Problem with new Juwel aquarium

[Sanj]

Um,

well I ahve just filled my Juwel Rio 400 with water and about 10 mins later I heard a crack when I went to look on of the plastic supports that go acoss the top of the tank had come away at one end. A few minites later the other one did also.

Main concern is how important are these? i think they may lend some support to the lights although these are actually resting ontop of the aquarium at each end.

I hope they dont give support to the tank. Eeek!!

Any thoughts, similar situations?

 

[Sanj]

erm, there is somthing odd going on with the posting in here???

 

[Sea_Monster87]

There is. It happened to me as well. If the light/hood is also attached to the sides then no, there shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Sanj]

I think these plastic supports are called brace bars which hwlp stop tanks form bowing. However these have broken and i measured the width at he middle of the aquarium and iti s 1cm wider than the width at each end of the aquarium . Also when i put the lid on it becomes even more noticable that there is a slight bowing because the lid now doesnt fit properley.

I only had this delivered today. I hope I can get it replaced/fixed

 

[CFC]

You need to contact the shop that you bought the tank from and get it replaced, they are indeed brace bars and in time the water pressure on the seals will cause them to split. Juwel are quite good at admiting they have shoddy equipment and will send you a replacement out the next day, however if i were you id consider asking for my money back and spend it spend it on a tank made by a better quallity company, juwel have been going increasingly down hill for some time now and know i wouldnt feel comfortable with 400 litres of water which could end up all over my floor any second!

 

[Sanj]

they are indeed brace bars and in time the water pressure on the seals will cause them to split.

CFC,
that does not sound good. have you had bad experience with them?

I contacted the lfs and told them about it. Apparently these brace bars click in under each side of the aquarium and he is getting me some new ones. However the old ones didnt just come apart, they broke. Well I hope this will rectify the situation. Are you saying that the brace bars will split overtime?. hmm thats a bit crappy.

 

[ryan]

I would also ask for a new tank, my 180L was brought and as soon as the water was in, the glass bent and shattered releasing 180L of water on my floor . My lfs delivered a new tank 1 hour later. My problem was that my tank was one of the 400 sealed before the sealent gets replaced and it was just my luck mine was the number 400 and the sealent had run out.

 

[Tenko]

I know you only get what you pay for, cheap tanks usually aren't as good as expensive ones. I've got a rio 180 and guess I'm lucky, it's been fine and I couldn't have asked for a better first tank. I think I'll spend a bit more on my second tank though and get a better one.

 

[Sanj]

Sealant on the whole tank?? or do you mean the bracer? Did your bracers come apart before it shattered?

The bracers were sealed ok, but they just snapped away leaving the sealed part still under the groove where they attatch.

I do not know if they will replace it yet, because in the guarantee it says somthing about if it is possible to repair or replace...

If these new bracers dont work then they had better replace it. If two bracers arent enough why dont they put more in or redesign.

Its really peed me off, partly because it isnt easy to just move things around and empty again etc etc, because this is an upgrade from a Rio 240, so I had to put in all my oldfish in this new aqurium.

Currently they are loving it, but i wont be happy until i know these bracers can be refitted otherwise new tank Grrrrrr!!!.

 

[ryan]

The sealent was there but just a thin layer so the barces moved a way slightly putting the corners under pressure and the thin layer of sealent didn't hold and the glass shattered at both ends. It said nothing in my guarentee about replacment, but if they sell you a falty tank they have to replace or at least that what my lfs goes by, they couldn't apoligize enough they rushed out on an hour journey after only just getting back from delivering it and now whenever I visit and purchase South American fish they know its for that tank and they say sorry again and how its such a rare occurance. They even gave some free fish and plants and discounts. So I would deffintly try to get a replacement.

Good Luck

 

[CFC]

CFC,
that does not sound good. have you had bad experience with them?

Yes, the first juwel tank we had (rekord 120) was fine and so when i bought the bigger tank i wanted i went for a Rio 300. This tank was nothing but problems from the start, the heater burnt out within a day, got a free replacement. Next the entire light unit failed, they made me return the unit to them before replacing it leaving me having to use a sheet of plywood as a lid and no lights on my heavily planted tank for a week, this happened again 6 months later. Then after about 18 months the powerhead for the filter packed up, during the hottest week of the year while i was on holiday, i lost nearly £200 worth of fish! Finally just before i put the tank out of use (i had bought a 200 gallon custom build all glass tank) the brace accross the tank split, this was all the mrs needed to get her way and make me close it down and transfer the few remaining fish it had in it into the other tanks. I would never buy another juwel tank ever, i felt well and truely ripped off as although they do work out cheaper i still expect the parts to work for more than a year. Add on top of this that the juwel filters are nothing but huge nitrate factories due to the fact that you cannot remove the filter casing for cleaning and you have several good reasons not to buy juwel, i set the basics of my 200g up for just around £200 more than the rio 400 costs and that is with 3 eheim external filters.

 

[Sanj]

oh bugger, youve had a real rough time with them.

I really hope that isnt the trend with Juwel. I mean ok they are cheaper, but still they ought meet the required standards for use.

I have a Ri0 240 which is fine, havent had any problems for 14 months and the water quality was very stable.

However this bracer problem isnt too good. btw did the Rio 300 have one or two bracers?


Im really tired from setting up replanting , re introducing the fish from the old aquarium stc. Im really peed off at the moment.

If the bracers dont work, I dont know what to do, the guarantee says repalcement, but not refund.

having said this i cant find anty other reference to these problems with Juwel on the internet.

I can see the heater issue, they only prvide one for a sizable aquarium, but I also have an under cable substrate heater so maybe that helps? Ideally on large tanks there should be two heaters, like on my Rena aquarium.

Please fingers crossed for me

 

[smileandnod]

Hmm, I'm on my fourth Juwel tank, and the only problem I have had is when the light unit on my Rio 180 filled with water and shorted it out. My LFS replaced it straight away.

Other than that, I have no problem. As for the filters being a nitrate factory, I haven't found that to be true either. Occasionally when I am doing my maintenance, I will stick the syphon down it the bottom of the filter housing, and suck up any muck down there.

The 300 only had a single brace.

Best of luck with this one.

Ian.

 

[Sanj]

Hi Smile,


Im going to speak to the lfs again tomorrow, they were closed today. They have offered to get new bracers, but i think I need some kind of guarantee or assurance that if these dont work I would be able to get the tank replaced, or even if they would replce the tank now. Juwel say they have the rifght to determine repair or replacement on the guarantee sheet. Im really worked up i hope i get some positive response tomorrow.