Tropical Fish Setup

[loachy]

Hi,

Definately want to get into tropical fish keeping; thinking of getting a juwel rio 400 tank.

Anyone had any experience with this tank?

Thanks.

 

[sunflower]

I have a Juwel Rekord 60 and have no problems with it so far. In my opinion they are good set ups.

PS - Welcome to the wonderfuul world of fish keeping and one of the best forums I've ever seen!

Dont forget to join us in live chat too.

 

[Tropjunky]

not sure but just get a 4ft basic tank and use an external filter. Good luck. U'll love keepin tropical fish

 

[Phantom Thief]

to the forum!!!

As long as the tank is big, i am with you!

P.T.

 

[Cavafish]

Hi

I have a Rio 400 and it is great

We dived in at the deep end having never owned a tank of any size before as we were told that large was easier than small to maintain. We've had no problems so far.

With all the heaters and filters etc worked out for you it is fool proof. The one thing we found was that the clips supplied on the lights are plastic and these all broke very quickly - get them to throw in a set of spare metal ones.
Nothing else has given any trouble at all.

I big piece of advice: SHOP AROUND. We ended up paying over a hundred pounds less than the RRP.

Also, if you have the funds, DO do it and get the big 5 footer - you will only wish you had when the bug has bit you hard if you dont!

 

[loachy]

I big piece of advice: SHOP AROUND. We ended up paying over a hundred pounds less than the RRP.

The local aquarium shop:

www.thegoldfishbowl.co.uk

seem to do very good deals on the whole range.

The rio 400 is going for £460; still alot of money but a huge 400l tank!

Just right for a group of playfull clown loaches, and a zebra plec or two!!!!

 

[Joviella]

£460 is a good price. I paid £550 for my rio 400, but I love it so I don't mind. I have had no problems with this tank at all. I recently added an external filter (eheim classic 2217) to run alongside the internal filter already in the tank. I did this because I believe that you can't have too much filtration on a tank. Go for it is what I say.........always go with the biggest tank you can afford!!

 

[loachy]

What do people think of the internal filter/heater setup?
Has anyone had any problems?

A few people have mentioned to me that an external filter is much better.

The filter which comes in the rio 400 pack is a 1000l/hr filter, this would filter the tank about 2.5 times an hour; is this good enough (there will be a number of plants to help keep those nasty nitrate levels down)

 

[rvm]

Instead of getting the Rio 400 which is a good tank. Get a standard 5ft tank and another cabinet. It works out much cheaper.
I was looking at the Rio 400 as I'm getting another big tank soon, but I found it was cheaper this way. Can't remember the site I looked at, but I can get a 120g (rio 400 is only 80g) for £120 the add the cost of the stand. Total was about £300, then add a filter and heater, you are probably looking at £400ish for a bigger tank. Only difference is it's not Juwel!!!
If I remember the site, I will post it up for you.

 

[rvm]

Found it. It's not as cheap as I remeber (£145 for the tank same size as the Rio 400 60x18x18), but it still may work out a bit cheaper than the Juwel.
Here's the link if you're interested.
Just another point. I saw a Rio 400 in beech go on eBay a month ago for less than £200 and it was only 2 months old!!!! Might be worth checking that out too!!!

 

[LadyMinion]

I own a Rio 180 and have to say I am extremely pleased with it. It's very high quality and the combined heater/filter compartment means no ugly equipment peeking over your plants.

I particularly like how deep the Juwel aquariums are - it's all very well having a 5 foot tank, but you feel awful when the huge fish you bought can't turn around easiy because it's too thin. If you do decide to go for a cheaper alternative, make sure you go for one that is satisfactory in all dimensions not just width.

Good luck and have fun - hopefully you'll have many years of happy fishkeeping and it all starts here!

 

[loachy]

Just another point. I saw a Rio 400 in beech go on eBay a month ago for less than £200 and it was only 2 months old!!!! Might be worth checking that out too!!!

I had a look at ebay and there is a rio 400 giong for £295
Although i wouldn't fancy going to pick it up in my car!!!

I'm visiting the LFS this weekend (for the first time) and they have a great range of fish tanks; i may well go home without a juwel but i do like the look of there tanks.

On a different note, you see all these ads of tanks with crystal clear water and a range of healthy plants in the background. How easy is such a look to achieve, will i be constantly changing water and checking chemical levels.

I had a v small coldwater tank years ago which held goldfish, the water was always cloudy. I know that goldfish pollute the water more than most, i think the pump was probably not good enough for the tank.

 

[jumpman]

I had a look at ebay and there is a rio 400 giong for £295

I would say keep shopping around. That is a pretty good price, I have got both of my tanks through the loot free ads. Another site I have seen with great deals on tanks is www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/boks.php.

On a different note, you see all these ads of tanks with crystal clear water and a range of healthy plants in the background. How easy is such a look to achieve, will i be constantly changing water and checking chemical levels.

If you have enough filtration crystal clear water is quite easy to get. Good healthy growing plants will also help keep the water clear. Talking about just using the juwel filter, I would have a large external filter also. I have two eheims (2017 & 2028) running on my 75g and it works well. Also, when you are servicing one, you only disturb that one's bacterial colony, and the other one can pick up the slack. If one breaks down, you also have a back up running so don't have to worry as much. They do cost a bit (again, second hand is good) but are worth it for the years of great filtering you get.

Initially I had one filter on my tanks, now I have two on every one.

HTH

jump

 

[Nidge]

I have a rio 300 which is a great tank and i have no problems with it at all. I really liked the design of the lid and how easy it makes maintenance an i agree with others about shopping around i saved 200 euro's by shopping around.

 

[Cavafish]

Go for it!!! Go on, you know you want to. You can be in the Rio 400 gang then.

We got ours somewhere different but they matched the Oxford price for us. Not bad I thought as their original price was £565 and they dropped it instantly to the £462 I told them that Oxford was charging. Some of the mark-ups must be huge......

As Nidge says, the top is well designed, as is the rest of the tank. You might be paying more than second hand but you get a guarantee and a trouble free set up with everything included.

Another word of advice: THINK about what fish you are going to stock. This size of tank gives you the potential to house some bigger specimens without the (IMO) embarassing situation of having to take them back when they get too big. Bala sharks, plecs, clown loaches etc. are all potential long term fishy friends.
Don't get the random fish buying bug like someone else I know and end up filling the tank with small guys

HTH

Cava