New to hobby, Fluval edge questions

[SAV602]

Hello everyone.

 

I’ve been a lurker for a bit here doing some research on setting up a Fluval edge reef tank. I was wondering if I can run my ideas past everyone and see what recommendations need to be made.

 

I’m fairly new to saltwater having a saltwater nano reef 24gl for a about a year when I was laid off and sold the tank. I’ve had fresh water fish for about 15 years or so, but I’m really drawn to the beauty of saltwater reef tanks. I really love the hobby, and now that I have a new job at a Bio-tech company (thank god) I’m ready to get into it again.

 

Lighting

My main concern was lighting, as everyone knows the Edge was designed for freshwater in mind, and as so the lighting is not up to par for a reef tank. After 2 weeks of researching different lighting options I came across Nanocustoms 3.6 LED Fixture for Fluval Edge (54w LED). I’ve read the LED guide and am pretty sure that these lights will be sufficient to sustain a reef tank, but I would like to double check with you all. I’m more interested in LPS, but would like the option in the future to add SPS corals. From the description:

 

• 1 x CNC Machined Aluminum Unibody Heatsink/Enclosure with O-ring sealed Splash Guard

• MILSPEC Type II Anodized for durability (Choice of Satin Black or Satin Clear Coat Aluminum)

• 3 x Edison Opto 6x3w Modules (choice of Cool White, Royal Blue, 50/50 (3 x Cool White + 3 x Royal Blue)

• 1 x Extruded Aluminum Electronics Box (houses all the LED electronics remotely)

• 1 x Meanwell LPC-20-700 Driver & 1 x Meanwell LPC-35-700 Driver

• 2 x Power Cords and Switches

• 1 x 60mm Basketless Fan

 

It looks like I will be able to control the lighting, perhaps have the blue/white LEDS off or on independently with the 2 switches? Nanotuners.com does not have a lot of information about the 3.6 LED fixture, but from the picture it looks like I need to remove the old lighting Arm, does anyone know if any other modifications need to be made and/or if the filter still has room to fit normally in the fluval Edge? (All these questions can be directed to the manufacturer as well if people are not sure. I can post the information here when I receive a response)

 

Live rock/sand

I’m looking for a high quality bright white live sand for the tank. I’ve read that I need .5lbs of sand per gallon of water. A LFS that I frequent in San Francisco advised that I should get 10lbs. That is quite a difference so I will probably grab a 5lb bag and go from there. Any recommendations on live sand? I’ve read that Arag-alive is what to get. I like the Bahamas Oolite color hopefully that’s not too powdery, as I don’t want a huge dust cloud every time a snail moves.

 

In regards to Live rock, it’s advised to get a high quality LR. By high quality I’m assuming pulled from an established tank as apposed to the bottom of a stagnant holding area in my LFS?

 

Hardware

For water flow/filtration I plan on using the stock filter for now. I have a few larger filters that I can try out if filtration isn’t up to par. I need to research the media that I use as well.

After reading about some of the coral requirements in regards to water flow the Koralia Nano adjustable flow power head seems like a good choice. Any thoughts on this power head for a 6gl tank?

I haven’t researched my heating too much yet. My last tank especially in the summer was always above temperature. I would combat it with frozen water bottles, and a fan. I would keep the lights off and the lid open. I’ll be keeping this tank in a different location in the house as well as having an AC unit now in my home it shouldn’t be a problem with high temps. I would like a heater though to keep the temp as stable as possible. I’ll be keeping this heater hopefully in the filter to keep a cleaner look so a small perhaps digital one would be nice.

 

I have my turkey baster and my patience ready, I’m really excited about this tank.

 

Thanks

[Twokings]

I've had an edge as a reef tank successfully since July now and I'm still learning the ropes and experimenting with this tank. Its beautiful to look at but can be frustrating at times.

 

I am curious about those lights you found as well...I'm looking at ordering them because they seem like an upgrade by far from the LEDs I installed in the stocks edge sockets. I'm going to research them more myself.

 

It looks like the stock edge power filter (ac 20) will work just fine with the light fixture. I know the swing arm will have to be removed but that is a simple thing to do. I might not be able to use those lights because I'm running an external canister filter on my edge.

 

You should be fine just using the aqua clear 20 on the tank but I would only use the filter floss and put in a half unit of chemipure...maybe even loose the floss because my ac 20 struggled a bit at times with chemipure and floss. I replaced the stock filter with a fluval g3 canister filter and it's made a world of difference in my tank. I get more flow and the tank is much more stable.

