Ben's Tropical Tank

[AmazonFTW]

It doesn't aerate amazingly but I see no need for an aerator. After all, I don't use one and my fish have no trouble surviving. (I have a Fluval Roma 240 too).

Good Luck,
AmazonFTW

 

[L4byr1nth]

Thanks for the reply Amazon - how do you like the Roma?

I went to the LFS for a Juwel Rio 180, but I was really so impressed with the Fluval Roma 240 that I bought it instead.

Ben.

 

[L4byr1nth]

Double post again

My tank arrived, yay! I would recommend Maidenhead Aquatics to anyone - what a level of service... Just awesome.

Tank fits perfectly, is bigger than I needed, and will allow me to stock a load more fish. It also came with some seriously impressive bits of kit.

Just need to find the spare cash to buy the substrate and background. Sand alone is looking like it will cost at least £30.00 from a LFS! Hate to think how much a Juwel structured background will run me.

Ben.

 

[AmazonFTW]

You'll have a job getting the Juwel backgrounds in, you have to cut them up a lot. I do like the tank, it looks very good and especially like the changeable doors so you can have them suit the room.

Any queries on assembly (or anything else) and I'll be glad to help, just PM me.

AmazonFTW

 

[Aqua Tom]

I have the juwel 180 & cabinet. Lovely bit of kit. I am not running the internal filter & have an aftermarket external one.

As for the substrate, unless you are after a very specific colour or texture, just go with playsand, cheap, readly available & safe. Its about £2.50 for 15 kilos & can be found at Argos, B&Q, Homebase etc.

I just used a black plastic sheet on the back of the tank. £7.50 from my lfs

 

[JoshuaA]

I used play sand for some time on my tanks and it's great stuff for £2.99 for 15KGs, just make sure you thoroughly wash it in a bucket. Though I find the yellow glow you get from it quite disappointing. I would advise a dark substrate if you can afford the additional expense, I use black glass gravel and looks brilliant just wasn't impressed with the price I paid for it. However it really brings out the colours of the fish like neons and rams etc.

If you've got a hose pipe fill up at 1/3 of a bucket with sand tilt the bucket and get the hose, spray on the hardest setting and the water will go a cloudy white colour and with the bucket on a tilt the silt in the water will drain out just keep doing that until the water runs clear. After about a minute just let the bucket sit down and the water to settle. Put a penny in, if you can see the penny perfectly or at least as well as you'd expect to be able to at the bottom of a bucket of water then it's set to go!

If you want to make it cheaper you could probably find a nice background on eBay, perhaps none juwel specific but with the same effect you intend.

I was looking through the Juwel catalogue this afternoon and noticed the 3D backgrounds that also have a ridge that run into the tank, could make and awesome planted lay out with that. So many dreams but with so little capital to make them happen for me!

 

[L4byr1nth]

I went to the LFS today to pick up some stuff.

Went with the Juwel background in the end - it looks too good not to!

WARNING: For anyone thinking about using the Juwel backgrounds - they are a bit bigger than the measurements given on the packet!

My LFS almost convinced me I needed 3 (@ £34.99 each!!) to cover my tank, as they are 650mm x 550mm. I went with my gut instinct and just bought two. They were too big to fit! I had to trim both the height and length to get them in.

I went with 'Stone Clay'. Veryyy nice, looks ace. Apparently, they go lighter in colour after they've been in the tank for a few weeks, which suits me fine as it's a bit red at the moment.

Also picked up some Mopani and Sumatra driftwood, and some Elephant Skin rocks to use up the rest of my silicone.

The sand I got looks like normal gravel, just miniature. I have a black background and black gravel in my tank at the moment, and although I liked it at first, it looks quite dull compared to the bright colours coming out of some of the tanks in the LFS.

Ben.

EDIT:: Want to stock my tank with some stuff my LFS doesn't have... Anyone recommend a place to buy fish online from?

 

[JoshuaA]

There are quite a few places to buy online though unless you're buying a large quantity of fish or something very specific which no LFS will stock I wouldn't really recommend it as the postage prices spiral out of control.

Just phone around to see if anyone has any, unfortunately there were a few fish I couldn't stock because no one had them... now they've got them I've done some reshuffling so that I can get them next time they come round.

 

[L4byr1nth]

Quick question peeps!

Assembled the plumbing structure of the tank today - connecting the inlet and outlet to the external Fluval 305 filter.

The hoses supplied are, helpfully, too long to comfortably connect to the filter as it is in the cabinet.

Is it ok to cut these? Are those rubberised end pieces on the hose removable?

Ben.

 

[waterdrop]

The hoses on most external cannister filters are meant to be cut (I certainly cut mine on my Eheim) to achieve the proper setup and to lower resistance (hose surface area is one of the most significant things the pump must work against, so less pipe means more flow and less strain on the pump.

However, I can't speak to the Fluval specifically, so maybe you'd better wait until someone can confirm that you wouuldn't be damaging anything!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[L4byr1nth]

I think these tanks normally come with an installation DVD, but mine didn't (helpfully <_<), and I've not used an external filter before.

Maybe someone with the 305 could confirm where you cut the hoses/what the proceedure for that is?

Ben.

 

[L4byr1nth]

Ok, so today has been rather successful.

Found out the hoses aren't as long as I thought, and probably won't need cutting. Yay, less work!

Got the Juwel background in yesterday (wow, those are a pain to cut to size!) and siliconed it in.

I'm in the process of washing the sand/mini-gravel and rocks, but I found a spare five minutes to snap a few shots of my setup for anyone interested or anyone who wants to see what the Juwel backgrounds look like when fitted.

My borrowed 25 litre tank that got me into fish​

Plastic plants, fake wood knothole, even a cannon... What was I thinking?! My RTB Shark looking cool (not camera shy at all, either!).​

He posed for this one I think...​

Peacock Goby... The picture is blurred because he wouldn't sit still - doesn't like the camera! Kept hiding in the cannon.​

New tank in the background - about ten times more capacity!​

Those Juwel backgrounds really are worth the money.​

Hope you all enjoyed that. I'll keep you updated as I start filling the tank out and planting it.

Ben.

EDIT:: Also, sorry about the messy tank - I've been concentrating on the new one too much recently!

 

[Skins]

It will look good when you plant it up, what are you going to stock it with?

 

[AmazonFTW]

Looking good, and yes the backgrounds are a bit of a hasle to have to cut... Can't wait to see it with gravel and wood etc. in - as well as fish!

AmazonFTW

 

[L4byr1nth]

Thanks for the kind comments!

Stock-wise, all those fish in the 25 litre will be moved over. I'll also be adding 9 more Neon Tetra, a male Gourami (Snakeskin if I can find one - my LFS doesn't have a great selection though ), and perhaps some rasboras or danios?

I'm not sure what to do with plants. I want real ones, but I'm not going to dose with CO2 or ferts, so we'll have to see. I'm also a beginner, plant-wise, so I'm not sure which ones to get.

I want some tall plants for cover towards the back of the tank (and to hide the heater, etc.), and then some smaller ones at the bottom of the tank for the Tetra, etc. I'm not going to go overboard, but I know the fish would really appreciate some more hiding places!

Ben.