Fluval Edge Saltwater

[ajay88]

So I have finally ventured into my first saltwater Nano reef. I saw the Fluval edge at my local Petco and thought it would look nice with coral and a couple small fish. I have no prior saltwater experience and have had a 20 gallon freshwater tank 5 years ago. I figured I can do some research and pick things up from the forums.

So far what the equipment I have:

Stock Filter

Rena SmartHeater (50w)

Ecotech MP10w

Lights

Using the stock mr-11 sockets for 2x LED Lights (7000K)

2x Coralife 50/50 lights

R2 Moonlight Dual Extreme (complete overkill, but looks nice at night)

2x mr-16 UV Lights (to complement moonlights at night)

5x White 3-LED array (10000K)10 lbs. Caribalive Fiji Pink Live Sand

see light thread http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=270068

6 lbs. Manado Live Rock

5-gallons Ocean water (bought from Petco)

2 x thermistor controlled 12v Fans (for canopy, cooling)

 

I have everything except for the 3-LED array (backordered). Ive found out that the stock canopy does not have enough space for all those lights and the 50/50 are generating too much heat. I dont have any livestock, but Im trying to figure out a solution to keep the heat down.

As for the tank Parameters. I had the tank running for 2 days with just the saltwater and Live Sand:

3/29

Temp: 78.7

Ammonia: .25

Nitrates: 5

Nitrites: 0

pH: 8.2

Salinity: 1.023

 

After adding the Live Rock I did a test about an hour later (also tested reef params)

 

Temp: 80 (the 50/50s were on for 2 hours)

Ammonia: .25

Nitrates: 0

Nitrites: .50

Phosphates: 0

pH: 8.2

Calcium: 360

Salinity: 1.0235

KH: 179

 

Im not sure where I am with the tank cycle process. I would like to begin adding livestock, but dont want to add anything that is going to die instantly. I just thought maybe I could get some help with getting the tank stable.

 

If anyone has any suggestions for the canopy, Im all ears

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Twokings]

Nice start. Have you thought about the edge light fixture from nanotuners? Edge fixture

 

Ive got this light set up and its maybe the best lighting option for the stock edge hood.

[ajay88]

Nice start. Have you thought about the edge light fixture from nanotuners? Edge fixture

 

Ive got this light set up and its maybe the best lighting option for the stock edge hood.

thats for the reply!

 

It seems kinda pricey... i saw some waterproof led arrays as superbrightleds.com. i might just get rid if the mr 11 and mr16 and mount them all on the side of the cover.

 

On a side note: does the UV (back light) have any adverse effect on the fish/coral?

[Kaeon]

My take on it was to move the lights forward. I does not really take away from the tank aesthetically. It makes a huge difference that the pictures do not do justice. Under the hood is two coralife 10w 50/50.

[ajay88]

My take on it was to move the lights forward. I does not really take away from the tank aesthetically. It makes a huge difference that the pictures do not do justice. Under the hood is two coralife 10w 50/50.

 

Im now thinking of scrapping all of my lights and getting waterproof light-strips all over the inside wall of the cover. The white lights have a color temp of 9000K. Would it be enought to replace the 50/50s?

[ajay88]

I already have moonlights set up on the sides and it acually works out really well. I have them on inverted angles (left side is shining on right of tank, right side is chining on left side of tank.) If i get some of the 9000K white LED's, their tiny footprint would allow me to place them wherever I want, at any angle. Im just worried that its not enough light for the coral.

The LEDs im lookin to get are

 

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/sto...2Fld1-x_alm.htm

under Accent lights, LD1 series Little Dot Wired SMD LED.

 

I have included a picture of my moonlights on, and my MR-16 UV light, with a cleanup crew and a couple corals I got from my LFS just to see how they would react to my tank.

[ajmckay]

Tank looks nice. Did you check out the nanotuners edge light? It's a nice, sealed, LED solution made specifically for this tank.

