flying_snow Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Hi Everyone, It is so nice to find such a helpful site and so many people as mad about fish keeping as I am! :lol: Having been a Juwel fan for many years I decided to try a new tank - the AR850. I have managed to set up the cabinet - no mean feat with no instructions but I have drawn a blank with the filter. Unfortunately when I phoned the fish shop they said they couldn't provide instructions as they were all in Chinese! I am guessing that the white tubey things go in one box, and the black bags in another each with a white filter pad over the top???? As for all the tubes I can't get the pump itself to fit. There doesn't seem to be enough tubey bits to reach from the pump to the long tube with holes in it. :evil: Sorry for my naiviety but any help at all would be great, Juwels were much more striaght forward!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Hi Juwel, We went through the same issues when we bought our AR980. Simply put, there's one connector peice that is longer than the other - this fits through the hole over the power head and slides into it. Then the elbow joint goes into that, which uses another connector to attach the spray bar. Bob's your uncle. As for the filter mediums - The ideal setup would be white filter pads on the bottom with the ceramic noodles over it, with the black carbon filters at the top. We do it the other way around as it is easier to adjust/replace the white filter wool this way. As for the black bags, they're full of carbon and we have a separate basket in the middle for them. Let us know if that was enough or if you need some more help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying_snow Posted November 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Thanks for the help guys! We went through the same issues when we bought our AR980. Simply put, there's one connector peice that is longer than the other - this fits through the hole over the power head and slides into it. Then the elbow joint goes into that, which uses another connector to attach the spray bar. Bob's your uncle. I'll give that a go, thanks!! As for the filter mediums - The ideal setup would be white filter pads on the bottom with the ceramic noodles over it, with the black carbon filters at the top. We do it the other way around as it is easier to adjust/replace the white filter wool this way. As for the black bags, they're full of carbon and we have a separate basket in the middle for them. Hmmm, I only have noodles and carbon bags and two white filter pads. Do i only use one square hole then? If put white pad, then noodles then black bags I have nothing for the other rectangle or do I share noodles between them and just put one black bag in each rectangle?? LOL, give me a pump you can just plug in!!!! :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Sorry, we have a AR980 and there's actually three baskets to play with in that one. With a two basket setup I'd most likely set the white filter pads on the bottom of both, and on one basket put both carbon bags and the other the ceramic noodles. If the spray is too noisy, just head down to your local fish shop and get a bulk pack of filter wool and put it on top until the sound of the spray is muffled. There's no such thing as too much filtration! Once again, hope that helps. Did the assembly instructions help at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying_snow Posted November 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Hi Blue and Kim, Unfortunately I am work at the mo but I will have a go when I get into tonight, hopefully I will have all the tubey bits to facilitate! Does the long tube with the holes in (like a spray bar need to reach right to the 4th chamber? (opposite chamber to the pump). In terms of manitenance do I need to change the white filter pads weekly/fortnightly? Does is matter if you have to disturb the carbon bags and noodles to get to them if they are on the bottom? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 the spary bar (tube with holes) only needs to go over the baskets with the filter medium. Mine only goes about 3/4 of the way across the filter. So basically, the long part of the elbow joint goes down and the short part goes horizontal and uses the connector to attach the spray bar. Don't think there's any more to explain about it. You'll be amazed how simple it all is once you put it together the first time. One thing though. Make sure the spray bar is the right way. One end is sealed and you'll obviously want that to be at the end of the bar. As for the filter wool. You should be giving your filte medium a quick wash about once a month in tank water (during a water change just use the old water) so it's a good time to rinse or change the filter wool at the same time. Rinse the wool as best you can, but if it looks like it's done, you'll want to put the new peive at the very bottom and the old peice on top for a couple days to give the bacteria a chance to colonize the new piece. Just another common sense tip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying_snow Posted November 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 the spary bar (tube with holes) only needs to go over the baskets with the filter medium. Mine only goes about 3/4 of the way across the filter. So what does the last chamber with the larger hole and plastic connector that is a larger version of what you usually find on a fluval filter do? Is this where water that overflows from the 2 filter chambers goes? It is odd because it looks like it should have some reasonable flow of water coming out of it but I don't see how it can if the water is dribbling into the chambers through the spray bar. I am also not sure if my spray bar is sealed at one end, I didn't notice it to be. Plus all the chambers have little half moon grooves in to hold the spray bar including the last chamber which makes it look like the spray bar is supposed to reach to it but there isnt enough tube to do that! It is so frustrating that aquaone don't provide any pictoral instructions! :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying_snow Posted November 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Righty! All tubey bits connected, noodles and carbon bags in separate chambers with white filters on the bottom and all systems a go with the pump. ONE LAST QUESTION!!!! Is the pump just supposed to kind of hang off the tube? Or is it supposed to be fixed to the underside of the chamber? There were some odd grey and black things in the chamber which look a bit like lego/connectix but I wasn't really sure what to do with them! At least everything is almost up and running now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 Okay, there should be one more part in this puzzle. Try and find a small cube-ish shaped peice. It should have one open ens with two grooves and one end with two snap connectors. Basically, the snaps should affix the cube to the bottom of the filter box and the power head should then slide on to the cube on the grooves which act as rails. Once this is connected properly then re-attach all the parts for the spray bar and you should be done. As for "dribbling"... once everything is properly connected there should be a signigicant amount of water coming through the spray bar. No dribbling should be happening unless there's a blockage somewhere. As for the spray bar, it sounds like you have things sorted if you're getting a dribble through the spray bar itself. If there's no water going through the holes try turning the bar around and try again. "How many Yanks (me) and Brits does it take to put together an AR850?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying_snow Posted November 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 SUCCESS! :bounce: All sorted, less dribble more like SWOOSH and one securely fixed filter! Water is still quite cloudy not sure if that is something to with the raging torrent of water now going into the tank from the filter!! Thanks Blue for your patience and support, I am so tempted to draw some instructions for the other hapless brits (including my LFS!) trying to set this tank up. Keeping the fish is going to be a breeze after this!!!! Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 LOL, there you go. Now that it's running you can see why I was a bit suprised when you said there was just a dribble. Easy as - now that you look back on it. Your main problems in the future will most likely be trying to keep it quiet (see above advice about filter wool) and keeping that darn filter intake free of snails and debris in a few months when you notice that the filter flow just isn't what it used to be... Aside from that, welcome to the forums and we'll try and help any way we can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted November 24, 2005 Report Share Posted November 24, 2005 Well done B&K for passing on such clear instructions to FS. Good luck with the tank FS.. and hope you will take things nice and steady till you get that filter established . Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted November 24, 2005 Report Share Posted November 24, 2005 Thanks Bill, least I could do after all the help that you and the others on here have given me and continue to do so FS - I forgot to cover the cloudy water part of your last post. Algae Bloom, a part of the start-up cycle of a new tank. Now you mentioned that you have/had another tank. If you still do, use some of the old filter medium and place it on top of the filter medium for the new tank. This will allow the bacteria from the old filter to "seed" the new filter and greatly accelerate the cycle process in the new tank. Adding ammonia to the water will help as well, either by putting in a few fish and feeding them or - here's some tips for "fishless" cycling. Take care and let us know how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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