Marine Or Topical

[mikeshe0]

I need help from you lads and lasses. I own a Juwel Rio 180 tank with the supplied heater, filter and lights. I have been looking at tropical fish but whenever I do my attention is drawn to the marine fish which look far more appealing.

Can anyone give me info about what else I need to get to start off initially with a FO tank, then moving on to a FOWLR tank. Are the supplied Juwel heater , lights and filter any good or do they need changing? Is a sump required and if so what size, how do I go about it etc.

In case you haven't already guessed I am new to marines, had tropical years ago.

Thanks for any help, gratefully appreciated.

Mike

 

[steelhealr]

The answer is clear...go marine Mike. I don't know much about the Juwel tanks...perhaps one of our other UK mates would help out. SH

 

[Betta5]

I have Juwel tanks. I was thinking of converting my 120 but im going for a longer tank. The filter would be a good place to put bio-balls (for a FO), the lights and heater are fine for a FO tank. If i were you i would add an external filter, this would give more water movement and filteration. A sump is not required, if you want one, anything from a 10 gallon up would be good.
This is all for a FO tank because once you have fish its going to be hard to add LR because of die off and a spike which could kill fish. If i were you i would say FO unless you want corals etc.

i think i answered all the questions (as best i could).

Have a read through all the pinned topics.

Any fish in mind?

 

[scorphonic]

Heater is bad, filter is terrible, and lights are not strong enough!!

Lid is pretty good though!!


Betta5, is it ok to put bioballs into the filter? How would you go about housing them in there?

 

[Betta5]

Heater is bad, filter is terrible, and lights are not strong enough!!

Lid is pretty good though!!


Betta5, is it ok to put bioballs into the filter? How would you go about housing them in there?

You could put the bio balls in a bag and put them where the sponges are. Why would the heater not be good? and i love my Juwel filter (is that just me?)keeps my tropical tank water so clear. The lights are fine for a FO there aint anything that really NEEDs light. Fish would like the Day/Night cycle of the (think they are T8) light.

 

[Lynden]

Marine. The only thing I miss from freshwater is the "oddballs".

 

[tmreynolds]

I have a Juwel Vision 180 as a marine tank.

If you want FO or FOWRL then the lights are fine (t8) although I'd get new tubes a marine white and actinic tube to make it look more oceany. The heater is fine also. I would, and have, removed all the filter media in the internal filter and put just a bag of carbon and a bag of rowaphos in there (if your going FOWLR).

If you're going FO, then I'm not sure if the internal filter media will be any good, may cause high nitrates. I would go FOWLR if I were you, much more interesting and natural, and easier if anything.

I would also get a hang-on protein skimmer. I've just upgraded to a Deltec MCE300 and its fantastic.

If your going FOWLR you'll need another powerhead, either a Seio or Tunze Nanostream are probably best.

If you want corals, you will need to upgrade your lights, this is also possible on the Juwel tanks.

Hope this helps.

 

[mikeshe0]

Many thanks to everyone for the advice. I have now made my mind up, marine fish it's going to be and I'm gong for a FOWLR system

Reynot01, many thanks for your help. It was actually your advice that made my mind up. It's good to know that there is no need for a sump. One further question, you mention having a bag of carbon and a bag of Rowaphos in the filter instead of the normal media.... now I have this vision of these ingredients in a plastic bag just poked inside the filter casing! I don't for the life of me think that's the case so could you please elaborate on that. What type of bags, how much of each ingredient and any specific order of placement in the filter etc.

cheers,

Mike

 

[tmreynolds]

Many thanks to everyone for the advice. I have now made my mind up, marine fish it's going to be and I'm gong for a FOWLR system

Reynot01, many thanks for your help. It was actually your advice that made my mind up. It's good to know that there is no need for a sump. One further question, you mention having a bag of carbon and a bag of Rowaphos in the filter instead of the normal media.... now I have this vision of these ingredients in a plastic bag just poked inside the filter casing! I don't for the life of me think that's the case so could you please elaborate on that. What type of bags, how much of each ingredient and any specific order of placement in the filter etc.

cheers,

Mike

A filter bag is what I meant ;-) You can buy them for a few pence from your lfs, or nick a pair of your other halfs tights and make one out of that..... 50ml of rowaphos is good for 200 litres and a few decent sized spoonfuls of carbon is good for 6 weeks, in separate filter bags. Order doesn't matter.