 

As for a power head, if you can afford it, look at getting an mp 10...hands down the best on the market.

[jbannick18]

I had an edge for a couple months as a first tank before I get the urge to upgrade. Filter floss with chemipure never gave me a problem but if your water level is to high just turn down the flow a bit. I don't have personal experience with an mp10 but with the ability to dial down the flow it would be a good investment, atleast when you upgrade you can transfer it . In an edge real estate in a tank is at its prime.

 

My big gripe was lighting, and having to take out water everytime I wanted to adjust something in the tank or it would all overflow. And the microbubbles on top of the tank as well

[Cougars123]

I have had a had a sucessfull Fluval Edge 6 gallon reef in operation for three months now and I am using a 70 watt metal Halide which seems to be working great. I have it on a timer for 9 hours per day and at night I have blue LED lights that I built into the modified cover. I also added a small fan on the back of the cover.

 

So far the Fluval Edge has been great. The only problem I have had is that you always have to take water out to put your hand in the tank.

 

Good luck. I recommend the small 70 watt Metal Halide because you can use the existing hood with only minor modification.

 

Good luck!!!

 

 

quote name='SAV602' date='Jan 6 2011, 03:32 AM' post='3161733']

Hello everyone.

 

I’ve been a lurker for a bit here doing some research on setting up a Fluval edge reef tank. I was wondering if I can run my ideas past everyone and see what recommendations need to be made.

 

I’m fairly new to saltwater having a saltwater nano reef 24gl for a about a year when I was laid off and sold the tank. I’ve had fresh water fish for about 15 years or so, but I’m really drawn to the beauty of saltwater reef tanks. I really love the hobby, and now that I have a new job at a Bio-tech company (thank god) I’m ready to get into it again.

 

Lighting

My main concern was lighting, as everyone knows the Edge was designed for freshwater in mind, and as so the lighting is not up to par for a reef tank. After 2 weeks of researching different lighting options I came across Nanocustoms 3.6 LED Fixture for Fluval Edge (54w LED). I’ve read the LED guide and am pretty sure that these lights will be sufficient to sustain a reef tank, but I would like to double check with you all. I’m more interested in LPS, but would like the option in the future to add SPS corals. From the description:

 

• 1 x CNC Machined Aluminum Unibody Heatsink/Enclosure with O-ring sealed Splash Guard

• MILSPEC Type II Anodized for durability (Choice of Satin Black or Satin Clear Coat Aluminum)

• 3 x Edison Opto 6x3w Modules (choice of Cool White, Royal Blue, 50/50 (3 x Cool White + 3 x Royal Blue)

• 1 x Extruded Aluminum Electronics Box (houses all the LED electronics remotely)

• 1 x Meanwell LPC-20-700 Driver & 1 x Meanwell LPC-35-700 Driver

• 2 x Power Cords and Switches

• 1 x 60mm Basketless Fan

 

It looks like I will be able to control the lighting, perhaps have the blue/white LEDS off or on independently with the 2 switches? Nanotuners.com does not have a lot of information about the 3.6 LED fixture, but from the picture it looks like I need to remove the old lighting Arm, does anyone know if any other modifications need to be made and/or if the filter still has room to fit normally in the fluval Edge? (All these questions can be directed to the manufacturer as well if people are not sure. I can post the information here when I receive a response)

 

Live rock/sand

I’m looking for a high quality bright white live sand for the tank. I’ve read that I need .5lbs of sand per gallon of water. A LFS that I frequent in San Francisco advised that I should get 10lbs. That is quite a difference so I will probably grab a 5lb bag and go from there. Any recommendations on live sand? I’ve read that Arag-alive is what to get. I like the Bahamas Oolite color hopefully that’s not too powdery, as I don’t want a huge dust cloud every time a snail moves.

 

In regards to Live rock, it’s advised to get a high quality LR. By high quality I’m assuming pulled from an established tank as apposed to the bottom of a stagnant holding area in my LFS?

 

Hardware

For water flow/filtration I plan on using the stock filter for now. I have a few larger filters that I can try out if filtration isn’t up to par. I need to research the media that I use as well.

After reading about some of the coral requirements in regards to water flow the Koralia Nano adjustable flow power head seems like a good choice. Any thoughts on this power head for a 6gl tank?

