Juwel Trigon 190

[aquablueangel21]

Over the years I have used the conventional shaped aquarium (oblong) but I find the design & shape of the Trigon different & interesting and the fact that it is a decent size and fits into a corner is a plus.

I do have reservations though, and it's down to purely instint coz I don't know anyone who owns one and, I havn't managed to find any user reviews.

The Trigon is expensive to buy new, around £6 to 700.00, you can pick them up for nearly half that price if you look around, secondhand is still about £350.00. and this is where my problem lies, why are there so many secondhand Trigons for sale, sounds odd but this is putting me off buying one, new or otherwise.

I have been browsing the forum and it appears that quite a few members are having problems with their various Juwel tanks, and iam wondering if this also applies to the Trigon.

I have kept mostly Tropical fish over a period of 20 years, from being a child, plus some marine, then my family came along and guess what? I didn't have much time for my hobby so I put it on a back burner, now 18 years on iam setting up again, (tropical, to ease me back in) coz I tell you with two teenagers 18 & nearly 20 iam brain dead, anyway that's beside the point.

My insticts say that having a fixed internel filter even on a 190 ltr tank and set at the back of the wedge shaped aquarium, isn't going to be very efficient as powerful as it may be, also, the filter opening is too close to the bottom of the tank so there isn't the room to build up some height at the back when landscaping, even if the filter is powerful how can it pull debris from the front of the tank which would be I suppose almost a meter away without sucking up your plants plus all the problems I have been reading about on the forum.

So after waffling on can anyone shed any light (good & bad please) on this beast.

 

[mike_danger]

Hey,

I am planning to get one of these myself after xmas, however I think the prices you have seen are way over the odds. I was originally planning to get one second hand, but they are about that price new...

Living Seas (Dorset) have them for £300.00 incl base!

But if you are not near Living Seas, Any Pets at Home store has them at the mo for £350.00 incl base.

So i am going to get one new!

mike

 

[aquablueangel21]

Hey,

I am planning to get one of these myself after xmas, however I think the prices you have seen are way over the odds. I was originally planning to get one second hand, but they are about that price new...

Living Seas (Dorset) have them for £300.00 incl base!

But if you are not near Living Seas, Any Pets at Home store has them at the mo for £350.00 incl base.

So i am going to get one new!

mike
[/quote


Hi Mike

I agree, you'd have to be mad to pay those prices, but you know some people would be so sold on the design they would go ahead and buy anyway.

Years ago, long before you could buy fancy shaped tanks off the shelf, I designed and had mad a huge hexagonal tank, silicone sealed, (at that time there were people who were very sceptical about silicone, and using it even on a basic oblong tank, because of the pressure) and the company that made my fancy tank said there would be no come-back if it fell apart, the tank was fab even by todays standards, it didn't fall apart, the only problem was all the fish just swam around in circles all day, like in a goldfish bowl, they didn't mooch about much they were on the go all the time, some say design is everything but in this case it wasn't.

Have you looked through some of these postings regarding Juwel aquariums and their problems, if not it may be worth spending a few minutes, iam not trying to put you off, but you know what it's like when you have a really nice set up then some of the equipment fails, it's a pain.

Tell me Mike what sold you on the Trigon 190, was it the design or something more technical? I would be interested to know.

It seems from some of the postings some members have also bought Juwel "aquarium packages" equipment included, maybe thats the problem. we are all individual and like different things.

 

[mike_danger]

To be honest, It is the design of the tank (how it looks) which sold me.

I have a corner in my house, where it would fit perfict, and whenever i have been into my lfs, ive seen the trigon and thought wow!

Im not too fussed on the equipment, as im planning to buy a new heater and eheim external filter, so i dont think much can go wrong with the tank to be honest?

Are you still planning on getting one?

mike

 

[aquablueangel21]

Hi mike

Yeh iam, like you I was sold on the design, when I first saw it I thought it looked great, but like I said earlier, design isn't always everything, yes it's a big part because it's visual, but the equipment has to work to.

I suppose if your buying and the price is low enough the equipment etc don't matter as much coz like you I have my own preferences and I too would buy an external filter. I don't tend to like fixed internal stuff it takes some choices away, I also think that manufacturers that do this are aiming for a particular type of buyer.

 

[mike_danger]

Hey,

Oh no look is probually the most important thing to me, obviously aslong as the fish inside are ok lol.

Imaybe you can help me out tho..I am unsure at the more to get an eheim thermo or just a normal one and then a seperate heater. The reason for the thermo is so there is these equip in the tank, but not sure if they are better or worse?

mike

 

[smithrc]

bugger - just lost the long reply i had typed

anyway - we have a 350 that we bought 2nd hand. the only thing that has gone wrong with it is the light unit failing... cost us £60 to replace

the filter on them is not the best if you plan to stock heavily...
the lights are poo if you want to have a hevily planted tank too..

other than those comments I love ours - and so do the fish

it fits really well too

>>Here<< is our setup thread

 

[Joviella]

I had a trigon 190 for a couple of years......loved it so much that I upgraded to a trigon 350. My in-laws now own my old 190 and all is still going well two years after they took it from us.
I will say that they do better with extra external filtration.......or instead of internal filtration. On a different note,I run a eheim thermo filter on my rio 400 and it really does help to give the fish more room with less items in the tank(not to mention....it looks better without equipment inside the tank)
HTH......Trigons really do fit into a corner nicely without using too much space.

 

[aquablueangel21]

Thanks for that Smithrc

There always seems to be something with these juwel tanks, I suppose if only one thing goes wrong in it's lifetime that's not so bad.

 

[aquablueangel21]

Mike
I think it's down to prefrence, as I said earlier iam rusty, having not kept fish for quite a while, and technology has come a long way, in theory stuff should be less likely to break down but we have all heard that one before.

If your really not sure which way to go, maybe if there are some Trigon fanciers out there, they may like to share their preferences with us, i.e. what they use, and why they like it, I say Trigon fanciers because the Trigon 190 or 350 are a slightly different kettle of fish becaise of the "wedge" shape.

Just as a side issue, I have decided to get a Trigon 350 instead of the 190, I have always liked a larger aquarium, and I think their easier to run.

 

[aquablueangel21]

Chali,

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I have decide to get the 350, I love the idea of all that depth from front to back, it gives so many more choices when landscaping and planting.

It's been a while since I actually saw a Trigon in the shop, and I don't remember there being little or no room behind the tank, where do you house your equpment.

 

[smithrc]

Chali,

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I have decide to get the 350, I love the idea of all that depth from front to back, it gives so many more choices when landscaping and planting.

It's been a while since I actually saw a Trigon in the shop, and I don't remember there being little or no room behind the tank, where do you house your equpment.

there is about 1" round ours - the external filter is in the cabinet below withthe pipes running down the outside of the tank (in the 1" gap).

we still have the internal filter installed and running in ours - the heater is inside that unit