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Juwel rio 180 filteration

mlgt

Member
Joined
28 Jun 2009
Messages
1,151
Location
London
Hi there,

I am after some advice.

I am wanting to upgrade my filter to an external filter. As you can see it is a 180l tank and I have the standard internal filter that came with the tank.

Any suggestions on a decent (somewhat quiet) filter. I am hoping to keep some discus in there as my current 77l tank houses cardinals and rams.

Please help.
 
Unless you're going for a breeding pair of discus I would say a 180l is a little on the small side for discus. 5 in a 50/55gal is the absolute minimum I would say.
If the discus are the only fish and you do very large and/or very frequent water changes you may just get away with it however.

In regards to filters, a Tetratec 1200 or an Eheim 2026/2028 would do the job
I have a rio 180 and I have an eheim 2026 and it's virtually silent
 
Im not after a breeding pair, but would like to own more discus in the future.

Currently have around 15 cardinals, few amanos, 2 corys, 2 plecs and 4 rams in my tank.

Its overstocked, but my arguement is that my current tank was a few hand me downs from friends as the fish were either getting bullied and outcasted.

Hence the upgrade.

Anyways Ive been looking at a Fluval 305 as it was recommended, but my budget is around £70 for a new or used one :)

I currently have a Tetratec 600 in my 77l tank and was thinking worst case I could add it in to create extra filtration.

I do daily water changes in my current 77l tank of 20% and once a month i do a 50-60% water change and gravel vac.

I would like to keep within budget unless I am able to sell the current tank quickly :)
 
305 won't be enough really. I believe it's rated at 690lph. You'd want something bigger like the 405 or EX1200. I don't have an issue with Fluvals, but I much prefer the design of the Tetratec filters. The Fluval's are a little dated now IMHO :)
 
I guess if everyone is going on about these I will look into them.

EX1200 is around £90 which is doable so I will look into that.

Both are around the same price so I will go and have a look and see what fits in the cabinet. :)
 
If you are able to keep up the daily 20% changes on the 180l then you should be ok with the discus
I would go with the EX1200 personally, but you can't go wrong with an Eheim either, I'm not a big of the Fluval externals myself however
 
So crunch question.

Armed with £90.... what would fellow members go for?
 
Thanks for that info.

I will see what other responses I will get and in 2 weeks I will buy a filter based on comments
 
yup ex1200 thats what im getting for my rio 180...im also adding a korila to meet the 10x turnover rule.
 
For those who use an internal filter with the Juwel how does one check if the thermometer is working? LOL

I bought mine second hand and just got it to work, however unsure if thermometer is on.
 
What I notice on this forum is that many have issues with the ex1200 filter.

For the sake of extra £10 to spread my budget to £100 is it worth it getting the eheim 2026 over the ex1200?

Im probably gonna get it online as LFS was quoting silly price
 
i have rio 180, and i have two cannisters running along with the internal

in my opinion a 180 is not big enough for a shoal of discus, as a minimum you'd be looking at a rio 240

with the stocking level you have if you added discus you'd be looking at 50% daily water changes (probably using an HMA)
 
Hi there,

I am somewhat swayed after meeting a few fishkeepers who swear on the Eheim filters rather than Fluval or TT.

I was told that the 2217 is a pretty good filter to use and and price is £80 which is within budget I am stuck in limbo.

However for that price and it does around 790l an hour it covers the 3x filteration mode.

What is anyones thoughts on this? Should I start a thread on Eheim 2217?

Nick, Im not planning a huge shoal of discus, I currently have 1 discus and hoping to add another 2 only. I will do daily 20-30% daily water change if needed when I get the other 2.

But for now I only have the one and although hes lovely and fun, Its unfair to have a shoaling fish be alone by itself.

Chris the price you found is a great price, go for it :)

Right now I am waiting for pay day as just bought the tank and more bags of gravel and plants so kinda skint :D
 
Hello mate

If it helps I have a rio180 and have went for none of the above! I've got a Superfish Aqua Pro 4 SP, which is rated for 1550l/hr.

Now I must note that its huge! In my opinion its too wide for fitting behind a cabinet door, although Superman has used the same size filter but I think he may have had to remove the doors to take the filter out. Instead I used the centre space, removed the shelf and drilled 2 holes for the pipes and 1 for the lead for a 4-way extension (so I could unplug the filter and remove the whole unit). I then slid the shelf vertically infront of the cannister to hide part of it from view. I'm going to try to source a second shelf to blank almost all of that space.

I have to say its an excellent filter. I'd previously used a 960l/hr external but it just didnt cut the mustard.

Regards
Dave
 
Looks a pretty decent bit of kit.

Does it come with spray bar as well?

Can you take a pic of the set up?
 
I also have a Rio 180 from day one I removed the internal filter and replaced it with an existing Eheim Eco 2321.
However, I have decided there wasn't enough flow for the size of tank.
So I have just upgraded to an Eheim 2324 pro thermo filter which is providing enough flow and enabled me to remove the heater from the tank.


Kindest regards: Peter
 
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