Fluval Edge Tank Thread

[ccapasso]

Hi all.

 

I just came across a Fluval Edge 6gallon on Craigslist for relatively cheap. The only downside is that the power cord for the lights doesn't work.

 

Ideally, I'd like to use this for Live Rock, 1 Fish and Coral (not sure on type as I'm still learning).

 

What would be the best recommendation for replacement lighting?

[Ron_Rocco]

One of the nicest SW Edges i have seen. Are you pleased with the MP10.

Do you use a sirkulasjonpump in the sump, or do you not see the necessity.

DIY leds is coming, order placed at ledgroupbuy.com, hope i will get the leds within å week.

 

thanks

 

The MP10 is great - highly recommend it. it's probably overkill on our tanks but the options and setting still make it great - plus it doesn't take that much room inside the tank.

 

I don't use a circulation pump in the sump. however I do have have two pumps returning there. One for the main line back to the tank and one to feed the reactor and chiller. total flow through the sump is about 150 gallons per hour.

[Ron_Rocco]

nice! up there with picoD and Dipg's tanks imo. what is your maintenance routine like?

 

weekly 20% water changes, feeding and the usual monthly matainance. The dosing really is there to keep my kh and cal levels up as the clam and hard corals really drain it quickly with such a small water volume

[Dipg]

So my Edge has been up for a year now so it must be time to post. . .

 

My motto has always been "go big or go home" so when i started to build this nano tank I went big everywhere else i could / within reason

 

Here's the list:

 

Tank - Fluval Edge 5.5

Controller - RKL, running lighting (main,sump and lunar), ATO, Dosing Pumps, Chiller, Heater and main pump.

Lighting - Nano Customs LED

Chiller - Aqua Euro CL85

Heater - 50watt in sump

Flow - MP10

Dosing Pumps - BRS x 2, dosing kent nano two part

ATO - Aqualifter

Overflow - Eshopps nano (customized)

Filter - TLF Reactor in line with the chiller / Live rock in sump

 

 

Yes, that is a clam in an edge and it is doing very well. Eight months and thriving . . .

I like your idea of sump but i am not good at DIY stuff . I need to buy RKLor the Neptune controller for myself. looks nice.

[Orchard]

Hi all.

 

I just came across a Fluval Edge 6gallon on Craigslist for relatively cheap. The only downside is that the power cord for the lights doesn't work.

 

Ideally, I'd like to use this for Live Rock, 1 Fish and Coral (not sure on type as I'm still learning).

 

What would be the best recommendation for replacement lighting?

 

I am going for DIY led's from WWW.ledgroupbuy.com:

-DIM4 Sunrise/Sunset controller, witch kan controll 12 leds directly in pairs in 3. (4 channels). Max 500mA.

-I will mix ROYALBLUE, COLDWHITE, NEUTRALWHITE, BLUE, TRUE VIOLET and RED too get the color i want.

-Heatsink from a Norwegian company because of expensive shipping on heatsinks.

[mmcguffi]

I am going for DIY led's from WWW.ledgroupbuy.com:

-DIM4 Sunrise/Sunset controller, witch kan controll 12 leds directly in pairs in 3. (4 channels). Max 500mA.

-I will mix ROYALBLUE, COLDWHITE, NEUTRALWHITE, BLUE, TRUE VIOLET and RED too get the color i want.

-Heatsink from a Norwegian company because of expensive shipping on heatsinks.

nice. what ratio/amounts for the colors are you thinking?

 

 

 

 

 

also lol

Sorry if i hurt anybody. Its not by choice, just bad spelling

 

your english is pretty much perfect for what it's worth--more so than a LOT of other people on here lol

[Orchard]

nice. what ratio/amounts for the colors are you thinking?

 

Not realy sure yet, i will be testing when i get the leds.

It vil be more RB than any other color, i think in this order:

RB

CW

NW

TV

BLUE

RED

 

 

 

 

also lol

 

 

your english is pretty much perfect for what it's worth--more so than a LOT of other people on here lol

 

It helps with a smartphone who tells me when i am spelling wrong.

The smartphone is not so smart when it come to grams though, so bear with me.

[mmcguffi]

It helps with a smartphone who tells me when i am spelling wrong.

The smartphone is not so smart when it come to grams though, so bear with me.

looks good but I would do a little more NW than CW or at least make them 50/50. keep us updated!

 

oh also--how hard/easy is it to get coral and other fish/inverts in Norway?

[Orchard]

looks good but I would do a little more NW than CW or at least make them 50/50. keep us updated!

