picod's Fluval Edge thread

[Dustin11]

LOL!!! no wasted space there! Thanks for the pics!

[westcoastreefer84]

Great job you've done on modifying and scaping. These tanks are so sleek and sexy.

[Chrome Tang]

Cool tank/thread. Really helpful, but you could put prices. Some ten year olds like to know what they spend on their Edge.

[dstruong]

how are your fish swimming next to to koralia..?

 

These are my latest pics.

Moved GSP to back glass of tank. Used tiny dot of super-glue gel to attach GSP to tiny suction cup and moved suction cup to back glass. When GSP attaches to glass, I will remove suction cup.

My new addtitions from Manhattan Reef's frag swap:

Duncan

Pocillopora that was donated to the free frag bin

Favia

Yuma that was a freebie frag used in fragging demonstration

Orange Ricordea with green mouth

Twilight Pink Paly

Soon to be added will be an Evil's PAR38 Lamp which will be used in a swing-arm style lamp

 

And of course, my new percula clown, Wonka!

[picoD]

how are your fish swimming next to to koralia..?

 

LOL, I unplugged it to take the pictures! They do get surprisingly close to it though when it's on.

I have to be honest, I am very afraid that my Sexy Shrimp can get sucked into it, but one day he was hanging out on it... Totally freaked me out and I unplugged it an "shoo-d" him away from it. Thinking about buying a piece of mesh/screen and wrapping it around the Koralia for the little guy's safety.

[picoD]

Hello!

About a month ago, I couldn't take this lighting (or lack thereof) situation any longer, so I added two of Evil's Par38 20000k lamps (http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?products_id=623) which I put into swingarm fixtures and mounted to my desk behind the Edge.

I started out with one, but wasn't satisfied with the amount of light/shadowing, so I decided to add a second (thanks, Jonny). I also removed the coralife 50/50.

This is what it looks like now:

[jguren]

your new setup looks really good

[streetsong]

It's amazing how creative people are with these tanks. I better not let my wife see this thread. She has been begging me to get a Fluval Edge and this will give her ammo, and I'll be doing another tank modification.

[Dustin11]

WOW! that new lighting setup .....IS..... AWESOME!!!!!

So of coarse i now have to ask you some questions about it

Do you find that there is a lot of glare off the top glass?

Do you think that the optics you got are appropriate for that distance offset from the tank, or would you like to more them closer or further away in a perfect world?

As usual, your tank is very inspiring!

[jbb]

WOW ! Great idea, now the fishies think there are two suns in the sky. keep us informed on how this goes, I might have to steal this one form you.

[picoD]

Hello Everyone,

 

Sorry its been a while since I last made an update.

Thanks again for all of the kudos!

Dustin11: Yes, there is some glare on the top of the tank. I would say more of an issue then the glare is that you would bump your head into the fixtures if you are looking down into the tank. Easy enough fix though, just swing em' out of the way when I need to.

 

My tank is now seven months old and these are my most recent pics:

Sadly, very sadly actually, I lost my Yellow Clown Goby Charlie who was very dear to me. I believe he was fatally wounded in a scuffle with my Cleaner Shrimp. I have witnessed him being a bully on more then one occasion, and I have reason to believe he is responsible for Charlie's demise. As my water parameters have been regularly stable, and my corals are flourishing with new growth and by size, I do not believe that Charlie was affected by something in the tank.

New Corals:

Since my last update, I have added several new corals. I have two new beautiful Ricordeas, and a Sun Coral. I briefly had a cool Red People Eeater Paly as well, but an unfortunate, yet educational IC Gel incident put a sad end to his existence. I also have added a Hammer Coral, Monti Cap and Toadstool,.

New Livestock:

I have added two Micro Porcelain Crabs. Kinda bittersweet, but since Charlie has passed, they spend a lot of time crawling on the rockwork and hanging out in public:

New Equipment:

Since I am generally a fan of overkill, and I couldn't pass up a clearance sale, I added a Vortech MP10 to my six gallon tank. Do I love it? Hell yes! And I'd recommend it to everyone.

[Stoke]

sexy tank.

[Dustin11]

Wow!! Great JOB!!!!! I love porcelain crabs but I've only had one once and I'd never see him Good to know that even a cleaner shrimp can scare them off. Where were MP10's on clearance!?!?!?

[bogman2121]

I know you used live rock but not live sand, I'm currently gathering supplies and making lists of what to put into my edge so what type of sand did you use and where did you buy it? I'm having a heck of a time finding good info on anything other than live sand.

[picoD]

Hey bogman2121,

My ex bought the tank for me from his friend that worked in an LFS. When he presented it to me, it was filled with Nutri-Sea water and sand. I was told that it was not live sand, and all I can tell you is that it was one of those bags of "dry" sand off of a shelf that stated it was good for a reef/saltwater tank. Sorry I can't be more specific, but I think you can just ask a worker in an LFS if you are confused, and you will be okay. Also, may I ask why you wouldn't use live sand? If it were my decision, I probably would have, but I didn't get to make that decision!

