Juwel Rio 125 Tropical To Marine Conversion

[dannywrc]

Thought id start my journal as im not far from doing the swapover.

Iv kept tropicals for around 2 years now but since going on our honeymoon last year to egypt and spending everyday snorkelling in the reefs amongst the fascinating marine life iv never looked at my trops the same way since. dont get me wrong i still like them a lot but the diversity and intelligence is not even close to that of the marine world.

heres my tank atm. its currently home to 2 breeding corydoras, 1 baby and 2 others that i bought.. a male and female paradise fish and 2 algae eating loaches.

Iv been gathering bits here or there over the last couple of months to convert my tank to marine. The tank is a Juwel Rio 125. I bought a couple of 600lph powerheads to help with the circulation with the intention of using them when i change to saltwater but im not sure if theyr gonna be powerful enough?

The plan is to empty the tank and remove the standard juwel weir filter in the corner. Remove the background and paint the back black. (looking at the peoples journals who'v done this it looks like it brings out the colours more in the tank).

The light unit is a t8 unit which probs wont be up to job from what iv read so iv bought a hagen glo t5 ho 2 x 24w with hagen glo tubes, 1 blue & 1 white to add to the hood. ill then change the t8 tubes to marine white. actinic i think theyr called?

I managed to pick up a v2 120 skimmer yesterday for £30 which i though was a nice price, this should hopefully do the trick until the tank has settled and i have more money to spend on it.

Today i bought a Red Sea marine starter pack which included 10kg of salt, 3 test kits, a refractometer, buff & calcium supplements for £41 in a sale. full price £60

Theres also another 55w heater to go with the 100w one thats already in there. will this be enough?

Im now waiting for a tank close by to be broken so i can by the rock and start the conversion.

what order do i need to do things? i was going to buy pre salted ro water get it up to temperature and then add the rock. would this be ok?

sorry for the lengthy post

danny

 

[SimoUK]

This should be nice to keep an eye on! xD Im going to Egypt for the first time in january too, and will also be snorkelling, cant wait!

 

[dannywrc]

This should be nice to keep an eye on! xD Im going to Egypt for the first time in january too, and will also be snorkelling, cant wait!

loved it, id have stayed in there all day but it gets pretty tiring after a couple of hours. buy ur snorkels before you go. we managed to haggle over half the price off them in naama bay as we were buying 3. we had to fake a walk away to get the price we wanted tho. not very good quality either. make sure you have your haggling skills on the ready when you get there. they can spot a new arrival a mile away and will have your eyes out as much as poss. as soon as you get a bit of tan they ease off a bit. i enjoyed it, its part of the experience wanted to go back this year but we have a new addition to the family so have to wait until next year.

 

[seffieuk]

Thought id start my journal as im not far from doing the swapover.

Cool



Iv been gathering bits here or there over the last couple of months to convert my tank to marine. The tank is a Juwel Rio 125.

Good tank

I bought a couple of 600lph powerheads to help with the circulation with the intention of using them when i change to saltwater but im not sure if theyr gonna be powerful enough?

You will need approx 20 x turnover, so 125 x 20 = 3125

The plan is to empty the tank and remove the standard juwel weir filter in the corner. Remove the background and paint the back black. (looking at the peoples journals who'v done this it looks like it brings out the colours more in the tank).

I agree

The light unit is a t8 unit which probs wont be up to job from what iv read so iv bought a hagen glo t5 ho 2 x 24w with hagen glo tubes, 1 blue & 1 white to add to the hood. ill then change the t8 tubes to marine white. actinic i think theyr called?

Actinic are blue, I would have 2 x t5 marine white plus 1 t8 marine white and one actinic (blue) Iquatics are now selling replacement hi-light tubes much cheaper than the juwel ones

I managed to pick up a v2 120 skimmer yesterday for £30 which i though was a nice price, this should hopefully do the trick until the tank has settled and i have more money to spend on it.



Today i bought a Red Sea marine starter pack which included 10kg of salt, 3 test kits, a refractometer, buff & calcium supplements for £41 in a sale. full price £60

Not a fan of red sea, but sounds a good price

Theres also another 55w heater to go with the 100w one thats already in there. will this be enough?

It certainly will be

Im now waiting for a tank close by to be broken so i can by the rock and start the conversion.

Good

what order do i need to do things? i was going to buy pre salted ro water get it up to temperature and then add the rock. would this be ok?