 

I also like the simple scape! What are your stocking plans?

[ajay88]

Thanks ajmckay, the nanotubers solution is a little pricey. Im looking more into the LEDs I found at superbrightleds. Regarding the scape, thanks but i made a small modification. I put the small rock with the mushroom on it underneath my left rock to make a little cave. the mushroom wasnt getting enough light and I got worried. Ill upload some more pics when i get home from work.

 

Im still worried about my Blacklights I have. They bring out the corals color, but Im fear it might harm them. I git them from the same site (superbrightleds). Any help?

[ajay88]

I have some updated pictures of my tank.

 

 

 

My new lighting configuration until I get the LED's ordered and shipped.

 

 

My new Scape:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can say that I was impatient with adding corals and my cleanup crew. I havent let the tank cycle completley yet. I'm having Nitrate and Nitrite spikes, but everything else is perfect. I dont know if that will effect the coral in any way, but i guess its my fault for not being patient.

[y0smokey]

You can say that I was impatient with adding corals and my cleanup crew. I havent let the tank cycle completley yet. I'm having Nitrate and Nitrite spikes, but everything else is perfect. I dont know if that will effect the coral in any way, but i guess its my fault for not being patient.

 

Wow...4 days in and you already have corals? You aren't going to do well in this hobby without A LITTLE patience.

 

Hope you can keep things alive.

[Kaeon]

My new lighting configuration until I get the LED's ordered and shipped.

 

 

How did you secure those 50/50's?

[ajay88]

Wow...4 days in and you already have corals? You aren't going to do well in this hobby without A LITTLE patience.

 

Hope you can keep things alive.

 

Ya tell me about it. It was more my dad was impatient. the coral wasnt that expensive, so to make him happy, i got it.

 

How did you secure those 50/50's?

Ha Ha, I didn't , They are wedged between the moonlight tube so they are holding. The foil tape I have is also double sided in some areas so its keeping everything secure. Its only temporary untill I get the LED's.

[ajmckay]

What baffles me is that you went all out buying premium equipment (the edge, vortech, etc...) but the lighting seems to be a bit of a ghetto-rig at the moment...

 

Who knows, maybe superbrightleds.com has excellent LEDs, but I haven't really seen much of their stuff in aquariums so I can't really say. Do they produce sufficient PAR (for photosynthesis) to support the types of coral that you want?

 

What kinds of coral do you want?

 

Finally, I'm not sure what you mean about a black light? I didn't see it in any of your pictures. Which MR16 did you get? The only MR16 I saw that was in the "UV" spectrum used 3-5mm LEDs which might make a visible difference, but aren't powerful enough to really do more. Typically UV isn't considered necessary, though people have experimented with them and I don't believe they would pose any threat to corals or fish.

[ajay88]

What baffles me is that you went all out buying premium equipment (the edge, vortech, etc...) but the lighting seems to be a bit of a ghetto-rig at the moment...

 

Who knows, maybe superbrightleds.com has excellent LEDs, but I haven't really seen much of their stuff in aquariums so I can't really say. Do they produce sufficient PAR (for photosynthesis) to support the types of coral that you want?

 

What kinds of coral do you want?

 

Finally, I'm not sure what you mean about a black light? I didn't see it in any of your pictures. Which MR16 did you get? There's the ones with 3-5mm LEDs and then there are the high power ones. Typically UV isn't considered necessary, though people have experimented with them and I don't believe they would pose any threat to corals or fish.

The blacklight I have is their mr-16 (5mm LED).

 

I plan on ordering their white LEDs (9000K), Blue LEDs(465nm) and their UV(blacklight) LEDs(410nm). I plan on making it look nice once everything gets to me... I also wanted to get a High-powered LED emitter to mix in a more broad range color temperature. Something along the lines of:

10W LED

I did read up on the requirement for coral before starting, and thats why i got the two 50/50s, but i really dont want to spend $300.00 on a custom LED module when I can get better leds for less. And I really dont want to modify the cover to be able to fit all my lights with the 50/50s. i think the white and blue mixture of LED's should be plenty. If need be, They even have Red LED(625nm) I could mix a couple of those in to get even more of a spectrum.

