine condition