classic 23 l fluval edge reef

[classic]

finally after alot of reading i got my fluval edge today.

 

since i am new to this and got my knowledge from some fellow reefers and due to reading this forum i will post every step in here and hopefully get some feedback from you.

 

so far i have the tank with stock lightning. in addition to that i got a thermometer, 25 watt heater fron aquael, aerometer, a little pump and salt.

 

my first step in the next few days will be to find a location to set it up fill it up and test for leaking. after that add salt and put sand and liverock the next day. liverock i was thinking for about 3 to 4 kilos cured plus 5 kilos of sand - cant decide if i should go with black or not.

 

i already ordered two aqua sunspots 3watt to replace the stock lightning plus a koralia nano for circulation for later on.

 

will post some pictures when it is setup.

 

cheers and thank you all for this great forum.

 

classic

[classic]

ok this will be the location of the tank.

 

 

i already have the following:

 

 

the little pump and heater will be for mixing the salt water. as you can see the edge was not provided with the orginal aqua clear 20 hang on filter but with a elite hush 5 ... never heard about it... but will try it with that for now and use only the filter floss. also thinking about doing a canister filter maybe?

 

for the heater i thought about jaeger 50watt and for the pump a koralia nano.

 

right now deciding if i should use black or white sand... in the next of couple of days i am gonna look for some live rock... one quick question... can i already start cycling with the light provided or should i wait for the ordered lights which i will use in the end?

 

cheers,

 

classic

 

p.s. sorry about the pictures i will figure it out tomorrow. tried drop i/o and imageshack... both didnt work

[jae4571]

I would go with white sand since your going to be batteling a light issue anyway. Using black sand will make your tank look dark.

[BigBad82]

let us know how you get on with the Aqua Sunspots they look like a perfect simple mods, some pictures of them in action would be great.

[Dustin11]

Welcome and good luck with the new tank!

I agree that white sand would be best for this because of the light issue.

I'm also interested in how your lighting mod works for you. Please take pictures when you get it all working.

[senoufo]

light issues?...what light issues ;-)

[classic]

got my sand - as recommended i chose the white one.

 

 

filled the tank with water:

 

 

added salt.

 

 

after it was clear again i put the sand.

 

 

on the pictures you are seeing the stock lighting - which is really bad. i dont mind the spot effect so much... but way too low. the aqua sunspots should arrive during next week - as soon as i install them i ll post some pictures.

 

at the moment the hang on is running with some filter floss and the water gets clearer - hopefully when i wake up tomorrow it will be a shiny nice looking tank. waiting impatienly for saturday to pick up some rocks from my local dealer. got a lot of micro bubbles since the water level is still too low - how much rock do you recommend? i prefer more than less for biological filtration. 3 - 4 kgs?

[quicknik]

Hey,

 

How would you judge the noise level of the edge?

AFAIK it has a AC50 (perhaps AC20 - do not know for sure) working under the hood. I heard a lot of people complainig about too much humming noice.

 

What do you think?

Cheers,

Nikolas

[classic]

normally the edge is equipped with a ac20... mine was delivered with a elite hush 5... cant hear anything except the water dropping into the tank (since i am still waiting for the stones and didnt fill it up fully yet).

[streakr22]

Subscribed! I have an Edge set up as a freshwater tank right now but I'm interested to see how you do with a saltwater setup using this aquarium.

[classic]

added 2 kilos of dead rock and a tiny piece of live rock. do not like the scaping yet... dont know why... any ideas how you would place them? will it speed things up when i put the live rock in the center? anyways for now... let the cycling begin...

 

[MikeTR]

maybe it's that big ugly yellow thermometer

 

take the small rock on the left and use it to prop up the rock in the middle to make a cave. Or break one of the bigger rocks in two..

[classic]

thanks mike... changed the scaping... looks like this now:

 

 

need to install a splash protection before the new lights arrive... i can use just some aquarium silicone right? and attach for tiny glass corners and then put a little glass on top... looks like this at the moment:

 

 

on the live rock i yesterday discovered two very tiny see thru worms... wasnt able to take a picture... but looked like something you do not want to have in your tank actually... and can somebody ID this white stuff for me thats sitting in the middle of the live rock? doesnt look nice either:

 

 

i am keeping a 10 hour lighting cycle at the moment and will change the filter floss every 3-4 days - the provided sponge in the filter i should take out right?

[classic]

at first sight nothing new:

 

 

but when you look closly there is some white dots, which are moving - so there is some live coming finally... also counted in total 3 worms that are coming out the live rock as soon as the lights turn off

 

 

should get the lights tomorrow - i ll keep you posted.

[JerseyChick]

i definately wish you the best of luck... this is gonna be a very cool looking tank

[l3lumarlin]

Very interested in seeing how this goes, where did you find the fluval with the upgraded pump?

[classic]

@jerseychick thank you

 

@l3lumarlin at a local store here in istanbul... but its more of a downgrade actually... it has 230 liters per hour (ac20 has more than 300) plus my heater doesnt fit in there... therefor i am looking for the ac20 but couldnt find it anywhere yet

[classic]

the aquaspots 3watt arrived today and i have to say they are very much spotted... i could do a little coral island in the center... with this kind of lightning... i think installing 7watt on left and right side would be the best bet at the moment... another option would be these - 400 lumen - 120 degree - what do you guys think?

 

anyway for now see for yourself - this is the old stock lighting in action:

 

 

now the aquaspots:

 

 

a shot from the top to see how spotted the lights are actually:

 

[classic]

around one week lighting 10 hours a day... but no algae yet - isnt it a little strange... except those micro organisms (those white dots) and the small worms from the live rock nothing else...

[classic]

ok it was the lighting... dispite the spotting... only two days after putting the the aquaspots inside... finally some green appeared on the rocks

 

[classic]

i finally could catch a worm... got two of them...

 

 

a friend also gave me some green and red algae... you can also see a brittle star on the live rock...

 

[classic]

here u can see part of my brittle star hidden under the rock

 

the brown stuff is gone... more green stuff...

 

this rock you used to be totally brown...

 

this is actually bleaching out a little... not a good sign right?

[classic]

a little update on my reef...

 

i could finally catch a better picture of my brittle star

 

this is the lighting with 2x 3watts

 

here i added 2x 7watt to the left and right

 

installed a koralia nano... pretty strong pump... put some sands on the rocks... can i ignore that?

 

here u can see the bleached algae... not a good sign right? next to it is some see thru worm maybe? can somebody id it for me?

 

sandbank with bubbles in between... is this normal? good sign?

[hunggi74]

how's your tank coming along? I've got a freshwater Edge and want to convert over to saltwater.

[classic]

how's your tank coming along? I've got a freshwater Edge and want to convert over to saltwater.

 

 

hey there,

 

it is developing pretty good till now... still cycling... this is how my tank looks like after one month:

 

 

for sure you will need to do something about the stock lighting... two problems i have at the moment... my temp. is at constant 27 degress plus i have micro bubbles... filter on lowest setting... water to the max... but still got micro bubbles....