Some help with a Jewel trigon 190

[loachylover]

Hi all

I have decided to convert a Jewel Trigon 190 in a marine tank. This is totally at the planning stage right now. I am thinking of going with live rock to start with, i have a fair idea of what needs changing, i am going to change the the lighting unit to T5, use 3 power heads for circulation, fine crushed coral substrate.

Where i am stumped at and looking for help on is the protein skimmer, i intend on keeping the hood on the tank and dont know how the skimmer will fit into this equasion. Does anyone have any expierience on using a trigon 190 for marine, or advise on how i can get this to work?

also you think i should buy an RO unit or just get it from my LFS?

Thanks in advance

Chris

 

[fraservet]

well, you could buy an internal protein skimmer - i think deltec does a decent one - mce500 or something, but obviously this will take up more room in what is already a relatively small tank.

if you go for a HOB like the deltec mce600, you will have to cut a couple of holes in one of the hood flaps, but this is pretty easy to do.

as for the water, I used to get mine from the lfs. over time it works out a lot more expensive than getting a good, basic unit, and you have to lug heavy containers around.

try r-o man , the 50gpd 4 stage unit is a bargain, and is very good.

 

[Navarre]

Definately agree with the RO Man purchase. I have his 50gpd 3 stage (the 4 stage wasnt available when purchased ) and i am very happy with its output.

Probably one of the best purchases/per £, $ you can make.

 

[Tiggs]

i would sell the tank and do it proper.

probs with a trigon:

small (not tiny but hardly a decent size)

lights - you wont get much in the hood and if you remove it later to add proper lights it will look naff

sump - no real room for it.

the whole thing is just one big compromise to set up a system that cant grow much anyway......VERY rare to see a GOOD looking trigon.

T

ps- sold my 350 trigon to go reef....VERY glad i did!

 

[Luke & Penny]

you could always cut the back out, ive seen this done so many times with the rio's its easy to do with a fine hacksaw but the jobs ive seen done have been smart job, and if you go down enough you can still fit the lid on.
if you need any more help on this email me at royalpythonuk@aol.com and ill help you with it and send you some pics of my mates tank whos got the same with his marines.

 

[Tiggs]

you could always cut the back out, ive seen this done so many times with the rio's its easy to do with a fine hacksaw but the jobs ive seen done have been smart job, and if you go down enough you can still fit the lid on.
if you need any more help on this email me at royalpythonuk@aol.com and ill help you with it and send you some pics of my mates tank whos got the same with his marines.

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do you mean cut out the filter box? if so do this with a thin knife- a hacksaw is overkill and may scratch the glass.

although i would still say a re-think is better.

 

[Navarre]

I would not necessarily agree that all trigon reef tanks look aweful.. Here are some that i feel are particuarly nice.

Hope this gives you some ideas should you decide to keep with the trigon.

Admitedly, most of these tanks are the larger Trigon350 so it gives alot more room but i think you can see that the tank has potential for some very nice aquascaping rather than the standard reef wall that usually happens on most square tanks.

 

[treeboa]

the top frame around the tank already has cutouts in it, depending on the skimmer you wish to fit i.e prizm etc you will need to enlarge one of the cutouts and possibly part of the lid, the frame can be cut down nearly 2 inches before you meet the glass, the lids are easy to cut, mark out the area, in all corners drill a small hole, then either score through with a stanley knife or use a fine blade saw to take out the area you want removing, keep the removed parts though, one day you might want to put them back lol

 

[Tiggs]

some great tanks......just to clarify my point- you can have a great tank but it can easily look a compromise.

i would like to see some shots of those tanks in the room not reef close ups.

the open lid of a trigon will look odd without its panel flaps (assuming you have MH)

having had a 350 trigon the other issue to consider is the aquascape - you can create great depth of feild but you have limited high space...mainly just the back corner that it all leads up to - so limited space for putting stuff higher up - in effect you have a pyramid shape- not bad but be aware- i found it very limiting.

 

[loachylover]

Thanks for all the replys, really needed the help, think i will put it on the back burner just now, i do have a 4'X2'X2', but that is my cichlid tank, and they aint going anywhere.

The main reason i was going to use the trigon was just for me to get used to SW and start learning, i know that it is easier to run larger SW tanks as they need less maintenance, but i just dont have the room for another 4ft+ tank (well i do but it would invole a dirvorce first of all).

Thanks again, if i do decide to go with it, i more than likely will be back for more help

Cheers

Chris

 

[Andreas]

Hi Navarre,

I really like these photos. Do you know which one of these thanks is a trigon 190?

Also, I see one of them has a homemade sump but to fit it they had to cut part of the division in the cabinet. i had thought of doing that myself but refrained from doing so because I thought the division was needed to support the weight of the the tank.

Do you know if the owner of the tank ever had any problems with it i.e. a very wet sitting room!

Andreas.

I would not necessarily agree that all trigon reef tanks look aweful.. Here are some that i feel are particuarly nice.

Hope this gives you some ideas should you decide to keep with the trigon.

Admitedly, most of these tanks are the larger Trigon350 so it gives alot more room but i think you can see that the tank has potential for some very nice aquascaping rather than the standard reef wall that usually happens on most square tanks.

 

[Chac]

I agree with Nav

I also have seen some cracking 190's but Tiggs does make a good point in that they can be a bit of a hassle reagrding lighting & flow

IMO it they are very nice shaped tanks & well worth the effort

pm'd