High temperature and Juwel’s light tubes

Posted by on September 20, 2010 4 comments

I have set the heater at 24-25C which should be the safe fallback temperature in case the temperature inside the aquarium drops. If you have an open aquarium with the light tubes on top of the tank you might wonder what I am talking about. You see – the Juwel tank is closed tank which means that the light tubes are inside the tank right next to the water.

The light tubes also emit heat and since the tubes are right next to the water it has a significant effect on the heating of the eco system. Despite that I have set the temperature to be 24-25C in the heater, I constantly measure water temperatures of 27-28C. I haven’t found an easy way to cool down the tank since our apartment temperature is anyway quite high too, even if not 27C. I have and air diffuser plugged in to the Juwel Bioflow pump which creates extra air flow to the water. This is recommended in any case, but necessary with high temperatures.

Do you think my water temperature is too high for normal fish like guppies or platys?

I have also been wondering if the temperature has a negative effect to any plants? I guess not since they look pretty healthy, but somehow this temperature makes me nervous. I hope in vain?

From amateur tank to pro tank

Posted by on September 19, 2010 2 comments

For the past six years I had a 100 liters aquarium tank, which I would like to call an amateur tank. You know – it’s one of those kits they sell you at the local pet store with everything included and really one of those you normally may recall as a “normal” tank. Still, a 100 liters tank is big enough to really get excited and get enough plants and fish to appreciate this hobby. And it was a high quality tank made in Finland. So it was a great way to get started. As you can see from the picture, there were quite a few plants which in my opinion did well. And the fish as well.

My primary principle for this hobby is that everything costs, and if you are about to take this seriously it’s worth spending an extra 10 euros or so to get the best items you can. As you can see from the picture, I had a bigger filter than required. It was graded for 120 liters to 150 liters. This kept the water clear and the water flow high enough. I also use Easy-life ProFito as plant fertilizer and Easy-Life Carbo for extra carbon.
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My freshwater aquarium

Posted by on September 19, 2010 No comments

Hello, and welcome!

Let me introduce myself. I am 31 years old, I live in the city of Turku, in the Nordic land of Finland, earn my living from writing software but find aquariums as a great hobby in contrast to sitting in front of the computer. I’ve had my freshwater aquarium for six years already and never really thought that this would be a serious hobby of mine. Until last month, August 2010, my wife and I bought the Juwel RIO 180 tank instead of our previous 100 liters aquarium. After that I realized that this hobby went to a next level. This is our aquarium as of today.

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