Juwel Vision 450

[drtim]

hi all.
I'm wondering if anyone out there has any experience with this tank or jewel vision tanks in general, i am considering upgrading to it and trying to find the best deal (any other options gratefully received). My concerns are that lighting and filter power maybe on the low side?!?
Lighting has 4 x 38 watt tubes but its quite a deep tank, the aquarium height is 64cm (about 24inches i think) and i know tubes are good upto about 18inches, does their measurement include the hood etc so properbly only about 20inches of water (ish!) i quess??? (i like to have a planted tank)
the filter supplied can only pump 1000litres an hour, my rule of thumb has always been: "you need three times your volume every hour"
Also the heater is only 300watts which seems a little small for such a volume of water.
Tank details : 450 litres, tank dimensions 151L x 64H x 61W cm
Any advice comments gratefully received
T.

 

[Bloo]

Best to speak to the people over in the planted section about your lighting.
But I'd definitely add another 300W heater. This guy on eBay is the cheapest I've found for Visitherm heaters (which is best in my opinion) and I've bought from him a couple of times with success. (Edit: don't forget to also get a heater guard for your extra heater - only a couple of ££'s from the lfs or you can get them on the internet).
I'd also add another external filter (on the other side of the tank) - something like an Eheim 2026 or Rena Filstar XP3 (the latter can be a tad noisy - or rather not quite as silent as Eheim, but the filtration is indeed great)

 

[GoldLenny]

I've never owned one but another thread, on another forum, had someone with water quality issues and after working for a couple of weeks to try and figure out the issue, it came down to an excess of detritus and mulm had built up between the filter housing and tank glass in the back corner. This can be alleviated by using the powerhead discharge from the filter and attaching a piece of hosing to it to flush out the gap between the filter housing and the glass. Your other option would be to use silicone to seal the gap on all sides. My understanding is that the filter housing is simply siliconed to the glass using a few dabs of silicone and this allows detritus to buildup in the gap. Also, when you lift up the filter basket, use the same hose to flush out any buildup down at the bottom of the filter housing.

 

[cardinal sinner]

I own a Vision 260. I took the Juwel filter out & replaced it with an Eheim 2026pro 2 & have not looked back. I only have 2 x 38 watt lights in mine, n my plants are all growing great. Most of my plants are planted on bogwood, so its dead easy to clean the tank, I just lift the whole lot out & clean the gravel, n then put them back. Works for me.

 

[for_my_fish]

they are good tanks. I can't comment on the lighting (in terms of plants) as I've only grown plants requiring little light in the past, butu with the reflectors added I've had (for me) good plant growth, I have too many golden apple snails to keep plants now as they eat the plants no matter how much else I feed them. You will probably want to add another (large) external filter to keep things ticking over as the tank is quite long. The Juwel ones aren't too bad to clean, but I've found externals much easier and less demanding. When I did use the juwel internal I would stick the gravel vac down to the bottom of it once a month (which was when I'd wash one of the sponges)

 

[cane76]

imo the filter is inadequate unless your keeping neons
lighting is standard rubbish
black plastic hood looks horrible
the tank and cabinet are ok