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Trigon 350L - Triumph or trouble...??

Gadget

Member
Joined
17 Apr 2021
Messages
45
Location
Sheffield
So, as promised, here are some progress shots of the development of my Juwel Trigon 350L corner tank. Its been about 8 to 10 years since I last had a tank, and given the cost of things nowadays, I wanted to get this one as good as I can... Will I succeed?

Tank arrived last Monday, so straight to work with the cabinet....

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That went together very quickly when you completely ignore the instructions and do it more logically....

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Once all level, after much faffing to get it so, and all doors were fully attached, the wife and I hoisted the 73Kg of tank up on top on Thursday evening..... Friday morning I got the filter and plumbing in place... Chose to go with the Oase 850 Thermo filter, and added Eheim Mech and Bio substrate to replace the subpar stuff found in the filters baskets.....

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Next update in a few hours....
Cheers
G!
 
So, after getting the plumbing sorted (after removing the internal Juwel filter that takes up half the tank), I started adding to the layout. First in went some plum slate (after a good soak and scrub) which I rested on some thin blue filter sponge to act as an interface to protect the bottom glass. This was to form a boundary wall to separate the front and rear of the tank. Then to the rear added Tropica substrate to around 1 cm in depth capped off with Tropica aquarium soil to about 4 cm depth with a slight elevation to the back corner . To the front Unipac Silver sand was added to a depth of around 3cm. This was a lot finer than I expected though, so we'll have to see how this does over time?

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Next came the lengthy task of filling the tank.... Plate added to protect the sand from being blown everywhere....

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Plate taken out, water level topped off, lights connected, filter running, and the cycle prep begun....

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Also fitted a wifi plug with programable timer to control the lighting. Next step order some plants, and Mopani wood/root.... Not sure I like this piece of wood I currently have, so that one may go?!

Gonna let the tank run for a day or so, the do a large water change to clear out the particles floating around and help stabilise the kH and gH as expected with Tropica.
More to follow as I develop things....

Suggestions for background plants appreciated? Tank will be supplied with Tropica ferts (with and without N and P as required). CO2 may be added initially by liquid, but may add a bottle further down the line? Lighting for the moment will remain the LED set supplied with tank.

Cheers
G!
 
I like these unconventional tanks as I like the interior design aspect of the hobby.

I can’t give you very specific advice though as I have never ran one! I do recall quite a good journal from someone on here if you do a search you should find.

I think your main challenge would be if you were planning high tech ie pressurised co2 to ensure you get the best flow and distribution with the shape. So your probably best off going low tech and selecting plants from the easy catagory from Tropica.

personally I would use pressurised Co2 as I like a challenge!
 
Thanks for the reply. Yer, the flow seems to be pretty good, at least from watching the particles and bubbles floating around.... The outlet from the cannister is along one of the straight backs, so it flows out towards the curved front. That seems to be creating a nice swirl all around the tank. I haven't got the wood yet though, so that will obviously affect things, but so far so good. Also getting reasonable surface agitation from the spray bar though may try to position it to get a bit more going on?

CO2 is not a particular priority for me, unless the plants I like need it specifically. I do however rather like Crypts, especially Crispulata/Balansae, so will see if things can work for some of that?

Cheers
G!
 
I ran one of these as a lfs discus display tank and the depth was loved by most people. It was quite tannin rich so I had aponogetons as a background because I wanted the floating leaves as most other plants suffered in the dim light. You could achieve the same look with echinodoras bleheri, which is an easy plant, or go for the jungle look with vallis, if your water is hard. Hygrophila corymbosa is another easy plant that would look good in combination with the other two and for something different potamogeton gayi is a really nice looking simple plant.

I grow crypt balansae with no co2 and like echinodoras they can do well but benefit from root tabs or good nutrition around their roots.

Looking forward to see where you go with the tank. I've got the smaller trigon 190 that's been sat in the shed for a while that I was going to turn into a terrarium but might be inspired to go fully wet.
 
Thanks Mort. My experience with swords has not been good in the past, though not sure which species I had back then? I have been considering one or two smaller species for the mid to back. Some of the Aponogetons are very cool looking, and I think may well end up with one or two in my tank. Think I'll give some crypts a go and see how they do?! Will read up on Potamogeton Gayi. Looks interesting.

Cheers
G!
 
The only problem I've had with swords is either nutrient related, in that they outgrow my dosing regime and need a little tlc to get them back again, or they get eaten by ancistris/plecs, which is why I don't have swords at the moment. The nutrition thing is easy as they are just the canary in the mine, showing the potential health of your other plants but they soon bounce back in good conditions.
 
