Juwel Tank Question

[Squid]

Hello,

So glad i found a forum where i can ask these daft questions without the heavies being set on me..

After going to Badshot lea garden centre and looking at their tanks.. (quite like this place ;-)), and searching around the forum, i have decided on a Jewel aquarium.. Quite like the way they are set up with the filters etc in the corner.. the tank i inherited has a fluval 2 thing.. this is a right pain the posteria to do the filters.. bah..

anyway, back to the point.......... I am trying to decide upon which one.. now.. i quite like the Rekord 120, as it is fairly slim and so wont impose into the room that much, or the Rio 125 or 180 look nice too...

The main thing that is making me look at the Rio range is the hood.. I like the way it has the double flaps, that when both raised enable the lights (if which there are 2 i believe) and hood roll backwards and forward to make room.

I have not seen the hood on the rekord 120, as believe it or not, it was stolen from the shop. It is difficult to tell from the pictures what the hood is like, and whether access for water changes and getting hold of the filters is as easy.. can anybody comment on this.

Also, im trying to figure out wether to go for the beech or the black.. the beech is a different colour to the wood in the room, but some people think looks better, or the black, which would maybe better as a contrast to the wood. who knows.. any comments.?


One last thing.. water changes. now i know you need to do them once a week or so and change about 25%, and you need to add the stuff to make tapwater safe to put into the tank. but..... do you just add cold water, or do you use a separate themometer to heat it up ready in another container, or do you try to get the temp similar before adding by using warm water, or do you leave at room temp for a while.. im sorry if this is a daft question, but i just want to do it right, and most people say about the change, but not in detail..

Oh. one last thing.. bloke in the LFS said real plants look better and they are no trouble.. now i know they look better, but are the no trouble.. any recommendations on the plant front.

i need to add a couple of fish from an old aquarium i inherited... couple of barbs and a sucky sucky bottom thing. with the tanks i am looking at above,, could anyone recommend what fish look great and could live with the barbs.. and an idea of numbers.. i have seen some people reel off a list of what is feasible with other tanks.. this would be a great help.

Thanks
Squid

 

[timmystood]

Hi!

Can't really answer your question about the Jewel tanks because i've only ever seen one! Seemed OK!

As for water changes - what I do ---
1. Empty about 20-25% of the water
2. Fill up a bottle or something with tap water
3. Add water conditioner straight away and shake the bottle
4. Put it straight in the tank
* I know this lowers the temp of the tank but i've found it only lowers it by about half a degree and a new heater will put this right in no time.

Sure somebody else will be able to answer all your questions but I hope this helps.

 

[Squid]

2. Fill up a bottle or something with tap water
3. Add water conditioner straight away and shake the bottle

Thanks for your answer.. quick question.. 25% of 120 litres is 30 litres.. so thats 10 trips back and forth with a 3 litre coke bottle (if they still do them ) ... is this what you do? or are there bigger alternatives?

 

[timmystood]

I only have a 54 litre tank and I use a 3 litre mini-water-cooler bottle I got last Christmas! Works Fine!
Didn't no they do did 3 litre bottles of coke!

Yeah it does mean a bit of work but its well worth it!
Glad I could help

 

[Clairel]

I change mine with a syphon straight into a bin (50 Litres) as i take around 45 litres out, then i refill with a 10L bucket, so thats around 5 trips for me, back and forth lol

The Juwel tanks are GREAT !!

I have a Juwel 180 Vision, and am going to see 2 more Juwel tanks this evening that i am going to purchase, a Rekord 96 and a Rekord 120.

I had an accident the other day, with a hex tank (not juwel) and it cracked, so im in need of a tank desperately as all my fish are being housed together at the moment lol

C x

 

[CFC]

Of course there are alternatives, those of us with tanks that hold multiple hundreds of gallons would be finishing water changes the day it was time to do another one otherwise I use a hose conected to the tap to refill my tanks and add the water conditioner before i start refilling and as it fills.
A 25% water "shouldnt" affect the temperature too badly but you should still moniter it and if it drops more than 2 degrees centigrade either stop refilling and wait for the tank to warm back up or start mixing a little boiling water from the kettle into a bucket of cool water to match the temperatures more evenly.

