Lighting For Juwel Rio 180

Not sure how hard it is to fit one in a Juwel Rio, never having had experience with one of those tanks.

However I can say that when I started leaving my blue night lights on for an extended period it caused brown algae to appear in my tanks. Once I reverted back to having them on for only a couple of hours after main lights out the algae problem stopped.

So just offering a word of caution, that you might want to monitor what happens if you do fit one and leave it on for as much as 5-6 hours a night.

With Juwels, the two tubes work together. They have to be on and off at the same time. The only way to have a blue tube coming on after the main lights go out (moonlighting  ) is to fit another tube with separate end clips and a controller. Having had a rio 125, I'm not sure where you could fit one. If you attached it to the rear flap, even if it would stay attached there is the problem of the bracer bar.

But I think some people use blue led strips. They might work but I have no idea about wiring, controllers etc 

Hi Diz

I've got the Vision 180 which is pretty much the same tank as yours and I just added a LED strip (along the lines of what Sue has suggested).

I used Interpet's 14.25'' 'Blue Moonlight' LED strip - very easy to get hold of and it was only about £20 delivered (Ebay I think). It has it's own plug so no messing about with wiring or anything like that - I just run it off it's own timer so that it comes on shortly before the main lights go out. It comes with adhesive strips and I just attached it to the rear flap of the tank lid.

What I like about this particular strip is that the lighting it puts out is really designed for a smaller tank so you get a nice subtle blue light which doesn't make the whole tank glow like a Christmas tree (I think it looks more natural). One of the additional benefits I've seen is that the fish are noticeably less startled when the main lights switch off.

Hope this helps

Glad to be of help. By the way, do you know whether your existing light tubes are the same? With twin tubes you can have them different front to back with each tube enhancing different colour ranges. I have Juwel's 'nature' tube at the back which is good for plants and then their 'colour' light at the front which enhances the blues and reds in fish (the light itself has a purple tinge). Only thing is that genuine Juwel tubes aren't exactly cheap!