General Advice On Various Bits

[scubadoo]

Well my first thoughts of starting out with a biorb have been thoroughly quashed.

So just about the only place I have for a different tank is in a corner so thinking about a Juwel Trigon 190.
Any comments?

Like the look of the tank generally and have seen them for about £360 including basic lights, filters etc and cabinet.
Have read somewhere tho' that people have concerns about Juwel's filters ? Can anybody shed light on this?

Also, since its going in the living room it all needs to be really quiet - so I can convince the mrs!

Will also have to start thinking about the fish -

Hmmm what to get .........?
Want nice colours, small shoaling fish, catfish or two, shrimp ?

Mrs wants to look after plants tho' but all that CO2 stuff sounds complicated.

Any advice greatfully received

ta

S

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup from what I've heard juwel filters are a bit rubbish, I've a juwel tank but I bouhgt it 2nd hand with a different external filter. If you want you can easily take the filter out and change it for another, try the fluval or Eheim ones, think they're the best. It's really going to depend how you stock it if you need to upgrade the filter, some fish produce more waste than others so you'd need a better filter. Not my field of expertise but I'd say once you've decided on your stocking post it in the hardware bit asking about filters and I'm sure someone will be able to advise you.


For plants don't worry too much about co2, just research what plants are hardy and can do without it, then if you decide later you want a new challenge then you can upgrade the lighting and get co2 and go for different plants if you want too. But there's plenty out there you can grow without co2 and super strong lighting. Or if you just don't want the hassle at all, fake plants are an option, a lot of people don't like them but it's down to personal preference, if you want low maintenance it may be the way for you to go.

That tanks about 50g so aim for about 50 fish inches (get the adult sizes). You could get loads of small lively fish in there would look really nice, check out things like harlequin rasbora's, danio's, molly's, platy's, look in the fish index in the live bearers section, then I'd look for maybe a pair of something a bit more showy just to add some interest, maybe some dwarf gourami's. Then maybe a shoal of cory's, really great active little fish that run around the bottom of the tank, then maybe a catfish, something around 6-8 inches as a bit of a showpiece for the bottom of the tank, or one of the smaller plecs.

good luck and enjoy!

 

[scubadoo]

Thanks miss wiggle.

Probably suck it and see with the filter - not literally

Its good to know that you can get plenty of plants which dont need special equipment. I'd like quite a well planted tank - maybe a mix of real and fake ? If you can do that succesfully.

I had been thinking along the lines of loads and loads of small fish, but I think that a coupe which are a bit showy could be a good idea.

S

 

[seanc]

A mix of fake and real can work if your willing to go the expense of decent silk fakes rather the plastic ones which stand out a mile. For the real plants, try; hornwort java moss water lettuce japanese moss balls christmas moss and amazon swords; all need no special care although obviously they appreciate it. If you go for the other end of the scale a bag of laterite, and seachem flourish will do more good than any expensive co2 regulation system and lighting upgrades.. even the addittion of a simple yeast based c02 diffusing system can do a world of good and costs next to nothing(see the diy section in plants).

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Thanks miss wiggle.

Probably suck it and see with the filter - not literally

Its good to know that you can get plenty of plants which dont need special equipment. I'd like quite a well planted tank - maybe a mix of real and fake ? If you can do that succesfully.

I had been thinking along the lines of loads and loads of small fish, but I think that a coupe which are a bit showy could be a good idea.

S

no problem, one of our filters you do have to suck though!! the thing to start it is bust, got it free with a tank a while back, Ian's a few spares lying around though, think were going to put one of them on, only had it a week or so, not looking forward to cleaning it out cos we'll (i.e. Ian will) have to suck it through to start it again

yeah you can mix real and fake plants, as seanc said get good quality silks not plastic ones.

 

[scubadoo]

thanks for the plant guidance seanc & miss wiggle.

I hate the plastic plants, so silk it is then, interspersed with some real green stuff!

Will real plants take to a sand base rather than gravel ?
I prefer the cleaner look of sand, but not sure what types are suitable - I've seen play sand mentioned, but dont know if a slightly coarser or sharper sand would be a better bet.

ps good luck with the filter

 

[Miss Wiggle]

from what i know sands better for most plants than gravel as the gravel can crush the stems and roots.

yes use play sand..... aquarium sand is a rip off, anything else might have stuff in you don't want. Just get play sand and wash and wash and wash and wash it before it goes in the tank

 

[seanc]

Sand can damage roots too but should be fine as long as the plants you try arent too delicate. If you want I can send you a few cuttings of simple to grow hardy plants if you send me a stamped adressed jiffy. Keep an eye out in plants swap section or buy and sell for free/cheap plants

 

[scubadoo]

many thanks for that offer seanc

i'm off on hols soon, and will then aim to get the tank and set it up.

If I could pm you at the right time then that would be great.





scuba

 

[seanc]

Yeah of course, may take a week or so to get them back to you though as I have a fair number of people interested in cuttings, and some do take a while to grow.