I haven’t researched my heating too much yet. My last tank especially in the summer was always above temperature. I would combat it with frozen water bottles, and a fan. I would keep the lights off and the lid open. I’ll be keeping this tank in a different location in the house as well as having an AC unit now in my home it shouldn’t be a problem with high temps. I would like a heater though to keep the temp as stable as possible. I’ll be keeping this heater hopefully in the filter to keep a cleaner look so a small perhaps digital one would be nice.

 

I have my turkey baster and my patience ready, I’m really excited about this tank.

 

Thanks

[Twokings]

Any pics of your lighting mod you can share?

[dacookster]

I've had my new EDGE for 3 weeks now. Haven't had an aquarium since I was a kid. I picked established LR as well. I run the stock aquaclear with the filter pad at the top, and the stock carbon in the bottom. I did my own led mod with some aluminum and some funky waterproof high intensity LED strips I got from a local electrical supplier for next to nothing. I did a blue moonlight mod to the hood cover also. My cycle was unreal fast. I had nitrates in 4 days. I'm still doing weekly water changes, which I find easy since your only ever preparing like 1 to 2 gallons of water. Water is well mixed and heated after an hour or so in a bucket. Sucking up any detritis or diatoms around the far corners of the tank is a challenge depending on how your LR is placed. Anyways, I have lots of little fan worms and micro-organisms crawling around and my water always tests great other than the small amount of nitrates I'm waiting to balance out. I'm going make these suggestions, some were made to me by a super good dude at my LFS who hasn't tried to sell me anything, just encouragement:

 

- In this small tank bad things can happen quickly so move slowly and avoid contamination when getting your hands in there.

- Pick your heater wisely - 25w fluval sucks, find a small 50w. I don't no if a heater for the filter will cut it.

- Since you've had tanks before I shouldn't have to say this but DON'T OVERSTOCK - small CUC, and 1 - 3 extra small fish. No clowns unless you plan on transferring to a bigger tank. It's just not in the cards for 6G's even though you've seen it on youtube. I've read some books that cover nano/small tanks and they don't even recommend fish below 10G's, just invertabrates, and some soft corals. So why fight the recomendations.

- Water changes once a week religiously or sooner even.

- If things are going good after a couple months and you've got that steady income, use this as practice and get a bigger tank again so you can have that dream LS you want. Don't try and do everything with the EDGE, it will turn into a mess. The EDGE looks cool cause its minimalistic and contemporary, so I'm not sure why guys murder them by installing sumps and fuges and overstock them etc.

 

Anyways, I hope you have as much fun as I am. Sometimes I just sit and stair at the damn rock for minutes at a time. My wife thinks I'm losing it!! Cheers

[SAV602]

I've had an edge as a reef tank successfully since July now and I'm still learning the ropes and experimenting with this tank. Its beautiful to look at but can be frustrating at times.

 

I am curious about those lights you found as well...I'm looking at ordering them because they seem like an upgrade by far from the LEDs I installed in the stocks edge sockets. I'm going to research them more myself.

 

It looks like the stock edge power filter (ac 20) will work just fine with the light fixture. I know the swing arm will have to be removed but that is a simple thing to do. I might not be able to use those lights because I'm running an external canister filter on my edge.

 

You should be fine just using the aqua clear 20 on the tank but I would only use the filter floss and put in a half unit of chemipure...maybe even loose the floss because my ac 20 struggled a bit at times with chemipure and floss. I replaced the stock filter with a fluval g3 canister filter and it's made a world of difference in my tank. I get more flow and the tank is much more stable.

 

As for a power head, if you can afford it, look at getting an mp 10...hands down the best on the market.

 

Thanks Twokings. That's great advice on the filtration media. I have an ac30 or ac50 thats I've had laying around for years. As well as a few smaller penguin filters that I can try as well. I love having old heaters, filters, parts laying around that I can use for new projects as well as trading with buddies.

 

OMG that mp10 is expensive! That's actually the one I was looking for though, I had seen a power head like that, that used a magnet/suction cup to stick to the glass as well as having the power cord outside the tank. I wasn't able to locate it, but found the koralia nano which I don't like as much aesthetically, but I love that price. If I can find a used one for 50 bucks I'll grab it though that seems unlikely.

 

I'll be sure to post pictures and my experience with those lights here.

