Juwel Rio 180 Filter

[mak]

Hi, my Juwel  Rio 180 came with 3 Poly pads. Do I need to put all these in the filter and what order do I put my filter media in? Thanks

 

[b3cca]

No, just 1 white polly pad on top which needs to be changed and renewed every week or so.
Waste of money buying those Juwel ones, just buy a whole roll of filter floss and cut your own out works out far far cheaper
 
Not sure about that excact one but the filter pads are 
 
White  - Floss
Black  -  Carbon
Green - Nitrax
Blue    - fine/course sponge
 
from top to bottom on my rio 125 the correct order is ;
 
White floss
Black Carbon
Green Nitrax
Blue course
Cirax basket
Blue fine
 
I do not use carbon one though. And do not replace those other blue and green ones every few months like recommended -- leave them in there until they are basically falling apart

 

[mak]

Thanks, my tank didn't come with a thick white sponge. Should I have one of those? So have u got a Rio 180 too?

 

[b3cca]

no i have a rio 125 and a rekord 700.
 
Are your polly pads not white ? they shouldn't be thick they just go on the top, the juwel filter works kinda like a skimmer so the floss or top polly pads are what catch the crap

 

[mak]

My polly pads are white. I have had one in for 4 days and already it looks brown. Have you live plants? if so, do you have to feed them or can you just leave them?

 

[b3cca]

Yeah you may need to change that pad every week or so, that why it's cheaper to just buy a big roll or sheet of filter floss and then cut your own.
 
I have plants but only low tech like ferns, mosses, anubius, elodea, pennywort etc never fed those plants nor do i use lights and they do fine. Obviously some plants definately need a more high tech set up

 

[mak]

Sorry about all the questions. Do you use a Cirax sponge? my Rio 180 didn't come with one.

 

[the_lock_man]

B3cca, why are you recommending that the top pad be changed weekly?

 

[Sophie]

http/www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.seapets.co.uk%2Fcustom-content%2Fpdf-files%2FRio_180.pdf&ei=H2DEUefVNY370gX2xoAg&usg=AFQjCNH8WtuxCvKhmumxNs4ieQbdq77a7w

Do tell me if that doesn't work - using my phone!
It should download a .pdf file of the Rio 180 instructions which tell you the order needed
If not, google 'Juwel Rio 180 Instruction Manual' and the top should be a seapets .pdf file to download

Have you live plants? if so, do you have to feed them or can you just leave them?

Did your Juwel come with the T5 (thin tubes) or T8 (thick tubes) lighting?

 

[b3cca]

B3cca, why are you recommending that the top pad be changed weekly?

 
Well week or so , whenever it gets clogged or gross looking as it's internal the i figure all the crud it collects will still be sitting in the tank
Mine is only around 3 inches by 2 inches in size and is totally full of crud and pretty much blocked or disintigrating after a week or so.

 

[mak]

Do u use a cirax sponge? I put one into the filter today. Also since buying plants , I have a few snails in my tank. Are these good for the aquarium?

 

[Smelliot]

When I originally got my tank I replaced the pads when it said to, however I soon realized what b3cca said, it's pointless and extremely expensive. I just buy the whole rolls of the white "floss" and every now and again wash out the filter pads in a bucket of water I removed from the tank; this prevents the beneficial bacteria from dying.

- Snails are fine for your tank unless they become a problem as they reproduce fast however if you don't want them any more just get some clown loaches they'll be sure to eat them all.

 

[Sophie]

When I originally got my tank I replaced the pads when it said to, however I soon realized what b3cca said, it's pointless and extremely expensive. I just buy the whole rolls of the white "floss" and every now and again wash out the filter pads in a bucket of water I removed from the tank; this prevents the beneficial bacteria from dying.

- Snails are fine for your tank unless they become a problem as they reproduce fast however if you don't want them any more just get some clown loaches they'll be sure to eat them all.

 
Unfortunately Clown Loaches need to be in groups of 6+ and grow to around 28cm+ so these are not ideal and not really good snail eaters either in theory. My 200L is far too small for them once they're fully grown but that's when they'll go into the 800L as they are only tiny at this present moment - Don't think I'd ever see them again in an 800L!
 
A better alternative would be Assassin Snails or just leave the snails as they are as they consume decaying plant matter and the likes - their life cycle isn't very long as far as I am aware and it takes a long time to become inundated with them.

 

[Smelliot]

 

When I originally got my tank I replaced the pads when it said to, however I soon realized what b3cca said, it's pointless and extremely expensive. I just buy the whole rolls of the white "floss" and every now and again wash out the filter pads in a bucket of water I removed from the tank; this prevents the beneficial bacteria from dying.

- Snails are fine for your tank unless they become a problem as they reproduce fast however if you don't want them any more just get some clown loaches they'll be sure to eat them all.

 
Unfortunately Clown Loaches need to be in groups of 6+ and grow to around 28cm+ so these are not ideal and not really good snail eaters either in theory. My 200L is far too small for them once they're fully grown but that's when they'll go into the 800L as they are only tiny at this present moment - Don't think I'd ever see them again in an 800L!
 
A better alternative would be Assassin Snails or just leave the snails as they are as they consume decaying plant matter and the likes - their life cycle isn't very long as far as I am aware and it takes a long time to become inundated with them.
 

I personally believe clown loaches are fine as they're slow growers and you can re-home them before they get to massive sizes.  They're also great at eating snails, I'm not sure where you're coming from there. 6 is an idealistic number they'd be happy enough with 3 or so with lots of hiding places.