So a little update... Did first water change this afternoon, and went round a few local aquirium shops... Have to say I was not very impressed for the best part.... Only plants I found was a few Crypts. In the holding tank, they looked like C. Crispulata, but once I got them home, I actually think they are just C. Wendtii. Took a chance on another Crypt that I could not identify, but looks to have broader leaves, and longer stems. So some research in order. Will try and pop some progress pics up tomorrow.... Its good to have a bit of green in there, but just wish I'd been able to get some more to pop along the back... May be a trip down to Nottingham in order tomorrow?!

Cheers
G!
 
Yer, seeming that ordering online may have to be the way? Was hoping to pick up locally so I had them immediately, rather than having to wait a week for them to come from online, but at least that way, I know I should be getting what I actually order.

Cheers
G!
 
Unfortuetly unless you find a good aquarium shop, the plants for sale you dont know whether they carry anything (thinking shrimp safe) or you end up trying to get the best out of substandard plants. Nothing wrong with online if you know the supplier. Not saying l could resist buying occasional plants elsewhere but never had a dissapointment with UKAPS sponsers. Gives you the best start with healthy plants
 
So looking at the tank today, one thing I had not accounted for when planning through in my mind, is just how much the curved front affects things... When sat next to the tank, everything is very flat looking, yet there is about 3cm variation from the sand to the top of the slate, and then the soil slants up from there! Food for thought if I ever come to re-scape it!
 
Yer, seeming that ordering online may have to be the way? Was hoping to pick up locally so I had them immediately, rather than having to wait a week for them to come from online, but at least that way, I know I should be getting what I actually order.

Cheers
G!
If you use the sponsors from this site, they usually deliver next day for plants if you order early enough.
 
Cool, I had only seen places suggesting that you order the plants on a Monday to Wednesday, then they get them in the following Monday/Tues, then send them out on the Wed. Will definitely look into it today with the sponsors. Thanks for the assistance thus far!

Cheers
G!
 
I’ve used both Aquarium Gardens and Scaped Nature with great success, both in terms of speed of delivery and quality. I haven’t tried any others but I’ve no doubt they are also very good.
 
Great will give them both a good look through! Many thanks for the recommedations!

Cheers
G!
 
Yesterday I received a supply of plants from Aquarium gardens. Admittedly nothing exotic but they were very promptly delivered, expertly packaged and seemed to be of great quality. Couldn’t fault them. Let’s hope I don’t kill them all as I’ll have no excuse.
 

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Separate issue. How are you finding your 850t filter? Mine has a disappointingly noisy motor/impeller which can be heard upstairs! Oase are sending me a new impeller to try.

ian
 
Separate issue. How are you finding your 850t filter? Mine has a disappointingly noisy motor/impeller which can be heard upstairs! Oase are sending me a new impeller to try.

ian
Interesting you should mention the filter... Just reading up on another thread here I wish I'd seen before buying (only on about page 18 of 23 or so ;) )....

I like the design, size and idea of this filter, and not having to have the heater in the tank is great, however, I am getting air trapped, which is hitting the impeller, and coming out the outlet... At first I thought it was just that it was new, and things needed to settle, and the air will work its way out the system, then it seemed to get a bit better, but still did it every 5 to 10 mins, just a little burst of air. After doing the water change yesterday, it seemed to be doing it far more, and with a greater length of time per burst too... I hadn't touched the filter during the water change, so was nothing directly to do with that. This morning after some rather lengthy ones, I decided to look into the inlet pipe to see if I could see any air coming in that way? Nothing! Switched everything off including the heater, and noted that some air popped up into the outlet pipe. I first tried the pre starter a few times to see if that would maybe shift any trapped air, and a little more came out, but not much. So I started the filter again, and suddenly had loads of air bubbles being blasted up the outlet pipe. After half a minute it did settle down. I also leaned the filter to one side and every time I do, I get another stream of bubble going up the outlet. Again, at first I thought this was just some trapped air, as it settled down far better for a while afterwards, and while it is now much much better, I am still getting the odd small burst happening.

So when its all running fine, it seems great, and I can only hear a low hum when sat next to the tank (not much more than the Eheims I used to have), but this air purge is bothering me, especially as I am concerned it may result in the heater overheating?!

Cheers
G!
 
Yeah, I’ve waded through that thread too! Do seem to be 2 separate issues. Air in filter and noise. Mine did initially blow bubbles especially if filter tilted but I suspect it was merely bubbles in the media and perhaps dissolved gases coming out of solution as water warmed up. Some members do seem to have reported more major issues with air getting in and,alarmingly, water out.
My noise levels are definitely extreme. I can hear a loud intrusive hum sitting 4 metres away which is audible,literally,upstairs, admittedly in an otherwise v quiet house.
Oase, to their credit, having seen and heard a video I sent them, are sending me a replacement impeller to try. Fingers crossed.
Did you order some plants?

Ian
 
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