 

I admit, it looks pretty ghetto-rigged now, but it will look nice once everything is in place.

[ajmckay]

Hehe sorry I didn't mean to say that you're ghetto-rigging your lights. But really, for corals anyways, lighting is probably the most important factor in success, followed closely by flow (which you've got covered nicely!).

 

I'm assuming you've done your research on PAR and PUR? It's fairly well known that 5mm LEDs won't give you much to work with (though you're free to use them as visual color enhancers). If all you're planning on ordering are those types of LEDs your coral growth will likely be sub-par. Additionally, while I'm not an LED expert, I can say that the 10w you're planning will be a difficult fit. You'll have to use up a lot of space to manage the heat output from an LED like that. You also have to consider the extreme spotlight effect you're likely to get having that thing so close to the water and right in the middle.

 

I have nothing against superbrightleds.com, but why don't you use a solution already adapted to aquarium use? The nanotuners fixture would really set this thing off (keeping the equipment top notch) however I get that it's pretty expensive.

 

Alternate, cheaper DIY solutions would be:

www.rapidled.com

www.stevesleds.com

www.ledgroupbuy.com

 

rapidled and ledgroupbuy I believe are sponsors here, and they have packages that you can buy and all you need to do is solder everything together and modify the stock hood enough to mount them. The best part though, is that they're specifically designed packages for aquariums, so you don't have to worry about spending money on something you're not completely sure will work.

 

Good luck!

[ajay88]

I believe I've come to a rational solution to my light issue. I will take ajmckay's advise and use rapidled.com and ledgroupbuy.com and get the cree cool white and royal blue leds. I will also get the 9000k cool white and UV leds from superbrightleds.com... I will get a a heat-sink that fits my cover snugly and custom mount each led to get the best nangle possible.I already have a 12v power source and i will build a controller to be able to switch, dim specific sets of leds. i have a thermistor controlled fan to cool the heat-sink too. this will solve my space issue, my PAR/PUR issue, my overheating issue, and my aesthetic issue... On top of all that, there should be enough room in the cover to fit a plexiglass shield to protect from the saltwater!!!! Ill post a picture up once im done (in a couple months)! In the meantime, the two 50/50's i have should be enough to sustain whatever livestock i have, might have in my tank, right?

[ajmckay]

Glad you've come up with a solution! That 6 or 12 LED kit from rapidled would probably be perfect for that tank. I wouldn't worry about optics though since you'll want a broader light anyways. I think they also have a 4.25" x 4" heatsink, which if hooked up to a small fan should be really cool. One other color to consider is the neutral white LEDs. There are some threads on LED aesthetics on here and some people are really enjoying substituting neutral whites for some or all of the cool whites. Ultimately, however, it depends on if you like that blue 20K look or if you like a little more crispy white light in there.

 

Other than that I would definitely be sure to seal up the fixture as this thing will be sitting right near the water and it'll screw up your LEDs... So build an acrylic shield that is as close to waterproof as you can get it.

 

Maybe once you decide how you want this to look you could start a thread in the lighting forum and ask for other critiques/comments too.

 

Good luck.

[ajay88]

Glad you've come up with a solution! That 6 or 12 LED kit from rapidled would probably be perfect for that tank. I wouldn't worry about optics though since you'll want a broader light anyways. I think they also have a 4.25" x 4" heatsink, which if hooked up to a small fan should be really cool. One other color to consider is the neutral white LEDs. There are some threads on LED aesthetics on here and some people are really enjoying substituting neutral whites for some or all of the cool whites. Ultimately, however, it depends on if you like that blue 20K look or if you like a little more crispy white light in there.