Also, this is the link for the MP10 if it interests you:

http://www.saltwatercritters.com/inc/sdetail/2317

Please feel free to ask any more questions, I'd be more then happy to help!

danielle

[bogman2121]

I've read in a few places that live sand wasn't worth the price and to just get live rock instead so that's why I was looking for a way around it. Seems like all the dry sand people recommend comes in bags weighing 50lbs, costs way less, and aren't able to be found near me so live sand seems like a convenient option at this point.

 

I actually already have an MP10, I bought that, some mr11 leds, and some blue led strips for moonlighting. I've got to wait until next week before I really get it set up and start adding sand rock and water because I'm moving so it's cram time now to research things I'll need to have that I haven't thought of.

 

Any tips on maintenance and cleaning equipment would be very helpful and I've definitely been following this thread for awhile for stocking tips so thanks for all the detail.

[milk]

make sure you make your rock work accessible, as reaching in there with my big wrists and fat fingers really works up a sweat.

[rolson]

Hey picod,

I'm not a nano-reefer...yet. (I'm planning on asking for a Fluval Edge in a few months for Christmas), and I thought I'd use this time to educate myself on nano-reefs.

 

I followed your link to the VoreTech mp10 and it says they are being discontinued. Do you or anyone else know why? Seems like a great pump from the reviews I've been reading and I hope they are still available by the time I start my tank up.

 

BTW. I love your tank. I've been looking at the pictutres...seeing it progress. Looks amazing!

 

Any advice you can offer up someone going into this...mistakes made, lessons learned, etc. I'm definitely going to mod the lighting to LEDS. What do you currently have and what do you recommend?

Thanks!

 

FFR (Future Fellow reefer)...from Seattle

-R

[ramsey]

The older MP10's are being discontinued. They've been replaced by the MP10 ES. Now is a good time to get the older one if you can still find them online.

[milk]

Hey - big fan of the tank - I was thinking of investing in the ecoxotic par38's, basically the same as Evil's, although he is currently out of stock at the moment. How are they working out for you. Any updates on the tank? - does it seem as if the lid gets in the way of the spotlights, or is the coverage still good? Would like to see recent FTS to see how the LEDs are doing!

[Gennaro]

Hi, it's me Gennaro...

Thank you so much for the msg & link. I just read your entire thread. All I can say is WoW!.!.! I'm embarrassed to even post any pics of my tank yet. But I'm gonna try that PuraPad thingy. I'll keep you posted...

[picoD]

Thanks again, everyone for the compliments on my tank.

I would like to say that I now have an officially "packed" tank, BUT, lol, I keep finding one little tiny spot to add something to..

I wanted to give an update. I am very pleased with my Edge and everything is flourishing!

 

Corals as of 11/09/10:

Frogspawn, Hammer, Duncan, Green, red and blue Candycane, GSP, Sinularia, Toadstool, Orange, Blue, Pink and Green/Yellow Ricordea, 23 diff Zoas/Palys, Pipe Organ, Pom Pom Xenia, Silver Pulsing Xenia, Blue Anthelia, Clove Polyps, Green Favite, Rainbow and green Acan, Purple Lephastrea, Pocillopora, Lokani, Orange Plate.

 

I am very pleased with the lighting, however, I do plan on doing an LED pendant build because I am thinking about upgrading my Edge to a custom 19 gallon rimless. The tank is so aesthetically pleasing, but become increasingly difficult to maneuver about in, duh!. My only complaint about the Par38's is the fact that the colors cannot be controlled separately. Other then that, they are great.

 

My new feeding schedule is every three days as follows:

• Small amount of a combination of Rods, Mysis, Baby Brine Shrimp, Rotifers, and Raw Jumbo Shrimp spot fed
  
• DT's
  

 

Okay, now some new pics from today. Enjoy!

[jojoe972]

Awesome Tank!!!!! I talked to the manager of my LFS store when these tanks came out about someone modding them into a marine tank and the next day one of the workers was bored and did it. Now I am seeing more and more of these guys popping up and they look really good. I wouldnt want to work on one of these tanks though and mod it. My 14g biocube is hard enough to mod and cram stuff into.

 

You have a really good explanation of everything that you did on yours and it makes me want to start a thread for my tank. If only I could get some decent pictures I would start. HAPPY REEFING!

[classic]

hey picoD,

 

can u tell me what kind of lamps u r using in total? and how much lumen you got?

 

thank you,

classic

[fattail95]

Danielle, your tank has been an inspiration to me and my Fluval Edge, and I hope, one day, it will be like yours! :-)

 

As my first fish, I will be getting a Yellow Clown Goby and as my first coral, a piece of live rock with lots of mushrooms on!

 

Thanks!

 

Benjamin.