New Tank

Hi Guys,

I'm about to buy myself a Juwel vision 180 - just want to make sure i have everything needed!! Any help would be appreciated!!

I want to use an external filter on this set up so need one of those.

A heater obviously..

I've been reading alot about spray bars but not sure if i need one?

Anything else?

Sent ya a pm rev.

I have a Juwel 180 also, but don't have a spray bar on it. What exactly does a spray bar do for a tank? Are they necessary?

I had a Rio 180, great tank, great size too - big, but not eating up the room big.

I like Tetratec externals, not a big fan of the fluval 305/405 etc., though the big boys look nice, like the G3/G6. The JBL ones are supposed to be good and are a really good price - The e900 will do you fine on that tank. 60 euro inc delivery. If you want hassle free go for an Eheim - they cost more but really are so well built and easy to clean, in my experience.

A spray bar just puts the flow out of the cannister into the tank more gently than a standard outlet. Can matter for some fish that don't like flow, but doesn't matter too much. A spraybar is useful if you position it at the side and near the water level so that it breaks the water surface and helps with gaseous exchange.

Other things you are going to need:

Test kit to check PH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite levels.

You also want a good thermometer. I don't like the sticky-on ones, never seem very accurate to me. Digital are supposed to be the best, but I just use glass thermometers.

Depending what you stock you may need an airpump and airstone.

A syphon for water changes. Search for gravel cleaners on ebay, the cheap ones with the hand pump on them will save you so much hassle when it comes to water changes.

A bucket with FISH TANK ONLY written in indelible marker on it - the amount of money I've spent on buckets that end up getting used to mop floors or wash cars.

A net or two (get two - one for each hand, and be ready to curse the brace bars on the Rio 180).

Medicine - this depends on what you stock, but no matter what get yourself something for treating whitespot/velvet. Don't wait until it happens (and don't worry, it might never happen), the two days from when you spot it to getting around to treating it could be crucial. Most of the treatments are only around 5 euro, and if you add that in on top of the cost of tank/equipment/fish etc., it really isn't too much. The flipside of this is that you shouldn't be too hasty to treat what you think is a sick fish. Sometimes a fish that looks like it's on death's door may just have had too much fibre and need time to work things out.

Fish. What are you planning for the tank? Freshwater/Saltwater, planted? What fish are you thinking of putting in it?

HTH

a second heater can come in handy

food, u might notice your fish dropping off witout it

oh and fish, you might notice the food not been eaten witout some

Good point Darren. I especially don't trust the Juwel heaters. Had one die on me and another decided it was going to boil the tank - amazed at how fast it brought the tank up to 32 degrees. Never a bad idea to have a second heater in the tank set a degree or two lower than your main one. Then again buy a Jager heater and you'll only ever need one. Under 20 euro online.

Lol. Food, Fish, but you are not going to suggest water?

Tetratec filters are good, have 2 myself, way too much overfiltration for a vision 180, a spray bar reduces strong current from one powerful powerhead to many small jets creating a wider but weaker flow. So if your fish don't do well with a good current a spray bar may be nice, have it above the water and you got nice aeration to and wont need an airstone, i would add one anyway in case one or the other goes. a 150w andbackup 150w heater. Fluval 205 would do just fine for a 180 but like tetratec these filters use a lot of juice really, as they are on constantly. A fluval U3 is internal but quite small and silent with dual outflow for top and lower current. I have one in a 200l and it works just fine.
power usage
Fluval U3 not sure I think 6.5w check it yourself
tetratec 1200 21w
405 22w

The problem I find with Fluval cannisters and I am only in thisa hobby about 7 months, is that they leak basically from opening and closing eventually if the top is not lifted straight up when removing, any side to side motion will eventually stretch the cannister and well, wet floor afoot.

Mark

nah he seems intelligent enough to work that one out

as i don't know of your experiene you might need some knowledge on the nitrogen cycle

and thats not the belfast version of the tour de france

at the mo i have a perspex 200l quarentine with mollies living in it.

Props to my brave Mollie guardians.

Mark

That's weird Mark. I've a fluval 305 running for the past two years and the only time I had a problem with it was when I first set it up and put the rubber ring on wrong and when the primer stick snapped, otherwise it's been fine. I'm not a fan of the fluval externals though, they lose flow really quickly after been cleaned. I would pick the tetratec or eheim's over them next time.

Those U3s are great value They are so easy to service too, flip the lid and hoosh out the trays.

Now I got to get out of here, I suspect JohnH wants to put me in a quarantine tank.

I have got several plecos and had to clean it every week, didn't last long I tell thee, new oring no good, on or off, leaked after 10 15 mins. Never again.


Mark

Was only joking John. You seemed very keen on the QT, and I can imagine forum moderators would like their own version of one from time to time. But it was just an out of nowhere quip that had nothing to do with anything. Sorry for confusing you.

This seemes to drift slightly off topic

Thanks Cjackson for the informative reply

Collecting the tank itself next week

Got a Rena Xp3 external filter and a rena smartheater from a friend so that's filter & heater sorted!

Have nets, buckets, siphons, thermometers, food, medicines etc from my smaller tank so i'm good on that front

Will be a lightly planted community tank!

Some bogwood and a few easy to keep plants such as java moss, java fern, amazon swordplants maybe?

Any suggestions for fish?

A small shoal of neon tetra's are on the list as are endler guppies. Maybe some rummynose tetra - after that i'm at a loss!

The missus has her heart set on an angel but from reading online they don't seem to go well with the fish i'm looking at

ghost glass catfish are cool looking

galaxy rasboras, threadfin rainbows, cardinal tetras, the list goes on..........

I have 5 Fluval externals and NEVER ever had a problem with them, no filter is fail safe, Google tetratec and Eheim and here too you will find ref to breakages, leaks etc, there is a way to curtail the amount of water that ends up on the Floor, I'm open to contradiction here so anyone who can support or refute this, feel free.. A small hole pierced in the return tube, an inch or so below the Water will guarantee a limited amount of water ends up on the floor, the Filter will probably be ruined but replacement is cheaper than new carpets etc. You must check that the hole is free of dirt etc on a regular basis.

Things to get for the new tank.... Algae scraper, Siphon tube, A decent Bucket that puts water into the Tank and not the floor.!! ooh ooh and a second Thermometer, glass, for testing the temp of the new water.

Kev.

i found a lenght of hose attached to the gravel vac and out the back door saves running back and forth wit buckets and in an emergancy water change if possible attach it 2 the filters out flow and it will pump it straight out

Great idea man i like it

Hey Kev man havent seen u on here since you gave me alend of that filter.I must drop that back over to you i got mine working perfectly, Thanks again mate.
Gerry