There is a lot more to keeping live plants healthy than most stores will let on, you have to have the right spectrum of lighting, enough wattage of light (usually 2 watts per US gallon) and will have to add some form of nutrients on a weekly basis at the very least.

If you really like the juwels (personally i wouldnt recomend them but they do seem to be popular) then the Rio range are the better tanks, the Rekord has a solid fixed position hood and only one lighting tube which will make growing plants more difficult.

 

[SkiFletch]

I use gallon milk jugs, well rinsed of course . if your tank is pretty large you could think about getting a 5 gallon bucket too. I try to get the water somewhat close to temp especially in the winter... basically take the edge off it and make it feel luke warm and you should be fine.

as for plants. if you have a lot of light, you can usually grow most plants. 2 watts per gallon will usually do it, so you'll have to think about that when looking at your tanks. I cant comment about Jewels since I've never seen or owned one... I hear some good things about them from all you English members around here so I assume they're nice tanks . if you want live plants, add up the bulb wattages and see if you need more

 

[timmystood]

SkiFletch good to see someone else using Ehiem! All my equipment is from them! The tank, the filter, the lights, the heater, the thermometer etc. - Haven't had a problem with them yet!

Sorry - I know its off the subject but i'm just glad to see someone else using Ehiem!

 

[Clairel]

I have a 5 litre bucket, and a 10 litre bucket, i prefer to put my water back into tank with the 10 litre, as its not as many trips then lol

C x

 

[Squid]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.. great help.


any ideas on the fish front?

I change mine with a syphon straight into a bin (50 Litres) as i take around 45 litres out, then i refill with a 10L bucket, so thats around 5 trips for me, back and forth lol

The Juwel tanks are GREAT !!

I have a Juwel 180 Vision, and am going to see 2 more Juwel tanks this evening that i am going to purchase, a Rekord 96 and a Rekord 120.

I had an accident the other day, with a hex tank (not juwel) and it cracked, so im in need of a tank desperately as all my fish are being housed together at the moment lol

C x

By the way.. what was the accident..? how did that happen?

 

[timmystood]

Her little lads where fighting on the sofa and one fell back onto it and it cracked! She was making coffee in the kitchen and heard gushing water and her lad came out and was saying he's sorry!

There you go Clairel i've saved you a job!

 

[Clairel]

Her little lads where fighting on the sofa and one fell back onto it and it cracked! She was making coffee in the kitchen and heard gushing water and her lad came out and was saying he's sorry!

There you go Clairel i've saved you a job!

Lmao!!!!!!!! You are too good

Yes thats what happend, my boys were acting about on the sofa, and one of them fell backwards into the tank with the back of his head, cracking one of the panes of glass Yep i heard gushing water, and though oh no, omg !!, and i couldnt believe my eyes, water gushing out everywhere, all i could think of was my boys head and the fish lol, even though my wooden floor was saturated with water ah well it mopped up, and theres no signs of any swelling on the floor now... and yes my little boys head is fine, but i had to house all of my fish from that tank, into my other tank, so there is now too many fish in there, hence the reason i am going to buy 2 new ones tonight lol

C x

 

[Squid]

OOoooppsss!

 

[morgan]

Hi Squid, I have a Juwel Rekord 96 and I have been pleased with it for the reasons you said. However one thing I don't like is that due to the design of the hood and flaps you have to take the hood off for some things. It is then a complete pain as you can't see anything much! I am upgrading shortly to a larger tank (been to a different lfs today with my tape measure!)and I am looking forward to doing maintenance with the lights in place. It will be much easier.

 

[Clairel]

Im going to look at a Rekord 96 and 120 tonight, i was thinking about putting guppies into the 96, what do you think? I hear what you say about the lid, but other than that, is this tank ok?

C x