algae_connoisseur
Member
Hello im new to forums but i really think the world should know that juwel tank lids can be custom despite the difficulties. i am going to post 3 sections, 1st prep, 2nd finnishing, 3rd fitting. hope you enjoy and prehaps 1 person will take inspiration from this project. i love juwel tanks and have had a couple through my aquatic life (15 years). The problem with jewels is the lids, in my opinion, are not suited for 'high tech' (if thats what you want to call it) tank setups due to the 2 tube only light bar/space between brace bar and lids for extra units to be fitted. i have tried adding more lights with consequences, ie melting of 4mm polycarbonate factory flaps and bulb fixing issues. i have a rio 180, i was running standard juwel lid and light bar with arcadia plant pro 45w fluorescent bulbs specifically designed for juwel tanks. i had 2 39w power compacts at the back of the tank with limited success. since changing to 4 45w tubes i have noticed the change dramatically. i run pressurised co2 and dose liquid ferts daily( weekly recomendations broke down to days and increased according to plant needs, which increases slowly month by month, greedy *******S !!) water changes of 40l a week, sometimes every 2 weeks depending on my work, with 2 tsp of normal baking soda added every 2nd time due to co2 eating away at the kh. substrate is a experiment i took the 'aqua soil' which is the tiny balls of substrate, i added liquid ferts and broke them down until i made clay. i rolled it out into a 10mm bed, added rot tabs and covered it in limpopo sand. works fantastically. i dont claim to be a 'guru' nor am i in anyway an expert, yes i have studied planted tanks down to the chemical and molecular level but i think this just complicates things and leads to more going wrong, i simply learnt from my mistakes (expensive), had patience and a saying i say is "i read my leaves". anyway i shall post the pics and explain stages. thanks for reading this post share if you will to show other people struggling witht the more demanding plant species that there is hope!!
regards
andy
regards
andy