think once i get paid next week, with the fiancee's permission obviously, i will get a fluval 205 external filter and rio 125, i would love the 180 but its just to much £££.
it seems that seapets give you free gravel but i want white sand, mite email them and see if they will do that instead.
does anyone have a rio tank and can show me the internal filter stuff and the lights?
how easy is the built in filter to to remove?
are there any alternatives before i buy this one?
I've had 3x Fluvals (204's) and they were rubbish - seals failed and just lost heart, last one I just gave up and it's sat somewhere in my shed - couldn't even sell it on the bay for spares. I hate them with a passion!
Anyway, I'd highly rate Rena (I have a +2) and it's been running 24/7 for 4 years and not one problem - far better built then Fluval and comes with spraybar which was an optional extra on fluval when I bought mine.
Either Rena or Eheim which seem to be popular on TFF forum.
White sand is a pain in the a$$ if you ask me. Silica sand is what you want BTW.
Some people go for black onyx stones or other black materials (you'd have to look into it) but IMO looks amazing:
I would say it may not be suitable for fish with barbles such as clown loach or coreys but I could be wrong, never seen that substrate up close.
If you go for gravel just go for the fine stuff which avoids the issues for barbled fish.
Just rip the built in filter out - it's only in there with aquatic silicone and you can remove (carefully) the residue with a stanley blade.
The lights can be an issue as they have built in starter units and are expensive to replace - that said I've had 3 tanks along the line of what you have and never had any problems.
The lights and connectors can get a bit gunky so just clean them each time you clean the tank and ensure the seals are cleaned every time you change a bulb.
Warranty tends to be 2 years on these units but as I said they are typically quite reliable.
Is the filter built in, I would have thought it was just a hang / stick on internal one.
How are you planning to buy this online? I would really recommend seeing it in person if possible, then you can have a good look at it and if it's what you want and ask loads of questions like these. It might be bigger / smaller / more / less imposing than you are expecting.
Also if there is a filter included and your watching the pennies I would use that for now, you can always buy an external filter later.
It will be an internal inbuilt unit, typically they house the thermostats in there as well - I don't rate the thermostats that come with them either TBH.
Totally agree with going for external unit later on, just put some of the filter medium into the new filter to prime it and you're away (or run them both for 24 hours which is what I did).
Three words before you buy anything like this - research, research, research!
. I'm going to get some RO water from the shop and see if it makes any difference, if so I think I will get one of these. I want to get a marine tank in the future at some point anyway so may as well start building up some of the gear. 