Yes indeed, then add the sand

sorry for the lengthy post

It is a good post, questions are always welcome

danny

 

[dannywrc]

so i need to change the powerheads. didnt think theyd be up to the job. my mate said the coralia 2 should be ok with one of the 600's running behind the rock. would this be ok?

not too clued up on the lighting atm, actinic is the blue then . still need to figure out how im gonna fit the t5's to the hood so ill get some pics up of the fitting when i get round to doing it. already bought a white and a blue for the t5 unit so just gonna use them until they need replacing then ill fit 2 whites. I was looking at the iquatics bulbs but wasnt sure about them, ill give em a try when these ones are done.

change of plan for the heating. the 100w one thats on my tank had developed a really annoying hissing noise when it comes on so need to replace it. what wattage heater should i get?

forgot to mention the sand.. i bought a 10kg bag of coral sand but wasnt really sure what i needed. what benefits does live sand have and can i mix the 2? how much do i need?

 

[seffieuk]

so i need to change the powerheads. didnt think theyd be up to the job. my mate said the coralia 2 should be ok with one of the 600's running behind the rock. would this be ok?

Koralia 2 = 2300
2 x 600 = 1200

3500 sounds good to me - stick to having the three, this would give you just over x 25 flow.

You could have one either end and near the top and one lower down to provide flow along the bottom.

change of plan for the heating. the 100w one thats on my tank had developed a really annoying hissing noise when it comes on so need to replace it. what wattage heater should i get?

This my favourite heater - you need the 150w - there are a couple of second-hand ones on ebay at the moment
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rena-150W-Smart-Heater-Heaterstat-Unbreakable-/310239423512?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item483bb5ec18

forgot to mention the sand.. i bought a 10kg bag of coral sand but wasnt really sure what i needed. what benefits does live sand have and can i mix the 2? how much do i need?

How long do you think things could stay alive in a bag of sand with a little water, no heat and flow Live sand is a con! You will probably need a bit less than approx 20Kg - but it is always handy to have some left over for future use
Seffie x

 

[Harry1996]

i added live sand and some coral gravel. 3 reasons why i got live sand.
1 most live sand has different sized sand in it making my tank look more natural.
2 my dad said he was going to buy the sand for me
3 i couldn't be bothered to wash a load of sand

 

[seffieuk]

i added live sand and some coral gravel. 3 reasons why i got live sand.

1 most live sand has different sized sand in it making my tank look more natural.

You can just buy a couple of different bags of sand - I like the caribsea bahama, as it has shells in

2 my dad said he was going to buy the sand for me

Always good to have someone buy you a present

3 i couldn't be bothered to wash a load of sand

I didn't wash my sand, but imagine how much dead stuff is in 'live' sand

Seffie x

 

[Harry1996]

seffie no wonder u got algae problems, u didnt wash your sand. lol

 

[seffieuk]

seffie no wonder u got algae problems, u didnt wash your sand. lol

<Seffie slaps Harry>

Oh I know what causes my algae, I feed too much, stupid women

But very good point Harry

Seffie x

Caribsea Bahamas is already washed!!!

 

[Harry1996]

<Harry crawls back to his corner>
ok danny just buy what ever sand you like as long as its from a pet shop.

 

[seffieuk]

Sorry off topic

Danny, you not going to play tff fantasy football?

Seffie x

 

[dannywrc]

Sorry off topic

Danny, you not going to play tff fantasy football?

Seffie x

no probs wouldnt know where to start with the tff fantasy football. motorsport is my thing

The skimmer arrived today

think ill stick with the normal sand, will it go live anyway with the rock being in there?

gonna buy that heater tomorrow, looks like a really good one. gonna attach one of the pumps to it.

iv just been looking on the aquarist classifieds for rock and i think iv found some very local at £5 a kilo. just messaged the seller to see if hes got 15kg left and how much he wants. cant wait

 

[seffieuk]

think ill stick with the normal sand, will it go live anyway with the rock being in there?

Yes indeed

iv just been looking on the aquarist classifieds for rock and i think iv found some very local at £5 a kilo. just messaged the seller to see if hes got 15kg left and how much he wants. cant wait


Cool, just follow a couple of rules when buying from AC - never pay up front, cash on collection and when you collect make sure you see the rock where it is being stored check if it has heat and flow If he says he has already taken it out of the holding tank be very wary!

Seffie x

 

[dannywrc]

the heater you recommended turned up today gonna get that swapped over tomorrow.

the bloke messaged me back about the rock. he said theres 150kg of rock in a tank that hes selling. no aips, kept corals in there. hes wanting between 75 and 110 for the 15kg. im going away for a week in 2 weeks so im undecided as to whether i should get the rock and tank cycling next week and leave it for the week while im away or wait until i get back. is there any maintenance etc to be done while the tank cycles?