 

oh also--how hard/easy is it to get coral and other fish/inverts in Norway?

 

I was thinking the same after i did post the reply, NW will probably be nicer than CW in combination with RB.

I have to try this out when i recive the Leds.

 

I am living near Oslo, ( our kapital city ) and there is som shops who has specialized om SW.

So there is pretty easy too get stuff, it's not cheap thou.

Finished Leds i would have had to pay 5000-6000 kr for.(830-1000 US $) When building my own i vill be finished on one third of that.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Orchard

[hotshot619]

I have just recently started shutting down my Edge reef but I figured I would post my lighting set up to make a few people laugh :-P

Yes they are crutches, yes that is a devil stick from like 1997, yes its held together with rubber bands, and electrical wire I had laying around, yes the it is a topless Flu-val (which I love) and the bulb is a par30 4 RB and 1CW LED. I had a Par 38 in its place but since I moved all the coral minus a patch of GSP it works just fine. Hope I made someones day :-D

Goes to show you. You can make anything, It may not be pretty but you can make anything :-P

Edited December 7, 2011 by hotshot619

[aap15]

So just recently I started having a small issue with my powerhead blowing the sand out of the front right corner of my tank. It is a nano 240 and its placed on the back glass, right side point forward and angled slightly to the left. This is never an issue before but i think my snails where crawling all over it and moved it enough to change the flow. I tried moving and the sand was no longer blowing out of the corner but i did seem to have good circulation like i did prior. Any tips, pointers, or suggestions on go placement of the powerhead in these tanks. An FTS of my tank was posted above a few back. Thanks

 

Most recent FTS, you can kinda see the sand sloping down in the right corner

Edited December 8, 2011 by aap15

[fuddyq]

So just recently I started having a small issue with my powerhead blowing the sand out of the front right corner of my tank. It is a nano 240 and its placed on the back glass, right side point forward and angled slightly to the left. This is never an issue before but i think my snails where crawling all over it and moved it enough to change the flow. I tried moving and the sand was no longer blowing out of the corner but i did seem to have good circulation like i did prior. Any tips, pointers, or suggestions on go placement of the powerhead in these tanks. An FTS of my tank was posted above a few back. Thanks

 

Most recent FTS, you can kinda see the sand sloping down in the right corner

 

I had a similar issue but my solution was to aim the powerhead towards the top front of the tank, as much as it would allow to bend. So it's maybe a centimeter or two lower but aimed upwards and towards the other side of the tank. That seemed to do the trick for me.

 

Mind you, my rock is set up differently and of course the current's path through your tank is what will determine how it affects the sand.

[darthvictor]

Does any of you having any heat problem with Edge? I replaced the bulbs to MR11 LED Wide angle and added two Ecopico led stips. After a light cycle the temp get to 80F even without the top cover...

[MatthewStarr]

Does any of you having any heat problem with Edge? I replaced the bulbs to MR11 LED Wide angle and added two Ecopico led stips. After a light cycle the temp get to 80F even without the top cover...

 

Mine is at 80 too. Don't worry about it as long as u have a heater in there that keeps the temp 78-80 you are good. I kept freaking out over this but I researched and the oceans temperatures vary and change. the hightest is 85. I don't suggest this temp but 80 is okay.

[darthvictor]

Mine is at 80 too. Don't worry about it as long as u have a heater in there that keeps the temp 78-80 you are good. I kept freaking out over this but I researched and the oceans temperatures vary and change. the hightest is 85. I don't suggest this temp but 80 is okay.

 

I was in Big Al talking with one of their guys there, he said that coral will melt in 80F... that was like scared the hell out of me since it has been all the time in my tank (which in its 1st week cycling now), thanks for the info.

[Dipg]

Does any of you having any heat problem with Edge? I replaced the bulbs to MR11 LED Wide angle and added two Ecopico led stips. After a light cycle the temp get to 80F even without the top cover...

 

I use to have the heat issues since i am using the nanocustoms fixture. The temp use to climb to 82 and thats not really good. You probably want the water temprature in the range of 77-79. Also you don't want more than 2 degree swings on day to day basis. So i resolved this issue by getting the Ice Probe Chiller

 

My tank has been doing great since i got this chiller and i don't have to worry about temp swings.

[MatthewStarr]

I was in Big Al talking with one of their guys there, he said that coral will melt in 80F... that was like scared the hell out of me since it has been all the time in my tank (which in its 1st week cycling now), thanks for the info.