You should also consider upgrading your lighting now, I'd bet there's not many FOWLR owners who haven't moved onto corals shortly after...you can buy an arcadia i-bar which gives you High output T5 lighting as a direct replacement for your T8 unit.

 

[scorphonic]

You could put the bio balls in a bag and put them where the sponges are. Why would the heater not be good? and i love my Juwel filter (is that just me?)keeps my tropical tank water so clear. The lights are fine for a FO there aint anything that really NEEDs light. Fish would like the Day/Night cycle of the (think they are T8) light.

Thanks for that!! I'll have to do that myself so.

Maybe its just me but my heater when set at 28 heats the tank to max 26 and when its set at 30 it heats the tank to a maximum of 27!! That to me isn't a great heater. I dont like the filter because it spat dirt into my tank instead of taking it out!! O and the lights are ok...not massively bright but I should have clarified that I dont have reflectors on them...so that was my bad!

 

[mikeshe0]

Thanks for that, now I understand it .

You're costing me more already! I've a feeling you're 100% correct though, it won't be long after setting the tank up before I add corals so lights are now added to the shopping list. Do I still need to get the Marine White & Actnic tubes?

Mike

Many thanks to everyone for the advice. I have now made my mind up, marine fish it's going to be and I'm gong for a FOWLR system

Reynot01, many thanks for your help. It was actually your advice that made my mind up. It's good to know that there is no need for a sump. One further question, you mention having a bag of carbon and a bag of Rowaphos in the filter instead of the normal media.... now I have this vision of these ingredients in a plastic bag just poked inside the filter casing! I don't for the life of me think that's the case so could you please elaborate on that. What type of bags, how much of each ingredient and any specific order of placement in the filter etc.

cheers,

Mike

A filter bag is what I meant ;-) You can buy them for a few pence from your lfs, or nick a pair of your other halfs tights and make one out of that..... 50ml of rowaphos is good for 200 litres and a few decent sized spoonfuls of carbon is good for 6 weeks, in separate filter bags. Order doesn't matter.

You should also consider upgrading your lighting now, I'd bet there's not many FOWLR owners who haven't moved onto corals shortly after...you can buy an arcadia i-bar which gives you High output T5 lighting as a direct replacement for your T8 unit.

 

[tmreynolds]

Thanks for that, now I understand it .

You're costing me more already! I've a feeling you're 100% correct though, it won't be long after setting the tank up before I add corals so lights are now added to the shopping list. Do I still need to get the Marine White & Actnic tubes?

Mike

Many thanks to everyone for the advice. I have now made my mind up, marine fish it's going to be and I'm gong for a FOWLR system

Reynot01, many thanks for your help. It was actually your advice that made my mind up. It's good to know that there is no need for a sump. One further question, you mention having a bag of carbon and a bag of Rowaphos in the filter instead of the normal media.... now I have this vision of these ingredients in a plastic bag just poked inside the filter casing! I don't for the life of me think that's the case so could you please elaborate on that. What type of bags, how much of each ingredient and any specific order of placement in the filter etc.

cheers,

Mike

A filter bag is what I meant ;-) You can buy them for a few pence from your lfs, or nick a pair of your other halfs tights and make one out of that..... 50ml of rowaphos is good for 200 litres and a few decent sized spoonfuls of carbon is good for 6 weeks, in separate filter bags. Order doesn't matter.

You should also consider upgrading your lighting now, I'd bet there's not many FOWLR owners who haven't moved onto corals shortly after...you can buy an arcadia i-bar which gives you High output T5 lighting as a direct replacement for your T8 unit.

haha, I did the same, thought FOWLR was my piece and just changed the T8 bulbs. less than 6 weeks later I was upgrading the lighting...so i thought I'd better let you know not to waste your money buying marine coloured T8's. Having said that I have some hardly used marine white and actinic T8 tubes for sale...

I have the arcadia i-bar with 2 x 14000k marine white tubes + I have added an additional actinic tube screwed into the rear flap on its own starter.