Sal Goes Rio With A Bit Of Vision

[Salam]

I have always admired Juwel Rios and thanks to an unexpected tax return I was finally able to afford two new ones. Everything happened at the right time - just a few days before the money blessing I had moved the inhabitants of the old tanks into a 4ft tank. They will stay in there until my Rios are ready and then they will go back to their new homes and the 4fter will be converted to marine thereafter. While we were painting the living room the cheque arrived, so everything was ready for me to go ahead and order my tanks. Well, I ordered one first, now the cheque has cleared so the other one is arriving a bit later.

When I moved the old tanks I felt more than lucky that they had lasted. One of them had a long crack at the bottom and it would have only been a matter of time until disaster would have hit. So, fresh start with two new tanks, no chips, no cracks.

Here is the plan:

Both tanks will be in the living room, one left of the fire place, the other right. They fit perfectly in their designated spots. Both will be tropical communities, but I will scape them differently and have different fish in each of them to make them individual. I know many people are happy with one tank, but I am a fishaholic and there are too many fish out there so I am one for many individual tanks.

Tank 1 - Juwel Rio 180
This will be the 'chaos' tank, with very active community fish. I am not 100% sure on stocking yet, I have already sold some of my old stock, but further down the line I hope I can discuss my options with you here. A definite will be platies, cories, and kuhlis.

Substrate will be cat litter and there will be lots of mopani wood.

I got a Fluval 406 filter for this tank. I know it is very powerful, but I like having the strongest filtration possible.

Tank 2 - Juwel Rio 125
This is the 'calm' tank. Definite inhabitants will be my pair of dwarf gouramis and I will add some friends to go with them.

Substrate will be fine, black gravel and I am thinking of a slate/rock scape.

This tank will have a Fluval 306 filter, again very powerful.


Now, because I am a bit of a nutcase I have already named my tanks. The Rio 180 will be called Diego and the Rio 125 will be Dora. You can guess, I have a young son

Diego arrived yesterday. I must say, I can thoroughly recommend using Arkpetsonline. The driver called half an hour before arrival and previously to that I was given an approximate time which meant I didn't have to wait around the house for a day. The driver also brought everything in and checked the tank over with me, making sure everything was fine and it hadn't cracked during the journey. Really good service, better than kerbside delivery.

If you got this far, then well done Now it's time for some pictures:

The excitement!

In place, this is the most perfect fit. I got just over an inch left.

My new view from the sofa.

And the Fluval 406 which will be installed asap so we can start cycling.

Tomorrow we are off to get mopani wood and the back will be glossed in black on Sunday, so by next week I should start the cycle. If anyone can give any good tips on how to remove the internal filter safely I would really appreciate it.

Dora should also be here with me next week, so that will be sorted just after.

So, this is it for now but there will be many updates in the future and I promise to add as many pictures as possible. I hope you enjoy reading this journal and I hope to discuss stocking, scaping etc with you along the way as I really appreciate advice given here.

Edit: I'm sorry for the last three pictures, I don't know why they are not turned the right way. It's right in photobucket. Will try and sort it later.

 

[coldcazzie]

The pictures are right now - sometimes photobucket takes a while to catch up with itself.

I love the Juwel Rio tanks. I've had mine for nigh on 7 years and genuinely don't know how I'm going to feel if/when I have to move it on to a new home...

Anyway the internal filter can be removed with palette knife slid up between the box and the glass. There's usually 4 blobs of silicone - 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom. If you want to scrape the silicone off the glass afterwards I'd recommend a Stanley knife or something similar and lots of patience.

 

[Salam]

The pictures are still sideways for me, but as long as others can see it the right way I'm happy.

7 years, wow! It's good to hear that you love it this much, I think I have really made a good choice then.
Well, we are staying put in this house for quite a while, so hopefully they will be with me for many years too. I just wanted a really fresh start, I never put pictures of my old tanks up as they looked very second hand and were just not nice. Those two will be tanks that I can be proud of and that I will be happy to show.

Thanks regarding the internal filter. Will get the man to do it this weekend. Is it possible to sell the unused media that comes in the box on ebay? Just seems like a waste, but I really don't need it.

 

[coldcazzie]

Yes. I've sold unused and unneeded sponges on ebay before now. I also kept the other sponges, chopped them up and use them in my current filter - if I need to seed a new filter or give some media away I can take out handy chunks of sponge.

Looking forward to seeing how it all goes

 

[dbanner]

Iv had a rio 180, a vision 180, a vision 260 and now i have a rio 400. Excellent tanks IMO

I too don't know how il feel when I need to move the rio 400 on to make room for my custom 8 footer by nd aquatics. I'l be so excited to get the bigger tank but I love the rio so much

I used to be a lover of fluval filters and iv had a U2, 205, 405, 306, 406 and fx5. Iv still got the U2 and 405 but they are not being used. Anyway, the latest one I had was the fx5 which came with my rio 400 as I bought the tank 2nd hand. Tank, stand, fx5, sand, bogwood and 2 300 watt heaters all for £200.

Not long after buying the tank I decided to sell the fx5 and try something different so I bought 2 tetratec ex1200's. I have to say overall these are by far the best filters iv had and they were only £89 each, brand new and delivered

 

[Salam]

Another Rio lover

Blimey, 8ft! I wish I had the house for this. It will be sad, but I'm sure your new one will make you just as happy.

I was looking into the Tetratec filters, but having used internal Fluvals on the old tanks in the past I just stuck with them. I will probably sell all the internals on once I don't need them anymore. Another thing is when I put some possible stockings into the calculator site that shall not be named, the Fluval 406 gave me much better filtration compared to the Tetratex 1200, hence I chose to go with Fluval.

