Juwel Jumbo Filter Meda

[craig-s]

on a trigon 350 tank what would users recommend about the filter media?
obviously the 2 blue course sponges at the bottom and then the fine blue sponge are a must,but i have seen several topics about the green nitrate sponge and the black carbon sponge,are they really needed,especially the carbon sponge,someone mentioned that you only really need that one to remove anything that is isn't wanted in the tank?,like what?,also juwel recommend using 1 white filter pad,but others have mentioned replacing the black/geen filter with more pads,how many?,sorry if this sound a bit stupid,but since the tank has been running (approx 8 months) i have always used all filters at the same time,done my 20% water change every week,cleaned the gravel 1 a month,added stress zyme and stress coat weekly at the correct ammounts,and my tank still looks a little "cloudy" sometimes....
any tips/suggestions would really be appreciated
thanks in anticipation..

 

[SJ2K]

You seem to know pritty much all you need to yes the carbon isnt necisary unless removing medication etc, so if you want to replace it with another small blue sponge then that'll be fine. The white pad is filter wool, I personly dont replace this as its a good way of removing finer particles and polishing the water. I dont know anything about the green sponge so ill leave that for somone else

Cloudly water, ways to help 1) Reduce feeding to a minimum 2) Use fresh filter wool 3) Keep up your water changes 4) Get yourself a product called 'Filter Aid'.

Good luck.

 

[craig-s]

thanks for the reply,the green sponge is a nitrate removal sponge,and i think should be there all the time?
i have thought about replacing the carbon filter witha different type,couldn't decide between a fine blue spong as there are 2 coarse sponges at the bottom of the filter,or several white pads/filter floss to try to keep the water that little bit clearer,regarding feeding i feed twice a day (morning and night),flake and bloodworm pellets or algae pellets/krill pellets alternating,does this sound about right do you thik?
thanks again...

 

[raptorrex]

thanks for the reply,the green sponge is a nitrate removal sponge,and i think should be there all the time?
i have thought about replacing the carbon filter witha different type,couldn't decide between a fine blue spong as there are 2 coarse sponges at the bottom of the filter,or several white pads/filter floss to try to keep the water that little bit clearer,regarding feeding i feed twice a day (morning and night),flake and bloodworm pellets or algae pellets/krill pellets alternating,does this sound about right do you thik?
thanks again...

it may be worth looking, as has been said, at cutting back on your feeding. keep the flake to just enough so the fish have cleaned it up in three of four minutes, and cut the bloodworm to two or three times a week. i would also look to upping the water change amount too.

but a higher capacity filter may be worth a look.

 

[craig-s]

thanks for the reply,the green sponge is a nitrate removal sponge,and i think should be there all the time?
i have thought about replacing the carbon filter witha different type,couldn't decide between a fine blue spong as there are 2 coarse sponges at the bottom of the filter,or several white pads/filter floss to try to keep the water that little bit clearer,regarding feeding i feed twice a day (morning and night),flake and bloodworm pellets or algae pellets/krill pellets alternating,does this sound about right do you thik?
thanks again...

it may be worth looking, as has been said, at cutting back on your feeding. keep the flake to just enough so the fish have cleaned it up in three of four minutes, and cut the bloodworm to two or three times a week. i would also look to upping the water change amount too.

but a higher capacity filter may be worth a look.

thanks for the tip,must admit it's only been a few days,and by cutting down on the flake to twice a day (morning & evening) and smaller ammounts,the water is looking different already,when we bought the tank it came with a rena xp3,but we found it not to be that good,so we went back and persevered with the jumbo and it doesn't seem to do too bad a job to be honest,i am thinking though about upgrading the 1000 litre an hour pump to the 1500 litre one....
the bloodworm/krill/algea tabs we propose to feed twice a week now....
thanks again for your input,obviously looks like i was over feeding...

 

[Squid]

I have a rio 180.. I used to replace the white filter pad frequently as this got pretty poor quite quickly. I never used the black one, and it only lasts as an active pad for a month anyway. I think i kept the green one in there, but i think that needs replacing often too. IMO the green one is more for lazy people who should really just do water changes more often . So i would just not use the black and green ones and add more blue sponges.

But..

I was never that happy with the Juwel filter, I hated the fact that i had to removed the powerhead each time I cleaned the tank, so that I could get at the sponges, as the filter needed constant maintenance. I also had to ensure that i syphoned in the filter housing to remove some muck that used to collect at the bottom, which could cause me spiking problems. I also was not to happy with how clear the water was after a while.

So..

I bit the bullet and got myself an eheim professional II external filter (not cheap but worth it). Low, low maintenance, and crystal clear water. I ran the filters along side each other for a month, then removed the Juwel filter, giving me more room in the tank too, which was nice!

Hope that helps
Squid

 

[craig-s]

I have a rio 180.. I used to replace the white filter pad frequently as this got pretty poor quite quickly. I never used the black one, and it only lasts as an active pad for a month anyway. I think i kept the green one in there, but i think that needs replacing often too. IMO the green one is more for lazy people who should really just do water changes more often . So i would just not use the black and green ones and add more blue sponges.

But..

I was never that happy with the Juwel filter, I hated the fact that i had to removed the powerhead each time I cleaned the tank, so that I could get at the sponges, as the filter needed constant maintenance. I also had to ensure that i syphoned in the filter housing to remove some muck that used to collect at the bottom, which could cause me spiking problems. I also was not to happy with how clear the water was after a while.

So..

I bit the bullet and got myself an eheim professional II external filter (not cheap but worth it). Low, low maintenance, and crystal clear water. I ran the filters along side each other for a month, then removed the Juwel filter, giving me more room in the tank too, which was nice!

Hope that helps
Squid

very intresting squid....
i have only heard good thing regarding the Eheim range,several people i have spoken to have always said good things about them,easy to maintain and very efficient,OK a little on the expensive side,but you do only get what you pay for i suppose....
sorry to bang on a bit then,but lets say i do go down the Eheim route,anybody have any opinions regarding models?
as i say i have a trigon 350 tank....
and i do agree with the "hassle" element regarding the upkeep of the jumbo filter...
thanks again in anticipation..

 

[philfista]

Hi i have a Juwel 180 which came with a internal filter which i felt was never man enough for the job. The water was never crystal clear. So I bought a tetratec 1200 . Transfered the media across , what a difference. The water was really crystal clear by the morning. Did have a ammonia spike problem for a week but that soon sorted itself out. External filters are worth the money.

 

[Squid]

craig

I went for the 2026 prof II, which can cater for tanks almost twice the size of mine if i remember rightly, but overfiltering is not always a bad thing, especially because i might go for mBuna at some point which often requires overstocking for aggression control. So, with that in mind I would take a look at a similar kind of ratio. Perhaps thats the next one up on the 2026, but i would need to check the stats.

Flow speed can be reduced on the filter if required. I also drilled extra holes in the spray bar to soften the flow of water being passed from the outlet. This ensures the current is not too strong in the tank, and the plants don't get a little swept away..

Hope that helps,
Squid

 

[raptorrex]

well i went for a cheap hydor-prime 30. i too have crystal clear water, low maintenance, i clean about every three months. i have been lusting after a Eheim Pro II but i really cant justify the outlay, as the Hydor really does the job.

 

[boonc]

I have the fine blue sponges at the bottom of my juwel jumbo filter - this is what it says in the instructions - is this wrong?

My understanding is that the water flow is from top to bottom therefore the fine filter need to be lowest ?