 

I had an edge for a couple months as a first tank before I get the urge to upgrade. Filter floss with chemipure never gave me a problem but if your water level is to high just turn down the flow a bit. I don't have personal experience with an mp10 but with the ability to dial down the flow it would be a good investment, atleast when you upgrade you can transfer it . In an edge real estate in a tank is at its prime.

 

My big gripe was lighting, and having to take out water everytime I wanted to adjust something in the tank or it would all overflow. And the microbubbles on top of the tank as well

 

Lol yeah I've heard of more than a few people getting their carpet wet sticking their hand in this tank.

 

I'm sure with this lighting solution from nanocustoms I will be ok with whatever stock I put in the tank.

 

 

I have had a had a sucessfull Fluval Edge 6 gallon reef in operation for three months now and I am using a 70 watt metal Halide which seems to be working great. I have it on a timer for 9 hours per day and at night I have blue LED lights that I built into the modified cover. I also added a small fan on the back of the cover.

 

So far the Fluval Edge has been great. The only problem I have had is that you always have to take water out to put your hand in the tank.

 

Good luck. I recommend the small 70 watt Metal Halide because you can use the existing hood with only minor modification.

 

Good luck!!!

 

Thanks =) I'm tempted to make my own lighting solution, but I kind of want to make things simple, especially since keeping a saltwater tank and a nano at that isn't the easiest thing to do. I build and modify computers, watercooling and overclocking them as another hobby..which I love doing, so I'm sure I could do it. Ironically I don't feel comfortable creating a lighting system like this next to water. Sounds weird I know, I've always been scared of electricity.

 

I have a 28 or so gallon long tank that I keep small turtles (3" fully grown) and fish in. I was thinking about getting rid of it an going with a rimless reef set up, roughly the same size. For that tank I would definitely make or mod anything I can as the prices for these lights, power heads etc is crazy. By then maybe I'll get over my fear >.<

[SAV602]

I've had my new EDGE for 3 weeks now. Haven't had an aquarium since I was a kid. I picked established LR as well. I run the stock aquaclear with the filter pad at the top, and the stock carbon in the bottom. I did my own led mod with some aluminum and some funky waterproof high intensity LED strips I got from a local electrical supplier for next to nothing. I did a blue moonlight mod to the hood cover also. My cycle was unreal fast. I had nitrates in 4 days. I'm still doing weekly water changes, which I find easy since your only ever preparing like 1 to 2 gallons of water. Water is well mixed and heated after an hour or so in a bucket. Sucking up any detritis or diatoms around the far corners of the tank is a challenge depending on how your LR is placed. Anyways, I have lots of little fan worms and micro-organisms crawling around and my water always tests great other than the small amount of nitrates I'm waiting to balance out. I'm going make these suggestions, some were made to me by a super good dude at my LFS who hasn't tried to sell me anything, just encouragement:

 

- In this small tank bad things can happen quickly so move slowly and avoid contamination when getting your hands in there.

- Pick your heater wisely - 25w fluval sucks, find a small 50w. I don't no if a heater for the filter will cut it.

- Since you've had tanks before I shouldn't have to say this but DON'T OVERSTOCK - small CUC, and 1 - 3 extra small fish. No clowns unless you plan on transferring to a bigger tank. It's just not in the cards for 6G's even though you've seen it on youtube. I've read some books that cover nano/small tanks and they don't even recommend fish below 10G's, just invertabrates, and some soft corals. So why fight the recomendations.

- Water changes once a week religiously or sooner even.

- If things are going good after a couple months and you've got that steady income, use this as practice and get a bigger tank again so you can have that dream LS you want. Don't try and do everything with the EDGE, it will turn into a mess. The EDGE looks cool cause its minimalistic and contemporary, so I'm not sure why guys murder them by installing sumps and fuges and overstock them etc.

 

Anyways, I hope you have as much fun as I am. Sometimes I just sit and stair at the damn rock for minutes at a time. My wife thinks I'm losing it!! Cheers

 

Yeah I definitely agree. I told a co-worker of mine from Dubai who has had large reef tanks in the past my plans for the Edge. She laughed at me and said good luck with that. She said it's not possible to keep a reef setup in a 6 gallon as she was looking at the pictures lol. I was showing her minh's tank. I actually hope to reproduce something like that. Small nicely shaped LR, picking out my corals appropriately. I want to just get a few nicely colored ones and just have them grow in over the next few years.

