External For Rio 180

[cor2008]

Hi,

I am hoping to upgrade to something around the 180 litre mark and am thinking probably Juwel or possibly aquaone. I would probably favour a Juwel Rio 180 but am not totally happy with the water clarity in my 110 litre juwel tank at the moment so would like to add an additional external.

I have never owned an external so my question is would it be easy to install on a new rio tank. Would it involve hacking into a brand new tank cover to install (dont like the thought of that).

Im thinking its much better to ask for advice and ideas now rather than destroy a new tank with a hacksaw

Oh and the external im thinking of getting would be a Tetratec Ex700 unless there would be a better one that could be installed easier? I also plan on leaving in the standard juwel filter as i do think it does a pretty good job, just needs a little help i think.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[trbjones]

I Had a fluval external for a year and half now, it has never let me down realy good easy to set up and very easy to clean.

 

[flash22]

I have A ehiem Pro 2 2026 on my rio 180 crystal clear water the usual high eheim build quality and will prob out last the tank nice turn over rate so you can stock a litle bit more/messier fish £110 inc media and delivery from charterhouse aquatics (there a bit cheaper now)

I also run a TMC V2 200 UV inline what give the water the extra clarity also kills any nasty bacteria/pathogens

Ps. The juwel internals work fine but you have to keep up with the maintenance imho change the white floss every 1-2 weeks and the carbon every 8-12 weeks........... get some pond filter floss and cut to size (for the white floss) iirc £3 quid for a large sheet and your get 10-15 filters out of it

 

[cor2008]

Yea i find the flow is hugely reduced without a partial clean every week.

What i am mainly wondering though is how much alteration will have to be done to the tank lid in order to fit the pipes for an external filter. Is there any way to fit an external to a rio without cutting something (and leaving in the internal filter).

Or is there a way to install an external with the minimum amount of alteration to the lid.

Thanks again

 

[flash22]

you dont need to touch the lid tbh as the pipe work fits in the standard slots. i haven't cut a lid yet on any of my juwels (125,180 x2 and 300) had both tetratec filters in the past but now have all ehiem

If you can afford it go for the ehiem you wont regret it.

Edit. leave the internal in place for 6-8 weeks while the external seeds taking out the internal you be supprised what difference it makes once it gone space wise.

you can leave it in place if you like bring the externals pipe work in on the left slot

 

[rabbut]

Having owned Eheim Eccos, Fluval 04's, Rena XP's and Tetratec's, I would recomend the Tetratec's, and they are all I run by way of exturnals on my tanks now The Pro2 Eheims are supposed to be good, but if you are on a budget, don't fall into the trap of an Ecco like I did as they are c?#p and on a par with the Fluvals IMO... Rena are good if you can afford replacement seals every 6 months also..

All the best
Rabbut

 

[markandhisfish]

eheim pro 2 are superb filters i run a pro2 2028 and its fantastic totaly silent and really efficient. you dont have to break the bank either got mine 2nd hand for 70 quid

 

[cor2008]

Thanks for all the advice. I looked up the Juwel website there and it looks like on the new lids there is a gap on both sides which is great.

Yea i have seen the tetratec for a good price and read some good reviews so might get that one. Does anyone for sure if the pipes will fit in through that left side as i would have to buy it from the internet.

My other option is the fluval(cant remember the models) which are available from my lfs so i might see if that would also fit through those slots also.

Thanks for all the help

 

[rabbut]

Leave the Fluvals in the shop. Waste of money, more cash than the Tetratec's and less reliable also. I hate the things with avengance, having had one give electric shocks out to me unexpectedly, and RCD steaping in to prevent anything serious happening to me... They clogg quickly (in about a week in my case, where everything else went for 6 months) and are a royal PITA to work on when compaired to other brands... Cheap price Cheap quality... A mate of mine has had one wash his floor for him, but he thought it used too much water and would rather it not use water from the tank to do the cleaning The main seal failed when it was only 6 months old...

Does your LFS have any other brands? AquaOne are supposed to be good also, and at about the same price as the Tetratec's...

Is there no chance your LFS will order in for you?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[flash22]

Juwels rio are the same basic design and have been for years thay have the same size cut out on each side at the back. The lids are still the same thay have upgraded the lighting From T8's to T5's

 

[cor2008]

Juwels rio are the same basic design and have been for years thay have the same size cut out on each side at the back. The lids are still the same thay have upgraded the lighting From T8's to T5's

Cool. I didnt realise that the rio had 2 slots as I have a record 800 and it has only 1 slot on the right hand side so to fit an external would have involved cutting the lid. I havent ever owned an external though and am not sure how big the pipes are and wasnt sure if there was an esay way to fit one to a new rio.

Sounds like its easy so hopefully a new rio 180 for me tomorrow and a tetratec if they have them. Thanks again for the help

Oh and i think they also have aquaone tanks in stock so will have a quick look before deciding

 

[cor2008]

Hopefully im going to pick up a new rio 180 tomorrow. Looking forward now to setting it up but just started thinking how am i going to transfer everything.
My plan is to buy a new bag of tropica substrate, a few bags of gravel and then transfer all the gravel from the 110 litre tank. I also plan on transferring all the filter media to get the rio 180 running instantly.

I plan on putting the 180 litre in the same place as the 110 litre as i live in an apartment and dont have room to run those 2 tanks together so am wondering how i am going to manage this move.

I have a 60 litre quarantine running at the moment which has 2 apistogramma borelli so i could move the fish there for a few hours but would rather if there was a better way of doing the whole move (would be a lot of stress on the fish if they were moved twice in 1 day and there would be way too many fish to leave overnight).

I would appreciate any advice from anyone who has done anything similar.

Im just even wondering now will i have to fill the tank and leave overnight just to get the temperature right (as it takes lots of tweaking on the juwel heater to get to your required temp)

Thanks

Forgot to add the fish:
4 peppered corys
6 glowlight tetra
3 neon tetra
Loads of plants as its heavily planted

 

[ghent_3rd]

You really are patying for the name when you get a Rio don't get me wrong nice tank but I would never buy a ready-to-go aquarium again knowing what I now know!

Would it not make more sense to get a plain 180 litre tank for £85.00, with a separate external filter, Tetratec about £60.00 and a 200 watt heater for about £20.00. Sorry to play Devil's Advocate but I like to think the more choices you have the better!!!!!

 

[Truck]

IMO the Juwel internal filters are very good, i have never had any problems apart from clogging, but how hard is it to change a peice of floss? youve got to be a real lazy git not to be able to change them. they are very nice plug 'n' play tanks, but i think with an extra powerhead for a bit more flow and youll be laughing

and for cutting holes in the flaps for piping your best bet would be to use a coping saw, very good controll over what your cutting, and they dont make a mess

 

[cor2008]

Yea i clean the filter weekly (floss and 1/4 of sponge) but i still think they need some extra help.

But i do think a rio with and extra external as well as the internal should be a pretty good setup(its going to be a heavily planted tank so from all my reading a good turnover is an advantage). I am also going to have a look at the aquaone range. And to be honest if you compare the juwel range with the fluval range for example they are a good bit cheaper.

Im still fairly clueless though on how i am going to transfer everything to the new tank with the minimum stress to the fish(and my fiancee )

Thanks