 

Other than that I would definitely be sure to seal up the fixture as this thing will be sitting right near the water and it'll screw up your LEDs... So build an acrylic shield that is as close to waterproof as you can get it.

 

Maybe once you decide how you want this to look you could start a thread in the lighting forum and ask for other critiques/comments too.

 

Good luck.

 

thanks alot. in the mean time, would it be safe to add some shrimp or some hermit crabs?

[ajmckay]

Yes you can add shrimp/crabs/snails. Just add them slowly, a few at a time, and test your water before adding them. Ammonia and nitrite should be 0.

[ajay88]

I got some new pictures up!

Got another frag from my LFS, and got some hermit crabs for the tank... I haven't checked my Params yet, but last time I checked (two days ago) I was at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites.

 

 

 

 

I want to move the mushroom from the frag I purchased to my live rock, what would be the easiest way to mount the mushroom on my rock? I plan on getting the coral frag toolkit from premuimaquatics. I read somewhere that I can just cut off the mushroom and move it, it will regrow on the frag and grow on my rock. Any help at all will be appreciated!!!

[classic]

may i ask what kind of thermostat controlled fans you got? i am looking for something like this...

 

thank you,

 

classic

[ajay88]

may i ask what kind of thermostat controlled fans you got? i am looking for something like this...

 

thank you,

 

classic

 

 

I got it from XSFans. They are 60mm fans, 12v. with an internal Thermistor to regulate speed. Its a regular 3 pin connector, but I plan on having the fan plug into a main terminal where I would have a led readout of the RPM's its running at, along with a Slider Pot controlling the master speed.

[redhawk45]

Well, due to Photobucket I can't see most of your photos.

 

But, I've been wondering...how in the world did you stuff so many lights in that tiny messed up hood? My mother had a Fluval Edge for FW, and it sucked for cleaning. As to the stock lighting, the bulbs went out within a month use.

 

But please explain to me how you guys stuffed so much lighting fixtures into that small hood. Even taking a photo of the light fixture may help sate my very very curious need to know this.

 

As to what happened to my mom's Fluval Edge..it got tossed out. She was trying to keep FW shrimp - transfered from one tank to another, and they kept on dying in it without a clue.

[ajay88]

Well, due to Photobucket I can't see most of your photos.

 

But, I've been wondering...how in the world did you stuff so many lights in that tiny messed up hood? My mother had a Fluval Edge for FW, and it sucked for cleaning. As to the stock lighting, the bulbs went out within a month use.

 

But please explain to me how you guys stuffed so much lighting fixtures into that small hood. Even taking a photo of the light fixture may help sate my very very curious need to know this.

 

As to what happened to my mom's Fluval Edge..it got tossed out. She was trying to keep FW shrimp - transfered from one tank to another, and they kept on dying in it without a clue.

 

 

This is my temporary lighting set-up...2 50/50 PC; 2 7k mr11 LED's, 2 moonlights. I know is ghetto-rigged, I'm waiting on LED's so I can Have it look something like thisCustom Fluval Edge Lights.

 

It was a little too pricey for me, so i'm building it for a quarter of the price.

[redhawk45]

Holy crap! Yea, that's rigged...lol. The only other problem that my mother had with those tanks is there was certain areas that just wasn't getting enough light. On a regular tank, you can spread the light over the whole top, but with the Fluval Edge you only have that certain area for it to go through. My concern's for the tank would be algae growing on the extreme ends there and poor water flow. Speaking about that, what type of water movement you have in there? Not sure a Koralia Nano would work in those tanks...lol.

 

Like I said, it's making me curious with these tanks and how you guys work through the probs it creates. Now, I would have gotten the Fluval Ebi for a small nano tank instead of the Edge, since you don't have to worry about the small hole at the top of the tank. and can light the whole thing with a clamp on MH like the Viper. But, there's still that prob with water movement. In my experience with FW tanks, the hanging filter doesn't provide enough movement.