 

For my livestock I'll probably be going with a goby and pistol shrimp, when I saw how they interact in videos I decided at that point I have to have a pair. Hopefully they hit it off right away =) For my CUC I havent decided yet exactly, but I like the way nassarius burrow and then pop up to feed. So unless those are an issue I may get 1 or 2. I like a lot of movement in my tank so a small well thought out CUC will provide me with that.

 

Thanks for all the great info =)

 

So I'm getting my tank today. I'll be ordering the lights mentioned above today or tomorrow. Hopefully I can find some live rock that I really like this week. I'm pretty excited =)

[Twokings]

- Since you've had tanks before I shouldn't have to say this but DON'T OVERSTOCK - small CUC, and 1 - 3 extra small fish. No clowns unless you plan on transferring to a bigger tank. It's just not in the cards for 6G's even though you've seen it on youtube. I've read some books that cover nano/small tanks and they don't even recommend fish below 10G's, just invertabrates, and some soft corals. So why fight the recomendations.

 

I've kept an adult pair of black percs in my edge for 6 months and they have thrived. I've heard many arguments for and against keeping clowns in tanks 10 gallons and under and tend to agree with those that think that the old and "conventional" rules of reef keeping don't really apply these days. Clown fish never stray far from their host and dot really need as much space people think.

[senoufo]

you can check my build on you tube on the LED build, i also have a MP10 dialed down and replaced the filter with a AC30 ( you have to take the swing arm off to fit) this way i had lots of room for the heater and filter material)

 

the tank is 3 months old and doing well, just letting it mature for another 3 months before adding coral.

[CoralWhisperer]

You guys know that Petco has Fluval Edge ON SALE right now . . . ???

 

I was thinking of buying one to use as a sump/fuge.

[jbannick18]

You guys know that Petco has Fluval Edge ON SALE right now . . . ???

 

I was thinking of buying one to use as a sump/fuge.

 

 

Not to rain on your parade but why wouldn't you just use a 10 gallon, edge is a pita to work with. Unless there was supposed to be sarcasm in your post lol

[CoralWhisperer]

Unless there was supposed to be sarcasm in your post lol

 

Oh, you picked up on that . . .

[jbannick18]

Damn interweb!

[SAV602]

Well I purchased the tank last night in San Francisco for 100 bucks from the always cheap 6th ave. I selected the black one though the orange would have worked well with my desk as well.

 

I also found an old Aquaclear 200 which I believe are called Aquaclear 50's now which I had in my fish supply bin. With a few cuts to the filter and rear wire management location of the tank it will fit nicely. Hopefully the LED's still fit with the upgraded filter.

 

Sand and water tomorrow, and if I'm lucky some small LR. Maybe a stand if I can find a nice one also.

[skeeters]

U can see my tank in my sig. It's by far the easiest tank I have. Makes the room look great. I had corals under my light with no problems.

[Twokings]

Well I purchased the tank last night in San Francisco for 100 bucks from the always cheap 6th ave. I selected the black one though the orange would have worked well with my desk as well.

 

I also found an old Aquaclear 200 which I believe are called Aquaclear 50's now which I had in my fish supply bin. With a few cuts to the filter and rear wire management location of the tank it will fit nicely. Hopefully the LED's still fit with the upgraded filter.

 

Sand and water tomorrow, and if I'm lucky some small LR. Maybe a stand if I can find a nice one also.

 

 

Nice. Keep updating and add pics...

[SAV602]

Nice. Keep updating and add pics...

 

Well I added water, LR, and sand last night. I was on the hunt for LR at 2 different locations one in Vallejo and one in San Francisco. I also went to Berkley, but unfortunately the place was closed. I also picked up a heater, a nano magnet, some chemi-pur elite, more bio max and some poly fill.

 

I definitely need more LR, but I wasn't able to find much that I liked. I had my hands in the salt water LR tank for 40 minutes going through different rocks. I got a lot of good information from my LFS in Vallejo also. They even told me not to buy a few things which was refreshing.

 

For the livestock I was originally thinking a goby/pistol shrimp combo, but as this will be in my bedroom I've heard the shrimp gets pretty annoying with the "clicking" noise so I'll be passing on that. I was thinking a purple firefish and a six-line wrasse. What do you guys think? My concern is the six-line as I believe it needs a larger tank.

 

Reefcleaners advised 5 Dwarf Ceriths, 2 Nassarius, 3 Florida Ceriths, 5 Virgin Nerites as my CUC, so in 3-4 weeks I'll be ordering from them.