 

Nah. One thing to remember is that most LFS don't don't know what they are talking about. They only know how to sell you items but know very little about livestock. One of my LFS in town has beautiful display tanks, nice fish etc. But he didn't know what a yellow clown goby was LOL. He kept pointing at a hammer coral saying it was a frogspawn. Stuff like that upsets me because I was a beginner reefer at one time and you waste more money on stuff you don't need because these people don't educate themselves on their product.

[richardcharliesam]

Here's mine. Sorry about the crappy iphone picture. I will try to get some better ones soon. I usually keep the magfloat out, but my Neon Goby seemed to like it. Try to look past the frag plugs and putty too. I hate my rockwork, I really don't want to mess around with it anymore either. Blah.

 

 

 

 

 

Koralia Nano PH

Wingoled fluval edge Savior fixture. Definitely brighter in person... I need to take better pics. I started with MR16's that I coated with clear nail polish, but they corroded very quickly.

R2 Moonlight. Meh. It's now used an hour before the wingo fixture and an hour after.

 

Livestock.

Ocellaris

Neon Goby

Cleaner Shrimp

5 4 banded trochus snails Lost one yesterday, I think he was slowly going anyway, not as active as the others and was hanging on to a piece of coral and not moving. Gave one small last hurrah and this morning was completely unresponsive and upside down.

Tiny emerald crab.

 

Coral

Torch (yeah, I am aware I will likely have to get rid of this guy eventually.)

Tan Hammer

Short tentacle plate (fungia I think?)

small blasto (I think)

Some zoas

A couple of different Ricordea

Small frag of Gsp

duncan

Orange dendro

Edited January 23, 2012 by richardcharliesam

[Hinesassociates]

Quick question for my fellow Edge owners. Do you guys use the biomax stuff? I am running 2 fluval edge tanks. One is a reef tank (the one in my sig) and the other is a fish only. Anyway I am trying to figure out a good media setup for my tanks. The reef one has a decent amount of live rock and the fish only one has no live rock, but black slate instead with live sand. I have crushed up some live rock and put it in my filter in my fish only tank. Anyway I was wondering what everyone suggests for media for my tanks. Right now I have the stock stuff (biomax,carbon, and sponge) but I think I should change this setup. Ideas?

[hotshot619]

Quick question for my fellow Edge owners. Do you guys use the biomax stuff? I am running 2 fluval edge tanks. One is a reef tank (the one in my sig) and the other is a fish only. Anyway I am trying to figure out a good media setup for my tanks. The reef one has a decent amount of live rock and the fish only one has no live rock, but black slate instead with live sand. I have crushed up some live rock and put it in my filter in my fish only tank. Anyway I was wondering what everyone suggests for media for my tanks. Right now I have the stock stuff (biomax,carbon, and sponge) but I think I should change this setup. Ideas?

 

 

For the fish only you should be fine with just filter floss and water changes. If you are concerned about anything getting to bad maybe some Activated carbon but you really shouldn't have to much of a fish population in Flu-vals anyway...maybe 3-4 fish max if they are small gobies or something like that. For the reef if you can find a way to put on a large HOB filter Filter floss and some Chemi-pur or Pura Pad both are good products I have run in my tanks. Or finding a way to plum a sump would be idea so you could have a nice fuge. Good luck :-)

[Hinesassociates]

For the fish only you should be fine with just filter floss and water changes. If you are concerned about anything getting to bad maybe some Activated carbon but you really shouldn't have to much of a fish population in Flu-vals anyway...maybe 3-4 fish max if they are small gobies or something like that. For the reef if you can find a way to put on a large HOB filter Filter floss and some Chemi-pur or Pura Pad both are good products I have run in my tanks. Or finding a way to plum a sump would be idea so you could have a nice fuge. Good luck :-)

Thanks for the info. I keep hearing that people like Chemi-pure so ill give it a chance in my reef tank. Quick question though in my fish only you said just filter floss and w/c. Since I dont have any live rock in my tank do you think it would be ok for me to take out the biomax stuff? I thought it may be good to keep since its basically supposed to work like live rock (i think). Also if so how often if ever should it be changed? My nitrates seem to be staying pretty high, so I was concerned that maybe the biomax was leeching stuff back into the water. Ill keep doing the w/c and see what happens I guess on that.

[safemode]

Thanks for the info. I keep hearing that people like Chemi-pure so ill give it a chance in my reef tank. Quick question though in my fish only you said just filter floss and w/c. Since I dont have any live rock in my tank do you think it would be ok for me to take out the biomax stuff? I thought it may be good to keep since its basically supposed to work like live rock (i think). Also if so how often if ever should it be changed? My nitrates seem to be staying pretty high, so I was concerned that maybe the biomax was leeching stuff back into the water. Ill keep doing the w/c and see what happens I guess on that.