Caz, thanks I shall put it on ebay then. I will also sell the old heaters once not needed and start totally fresh with the new ones that Juwel provides. All those extra pennies can go towards hardscape and planting

 

[dbanner]

In the real world an ex1200 will give better filtration overall than a 406. All filtration drops that the levels stated by the manufacturers when you take into account the media inside the filters. Also a 406 is rated for tanks of up to 450 litres whilst the ex1200 is rated for up to 500 litres. I don't use the spray bar with my 1200's as you get more flow by just using the elbow

Lol yep 8 foot. You see I like big cichlids and big cichlids need big tanks, I want to give them the best home possible. I was looking to get a 6x3x2ft high, but it's no point really because iv got the money and room to get an 8x3x2ft high. So I know if I did spend a bit less and went for the 6 foot I wouldn't be entirely happy

 

[minnnt]

The 406 would be better than the 1200.



(runs and hides)



Thing is, i don't understand where the 'upto X amount of litres' comes from, because i could have a 450 litre tank with a fair few big cichlids in with massive bioloads and a single 1200 would not cope.... But, if i had a 450 litre tank with a hundred Cardinals, some Rams and a few Sterbai Cories, then it would more than likely be fine... It just doesn't add up, there are too many variables imo.

 

[Salam]

Don't run, minnt! It's all your fault anyway, you and your pretty cat litter
I think I got a good filter there, it's just community fish. And a bristlenose (or maybe two). Let's hope they don't poop too much

Db, you got the space and money so the bigger one will be great for you. Looking forward to pics of that giant!

 

[Biulu]

I noticed that the 'upto' is based on the turnover rate. Basically all companies use the 10x/hr to determine for which volume the tank is suitable, but I agree with you Minnnt,there are many other important variables.

It is funny, but here in Canada people are not too hungho about Fluvals (even though I live in the province where they are produced!). Many long term aquarists here say that the materials used are too fragile and therefore the lifespan short. For that reason I took a Rena filter although my set-up came with a Fluval.

Looking forward to seeing the tanks develop Salam! I tend to become a fan of several 'smaller' tanks instead of 1 big one as I have a very varied fish taste. Having more smaller tanks allows me to keep more different fish instead of a few larger ones. So, I think you did very well Salam!

 

[Salam]

Ah well, I got my Fluval now, let's hope it copes with the stocking and lasts a long time.

You are like me, biulu! There are just too many fish out there and I love making all my tanks different. I already got a betta tank, a dwarf puffer tank, a shrimp tank for my son and a tanganyika tank set up, they are all very much species only tanks and wouldn't mix well with the rest. I am also planning a betta sorority, then obviously the two Rios and the marine as my last and biggest project. They have all enhanced the look of my house, it looks lovely wherever you go. Fish everywhere

 

[Biulu]

Lucky you! I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and getting more tanks than the ones I have now would be calling for divorce!

I have integrated my female bettas into my main show tank. It is an Asian themed tank so it fits very well.

 

[Salam]

I was thinking about adding the bettas into the smaller Rio, but I just got a nice tank on ebay that I'm picking up this weekend which will be their sole sorority. Maybe with my pygmys, but they basically get their own tank. Couldn't resist another bargain.

Got a 3 bed house, one of the old ones so fairly big for a British house. Those Americans are probably laughing at our shoebox-sized houses

 

[dbanner]

Don't run, minnt! It's all your fault anyway, you and your pretty cat litter
I think I got a good filter there, it's just community fish. And a bristlenose (or maybe two). Let's hope they don't poop too much

Db, you got the space and money so the bigger one will be great for you. Looking forward to pics of that giant!

I think BIgBruiserAl has an 8x2x2 tank from nd aquatics which is around 800 litres so mine will be very much the like his. I apologise in advance if I got the member with this tank wrong. I'm not getting it for a few months yet, I'm in no rush even though I'm very inpatient lol my rio 400 will do for now. Il get my money's worth out of this tank 1st and give myself some time to plan how I'd like the new tank to look and what cichlids I want in it

 

[Salam]

It's time for the first pic heavy update.

First of all I'd like to share a picture of my son in his new den. Shame we had to brake it up later, but he enjoyed it for a few hours playing with his dinosaurs. It's a good job another one is arriving this week, so he can have more fun

So, this weekend was manic. On Saturday we removed the internal filter, thanks so much for your tips Caz. I let my husband do it. He cut two of his fingers, but don't worry - the tank is fine

I then had the easy job of glossing the back black. Two coats later and voilà! Nice, clean tank background.

On Sunday it was time to go shopping for wood I took inspiration from minnnt's mopani tank, but wanted to create my own thing. There was far too much choice and I ended up piling the pieces I liked at the shop. Other customers must have though I am nuts, but well I am

We came home with a bag full of wood! (and some rock for another tank)

Then it was time to wash out the cat litter, again thanks to minnnt's recommendation

Finally clearing up

Ok, now here goes. I placed the litter and wood into the tank. I tried building arches and create a pretty scape. But I am not 100% sure yet. Maybe it is the lack of planting, or maybe my hardscape just looks rubbish. It's so hard to judge when it's your own tank. Could you please be honest and tell me what you think and if something could be improved? Is it too much wood? Too little? Just right? There will be two bristlenoses, so I hope they'd appreciate it.

Then while I was watching Germany win the football match my husband installed the filter. Dopey him, he didn't seal it first time, so once it got full the water came splashing out. Man, just read the instructions! We got there in the end. Obviously the tank was very cloudy after initial filling, but it is already clearing up today and probably I will be able to start cycling tomorrow.