 

The tank is looking better than I thought, even though I have a slight dust cloud in there (I didn't rinse the sand per advise from the forums.) I also dremeled off a piece of the AC50 filter and the tabs that hold the lighting arm on the back of the tank so the filter would fit. It's actually a perfect fit and fits snugly enough for me to adjust the level of the filter. I used the motor from the AC20, but kept the propeller from the AC50 so we'll see how the flow is. I'll post pics when I get home in the morning.

[tako]

I was thinking a purple firefish and a six-line wrasse. What do you guys think? My concern is the six-line as I believe it needs a larger tank.

The six-line definitely needs a bigger tank. I'd imagine it would kill that firefish in no time with that small of tank. A firefish is a pretty good choice, though. You could consider a firefish and maybe a cleaner shrimp or 3-5 sexy shrimp. You can see what other people have stocked on here.

 

Reefcleaners advised 5 Dwarf Ceriths, 2 Nassarius, 3 Florida Ceriths, 5 Virgin Nerites as my CUC, so in 3-4 weeks I'll be ordering from them.

You may need that much if you have two fish, but I personally wouldn't add them all at once. My biocube 8 with a osc. clown and cleaner shrimp is spotless with just:

3 trochus

1 blue leg hermit

2 nerite

1 nassarius

 

Haven't had a single CUC member die in the 6 months the tank has been running.

[SAV602]

you can check my build on you tube on the LED build, i also have a MP10 dialed down and replaced the filter with a AC30 ( you have to take the swing arm off to fit) this way i had lots of room for the heater and filter material)

 

the tank is 3 months old and doing well, just letting it mature for another 3 months before adding coral.

 

lol I've seen you're Youtube video many times (even before joining nano-reef), and I must say that light mod is outstanding. Everytime I decide on a premade lighting setup people like you make me want to make my own.

 

I just purchased some more LR last night so I have a nice selection to choose from. I also purchased a digital temp monitor, and some more sand. I may take some sand out as with a total of 10lbs it looks like a bit much IMO. I'll play with the scaping when I get home from work.

 

Heres a few pics of it so far with just the rocks thrown in to keep the cycle going. I'll take better pictures next time.

 

Thanks

 

[senoufo]

nice fit on the AC50, what did you dremmel off that filter to make it fit?

 

i'm curious as i had measured the AC50 and it would bow-out the plastic walls of the back column.

 

if indeed it fits then a conversion to a fuge would be fantastic.

[bogman2121]

The tank is looking good so far. I've had an edge up and running since September with 10lbs of live sand and between 5-7 lbs of rock which at the start was mostly dry with a tiny piece of live to kick everything off. I'm also using an mp10 turned all the way down on reefcrest mode, just bought an ac30 to install, and ordered the same light you're considering.

 

For inhabitants I've got a BW oscellaris, green clown goby, emerald crab, two blue led hermits, fighting conch, 3 ceriths, a few mini brittle stars, hammer coral, gsp, and richordia. I'm considering adding another small piece of rock and a RBTA after the filter and lights go on the tank but we'll see as I don't want anything to go in the tank just to be unhappy and die.

 

Best of luck with the tank.

[SAV602]

nice fit on the AC50, what did you dremmel off that filter to make it fit?

 

i'm curious as i had measured the AC50 and it would bow-out the plastic walls of the back column.

 

if indeed it fits then a conversion to a fuge would be fantastic.

 

 

Sorry for the picture quality my GF has my camera's battery charger.

 

This is the back portion of the plastic box. I dremeled off the portion where the light arm mounts to.

 

I also removed some material perhaps 1-2 mm from the sides where the filter was pushing out the plastic box.

 

 

 

I made a small notch on the right side of the filter to allow it to fit inside the tank. This model is actually an old AC200, though It's still probably the exact same thing as an AC50

 

[senoufo]

i think i understand, i'll go out and buy a AC50 and try, then i would have the possibility of sectioning off a portion dedicated to the heater and filtration and another portion with much lower flow to a fuge.

 

many thanks!

[SAV602]

I can take more pictures if needed. I did keep the two plastic parts on opposite of the ones I cut off. By keeping them on it allowed me to adjust the level of the filter since its so snug. One thing I had to do though was put a rock in the path of the flow since it disturbed the sand. I still need to play around with the flow as well, as I get bubbles if the flow is too low. I probably can just raise the water level another inch though.