Against my better judgment im getting a tank again, got rid of my last one when i moved as it was to much hassle to shift it at the time.

Anyway, the tanks im loking at include the jewul (sp?) range and i was wondering about their integral filter units? are they powerfull enough? and are they as easy to maintain as a nomal external filter?

(prob looking at a tank between 200-300 lires)

T

 

An external filter is ideal, to be honest. I've got 5 tanks at the moment, 4 tropical, 1 coldwater. 3 of those have the external filters and they are a doddle to keep clean.

The coldwater tank is 4 foot x 18 inches x 2 foot and the external filter has only needed cleaning 3 times this year. I still refresh the water every now and then.

One of the tropical ones is the same size and the filter needs cleaning slightly more often, but that's mainly because of the 12" Plec chucking loads of plant matter up into it. Even so - that's only been cleaned 5? 6? times this year.

Again, we do the 10% water change every 2 weeks. Slightly less than recommended but the fish seem happy and are breeding like it's going out of fashion!

 

I've got a jewel tank - Vision 180 ltr with a curved front.

It's really nice for viewing, you get to see more of the fish from the side, rather than just head on.

the filter is quite easy to clean, just lift out the whole assembly and rinse thro , replace the top white layer (the really fine layer that traps all the cr@p ).

I do have to do mine quite often , although it is really effective . It's 'coz i keep 6 small koi carp in there, they are notoriously dirty but good entertainment !

Iain

 

We have a curved front Jewel 260. Looks great. Never had external filters for inside tank so can't comment. But note you have to be fairly tall to easily reach into filter box and pump seems to need a good clean quite regularly or it refuses to re-start. Also long arms required to reach floor of tank (we place cucumber in gravel every night for zeb plec and others). Take care not to break plastic catches on tank lid. HTH. David

 

david,

its the 260 im looking at (im 6'6 so can reach the unit ok)

i assume your happy wih the setup then?

 

I had the same reservations until I spoke to a bloke at a fish shop who really knows his stuff. He showed me one of his demo Jewels which he had on trial before agreeing to sell them. He set it up with an external canister filter as a backup and has never needed to switch it on because the built in one is up to the job. They do require a fairly regular maintenance shedule though, but if you keep to it then no problems!

Ok, so he is selling them, sales patter etc. but I am convinced enough to put my money where my mouth is.... I just set up a Jewel Rio 400 which is cycling with goldfish at the moment. My red bellies will be moving in as soon as it is cycled, and as they **** for England it will put the filter to the absolute test!

 

So you wouldn't fit into the tank yourself then

Yep we are really pleased with unit. We got the light wood colour and have in largish kitchen. Can't think of anything against it although it does require a weekly clean - we had hoped to get away with once a fornight. All depends on fish type and load, of course. We have small community. Look for a really nice bit of bogwood as central feature (have to soak for days to get rid of tannin). Go for it David





[Edited by David Lock - 10/17/2003 8:06:59 PM]

 

I have a Juwel Panorama 200 that I bought as ex demo that the brace had broken on
I emailed Juwel yesterday explaining the details inc. that it was out of warranty, ex demo ect and asked what they suggested to use to repair it. They mailed me this morning wanting my postal addy so they could send me a new brace and glue FOC !!
Excellent kit with the service to match

 

nice! Its good to know there are a few decent British companies left!