Juwel Record 70

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BigC

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Many Aquarists are familar with the Juwel brand of aquariums, Whilst these are fab kits, with all you need in one box, there is one major drawback with the hood if you want to grow aquatic plants, there is only one tube and not much room for another. Here follows a bit of a walkthrough on how I installed another within the limited space. see picture below..

Standard.jpg


The only room left is at the front, right before the feeding hatch so that choice is already made for us.

Equipment.jpg


Here is a picture of all the equipment that you'll need to complete the upgrade. It consists of fluorescent light tube (your choice) starter unit, standard Juwel reflector, 2x thin threaded bolts and 2x black plastic screw-cups with caps.

A few tools are also needed and most people will have access to a drill & drill bit, screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

I started by carefully drilling two small holes in the reflector at each end, now place the reflector evenly in the front of the hood where you want it to go, using this as a template drill through the hood from the inside out. Now insert the bolts (mine were a bit long and needed to be cut to size, easily done with a junior hacksaw) through the holes in the reflector, through the hood and through your screw cups. Tighten the little nuts,snap the caps over the cups and you almost done.

Close-upofBolts.jpg


A close-up of the bolts and screw-cups and caps.(available at any DIY store).

Fit your tube into the clips in the reflector, connect your starter unit to the tube and switch on. Job done!!!!

Modified.jpg


Here is a picture with the new tube inserted..

Topviewmodified.jpg


Here is a view from the top after modification (detatched from the tank)

Feedinghatchmodified.jpg


Here is another view from the top (back on the tank) notice I have retained the space for feeding...

Finished.jpg


Here is the overall view.

I hope this will be of some help to owners of this type of aquarium setup who wish at some point to grow aquatic plants. This can be adapted to any of the Juwel range simply by purchasing the correct length of reflector. The whole project cost under £30.
Any comments, queries or additional useful info will be greatly appreciated.
 
Great job! im thinking adding something similar to my rekord 60.
i can only just see my fishies :D
there isnt as much space to play with as the rekord 70 but i`ll have a bash
 
Good idea mate. im share that will help out alot of people. thanks chris
 
ahh, i see what you mean about the access, much better than mine. by the looks of it you can go up one tube size is there any reason why you used a shorter one?

nice tank by the way
 
Well spotted jimbooo, the answer is yes I could and still can, but everything is virtually well balanced at the moment meaning the plants are growing and I am taking cuttings on a frequent regular basis. I decided to do the upgrade and see if algae comes into play, if not I have the option to upgrade again, still using the same starter unit, just a longer tube. That one in the upgrade is a 15ins and I can install an 18ins. Algae is my main concern, virtually non-existant at present and I wish to keep it that way. Thanks for the posts guys, thought it would help someone out.
 
Exellent idea - my son has a Juwel Rekord 120 which he wants the moonlights fitting to so I may do that and fit his moonlights that way

excellent - thanks
 
Yeah! Pressurised CO2 bottle linked to a solenoid valve which in turn is linked to a pH Control unit, which regulates the whole thing. Keeps the pH stable at 6.8.
psssst. Don't tell the wife the total cost.
 
ahh right, proper professional then.

i've gone for the nutrafin with a cart load of yeast sugar and bicarb. seems to do fine. i haven't got an undergravel heater cable so wont upgrade the co2 untill thats sorted.
 
No.... jimbooo, far from professional, that's just the kit, I just wanted the CO2 pressurised because I've read so many posts on forums about how Diy CO2 can be a bit of a hit and miss affair, then I sorta fell off the cliff.
 
Ive done the same mod on my record 120 (mind i could do with 1 more tube),to idle to make a new hood just yet. Pitty juwel dont just make a replacement hoods with the added lighting,lol i would guess theres a market for them some how.
Jimbooo im in the same boat as you with the co2, i use a nutrafin system too with diy mix. 1x t spoon dryed yeast , 1x t spoon sodium bicarb sugar upto the normal leavel of the nutrafin container. Mix seems to last between 2-3 weeks, but like you said seems a bit hit and miss compared to the pressurised systems(mmm wonder if the wife would notice a c02 bottle in the front room lol)
Nice post Big C tank looks real nice m8
 
Thanks Guys for all your comments, If the walkthrough has helped only one person then it has been worthwhile publishing the post.

Regards
BigC
 
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