sammander
Community Member
Hello everyone, I'm just getting back into the hobby after over 15 years. 
I've spent about 4 months researching and wanted to build a budget build. So I went with a new Juwel Rio 350 (https://www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/Products/Aquariums/Rio-Line-LED/Rio-350-LED/#sticky-navigationbar). I live in an apartment and I don't feel comfortable having any water move outside the aquarium so no sump for me. The price with the stand was affordable compared to other AIO tanks. I live in Finland so we have to pay VAT tax and everything is super expensive so whatever you are paying, multiply that times 24% at a minimum.
At the moment I am trying to keep things simple and use what it came with and will only buy things as I need them.
So far I have dry rock, and dry aragonite sand (0.5-1.2) along with Tropic Marin pro reef salt with RO water (it took 43 hours to fill!). I concentrated the aquascape to make sure there was ample area for coral placement and light, as well as caves for the fish to swim and hide in.
(Sorry for the heavy breathing in the video)
Besides the mechanical filter and pump and heater that it comes with I also have a Fluval Sea CP4 powerhead. I will eventually adjust the internals of that internal box and probably either do more biological filteration media, an internal refugium (I have some ideas how to pull it off), or modify that area for a skimmer instead of using Juwel's existing skimmer placement which would take up more space in the tank.
I have treated the tank as an island so you can see it from all sides (besides the black box which I will probably cover with more rock or GSP, or something). I wanted to be able to relax and see it from my living room, bedroom, and dining table so you could say it's actual the "centrepiece" of the apartment. I will also probably build a back wall so you don't see cables etc.
I think I'm going to buy some lights eventually because the lights it came with are 6500K and 9000K, which I may try out in addition to something else and see if it helps with coral growth. I'll most likely buy lights from iQuatics (https://www.iquaticsonline.co.uk/sh...tem/iquatics-aqualumi-universal-4-tube-120cm/) because it will allow me to have T5s and much better lighting while at the same time being able to use an actual cover to keep moisture, fish, and "sound" in the tank (yes I know this can affect my tanks parameters, I'll figure it out along the way). OR I may do a some FLUVAL Marine 3 lights (https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/marine-spectrum/) and then had the lid together, but I don't know how strong they will be, I don't plan on any SPS at the moment. I know there is a thread discussing these lights and they were OK but not anything to write home about.
Not sure about fish yet but I'm probably going to build around marine symbiotic relationships. But let's see. I'd really love one yellow tang, which would also give me an excuse to upgrade in a few years. I want to be careful not to overstock. I'd also like to build a dense population of copepods (another idea I have for the large empty area in that black box).
In the end I'm taking my time and trying to make sure I don't become too broke along the way. Suggestions are always welcome, no promises if I will follow them though. But I am always willing to listen and learn.
I think that's it so far. Now on to tank cycling! Not sure which way I'll do it just etc.
Wish me luck!
I've spent about 4 months researching and wanted to build a budget build. So I went with a new Juwel Rio 350 (https://www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/Products/Aquariums/Rio-Line-LED/Rio-350-LED/#sticky-navigationbar). I live in an apartment and I don't feel comfortable having any water move outside the aquarium so no sump for me.
The price with the stand was affordable compared to other AIO tanks. I live in Finland so we have to pay VAT tax and everything is super expensive so whatever you are paying, multiply that times 24% at a minimum. At the moment I am trying to keep things simple and use what it came with and will only buy things as I need them.
So far I have dry rock, and dry aragonite sand (0.5-1.2) along with Tropic Marin pro reef salt with RO water (it took 43 hours to fill!). I concentrated the aquascape to make sure there was ample area for coral placement and light, as well as caves for the fish to swim and hide in.
(Sorry for the heavy breathing in the video
)Besides the mechanical filter and pump and heater that it comes with I also have a Fluval Sea CP4 powerhead. I will eventually adjust the internals of that internal box and probably either do more biological filteration media, an internal refugium (I have some ideas how to pull it off), or modify that area for a skimmer instead of using Juwel's existing skimmer placement which would take up more space in the tank.
I have treated the tank as an island so you can see it from all sides (besides the black box which I will probably cover with more rock or GSP, or something). I wanted to be able to relax and see it from my living room, bedroom, and dining table so you could say it's actual the "centrepiece" of the apartment. I will also probably build a back wall so you don't see cables etc.
I think I'm going to buy some lights eventually because the lights it came with are 6500K and 9000K, which I may try out in addition to something else and see if it helps with coral growth. I'll most likely buy lights from iQuatics (https://www.iquaticsonline.co.uk/sh...tem/iquatics-aqualumi-universal-4-tube-120cm/) because it will allow me to have T5s and much better lighting while at the same time being able to use an actual cover to keep moisture, fish, and "sound" in the tank (yes I know this can affect my tanks parameters, I'll figure it out along the way). OR I may do a some FLUVAL Marine 3 lights (https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/marine-spectrum/) and then had the lid together, but I don't know how strong they will be, I don't plan on any SPS at the moment. I know there is a thread discussing these lights and they were OK but not anything to write home about.
Not sure about fish yet but I'm probably going to build around marine symbiotic relationships. But let's see. I'd really love one yellow tang, which would also give me an excuse to upgrade in a few years.
I want to be careful not to overstock. I'd also like to build a dense population of copepods (another idea I have for the large empty area in that black box).In the end I'm taking my time and trying to make sure I don't become too broke along the way. Suggestions are always welcome, no promises if I will follow them though. But I am always willing to listen and learn.
I think that's it so far. Now on to tank cycling! Not sure which way I'll do it just etc.
Wish me luck!
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