Advice On My New Juwel Tank

tommyh1977

Hi, purchsed a Juwel Koral 60 tank today. Got a good price in Hanleys in Cork at 89.00 for the tropical model. Now reading the instructions I see it has just a single blue filter in the pump, whereas the Rekord 600 has 3 seperate filters for nitrates etc. Should I have gone for the Rekord based on this or are these filters equally as good? Sorry for question but a complete NOOB here.

Silverfish

It's the Bioflow Mini that's in the Korall 60's I think, I probably would have gone for the Rekord with the green, blue and white, but tbh, it doesn't really matter, as the essential bacteria colonise on any of the sponges. You won't be changing the sponge so it shouldn't matter. (Juwel will tell you you need to change the sponges every 6 weeks. This is not true, every time you change a sponge, you're throwing out the vital bacteria that break down the waste)

Anyway, if you're worried about filtration capacity, you can get a second sponge filter to put into the tank to spread the load.

tommyh1977

Thanks for the reply, I was actually stumped when reading the instructions re changing the filter. In the Rekord it states never change all filters at once, for the reason you set out above, but in the Korall one has no choice but to change it all at once thus as you said taking out the good bacteria that break down the waste.

I never actually realised the filter works by breaking down waste using the good bacteria trapped within it, I imagined the filter to be something that would catch debris and like say the air filter in you car, have to be renewed every so often.

Any recommendations for some cheap hardy starter fish?

Thank you

cyberblade 918c

tommyh1977 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, I was actually stumped when reading the instructions re changing the filter. In the Rekord it states never change all filters at once, for the reason you set out above, but in the Korall one has no choice but to change it all at once thus as you said taking out the good bacteria that break down the waste.

I never actually realised the filter works by breaking down waste using the good bacteria trapped within it, I imagined the filter to be something that would catch debris and like say the air filter in you car, have to be renewed every so often.

Any recommendations for some cheap hardy starter fish?

Thank you

Make sure ya read the sticky on cycling your tank first ...

A few sword tails to start off with would be a good idea / also a couple of guppies or mollies would be a good idea as they will all get along and add a little colour. small fish of any of the above shouldnt cost you any more that €2 / €2.50 per fish,

best of luck with it

tommyh1977

I understand its variable on the size of fish, but say swordtails and guppies how many of each would my tank comfortably hold?

Silverfish

tommyh1977 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, I was actually stumped when reading the instructions re changing the filter. In the Rekord it states never change all filters at once, for the reason you set out above, but in the Korall one has no choice but to change it all at once thus as you said taking out the good bacteria that break down the waste.

I never actually realised the filter works by breaking down waste using the good bacteria trapped within it, I imagined the filter to be something that would catch debris and like say the air filter in you car, have to be renewed every so often.

Any recommendations for some cheap hardy starter fish?

Thank you

Never change the sponges at all, I've had mine since I got the tank, I just give them a swish in the old tank water every 4-6 weeks or so. If you think of the filter like the air conditioning in your car, that's exactly what it does - it won't hoover the car floor or empty the ashtray, you'll still have to do that yourself, but it'll keep the air in the car fresher! You'll still need to clean out the tank and vacuum the gravel when doing water changes.

It will actually take longer to cycle your tank using fish, and there's a high chance you'll lose the fish doing so as well, have a read of the sticky at the top of the forum about cycling your tank - less of a headwreck all round if you do it that way!

tommyh1977

Well, decided to exchange the Korall for a Rekord 600, only 10.00 euro in the difference and gaining an extra 10 litres capacity as well as the Biomax Filter system. Can highly recommend Hanleys in Cork for any southern Aquarists or beginners like me. Tim in there really knows his stuff.

vibe666

definitely read through the cycling thread though, everything you need is in there.

the hardest thing i found with my first aquarium was resisting the temptation to put fish in the tank as soon as possible although if you do, there's a good chance you'll end up killing them, so try and make sure you resist it as long as possible to give your new fish the best chance of survival.

tommyh1977

vibe666 wrote: »

definitely read through the cycling thread though, everything you need is in there.

the hardest thing i found with my first aquarium was resisting the temptation to put fish in the tank as soon as possible although if you do, there's a good chance you'll end up killing them, so try and make sure you resist it as long as possible to give your new fish the best chance of survival.

Tank cycling now with Nutrafin Cycle, fish not going in till Saturday.

Sleepy

Read the cycling thread again.

Even with the Nutrafin Cycle, it'll take a few weeks to cycle the tank.

tommyh1977

Sleepy wrote: »

Read the cycling thread again.

Even with the Nutrafin Cycle, it'll take a few weeks to cycle the tank.

When I say fish going in at weekend, I mean 3 small ones like Mollies or Guppies and will then add more in a few weeks when cycle seems settled. Is this correct? Should I add food to water now for a few days?

Thanks for the info guys!!

Cameron Poe

Don't put any fish in your tank before getting it tested by the shop. You want the NH4 (ammonia) at 0 and the N02 (nitrite) at 0. When they test it for you get them to show you how and then buy your own test kit. Don't buy fish without having the test kits first.

If your parameters are good you can add a few. You want to wait a few days before adding any more. Test regularly during the first few months. If you see either of the aforementioned levels rising you should do small water changes (20%) daily until they return to zero.

tommyh1977

Ok water gone milky cloudy over last few hours, I presume this is bacterial bloom?.

Sleepy

yep