 

 

 

mechanical filtration needs to be cleaned daily to remove debris from the media and thus water in order to stop it from producing nitrites and thus more nitrate. Your liverock (if you had any) is producing the nitrate because there is a lot of nitrite available to it. It's doing it's job. If you dont have liverock, whatever you do use for biological filtration has nitrifying bacteria doing the same thing.

The problem:

You have nothing that absorbs nitrate so the only thing you can do is remove volumes of water. There are chemical means of removing nitrate, but they dont work well in salt water. Your only non-water-change method that works is macro-algae. Plants use nitrate as fertilizer so that completes the nitrogen cycle. Without macro, you have little option other than water changes.

 

You can prevent nitrates by preventing the nitrogen cycle from really having anything to work with. Purigen does this by stopping the production of ammonia in the water, thus limiting the amount of nitrite that can be created by ammonia eating bacteria and thus nitrate that can be created by nitrifying bacteria. Your other means are extremely limiting the amount of nutrients or detritus (dead things) that get into your water. This requires extreme care and likely a protein skimmer among other things.

 

I would not waste any space putting bacterial media in your filter. Not only will live rock do that for you, but all you are doing is converting ammonia and nitrite, not nitrate and so you dont avoid the water changes this way. Best to use the small filter space for media that does something your live rock and sand doesn't do.

 

Water changes are inevitable though. You need a full nitrogen cycle to even get close to avoiding them and you just dont have the space in the edge. Maybe if you added a sump etc....but then you dont really have an edge system anymore.

Edited January 11, 2012 by safemode

[Hinesassociates]

mechanical filtration needs to be cleaned daily to remove debris from the media and thus water in order to stop it from producing nitrites and thus more nitrate. Your liverock (if you had any) is producing the nitrate because there is a lot of nitrite available to it. It's doing it's job. If you dont have liverock, whatever you do use for biological filtration has nitrifying bacteria doing the same thing.

The problem:

You have nothing that absorbs nitrate so the only thing you can do is remove volumes of water. There are chemical means of removing nitrate, but they dont work well in salt water. Your only non-water-change method that works is macro-algae. Plants use nitrate as fertilizer so that completes the nitrogen cycle. Without macro, you have little option other than water changes.

 

You can prevent nitrates by preventing the nitrogen cycle from really having anything to work with. Purigen does this by stopping the production of ammonia in the water, thus limiting the amount of nitrite that can be created by ammonia eating bacteria and thus nitrate that can be created by nitrifying bacteria. Your other means are extremely limiting the amount of nutrients or detritus (dead things) that get into your water. This requires extreme care and likely a protein skimmer among other things.

 

I would not waste any space putting bacterial media in your filter. Not only will live rock do that for you, but all you are doing is converting ammonia and nitrite, not nitrate and so you dont avoid the water changes this way. Best to use the small filter space for media that does something your live rock and sand doesn't do.

 

Water changes are inevitable though. You need a full nitrogen cycle to even get close to avoiding them and you just dont have the space in the edge. Maybe if you added a sump etc....but then you dont really have an edge system anymore.

 

Wow. Thanks for all the info. I have absolutely no problem with doing water changes. My question then becomes how much, how often, and when should I start? Right now both my edge tanks look the same as far as levels go. 0 Ammonia. ~0.1 nitrites (I would actually say less than this, but this is the lowest measurement I have) and off the charts high nitrates. The reason I havnt cleaned the media was to try to let the cycle complete.

 

Also for my tank with no live rock should I keep the biomax stuff in it as a replacement to the liverock? Also I do have some pieces of live rock in the filter as well. I would love to use macro algae, but I cant really think of any way to keep it growing in the filter without a light on it... (I am forcing myself to keep the stock look). If you know of any that will grow in the dark or with spill over light from the tank please let me know!

 

I was thinking about doing either chemi-pure or purigen and filter floss for mechanical filtration. And doing weekly 20-30% water changes. Does this seem reasonable or do you have a better suggestion?

[Trigs]

I have been a member here for some time, yet never posted anything i have had. Currently running a LED fluval edge here is my Current FTS.

 

FTS.

 

 

Aussie Duncan.

 

 

New Zoas.

 

Been running for around a month, with water from another tank as well as frags

 

 

Iphone pics...

[moonwasaloon]

Good Morning,

 

I just got my fluval edge, and bought these LEDs:

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index....p;productId=541

 

Question, I heard people are having problems with the water splashing on them.

 

I heard clear finger nail polish, but I also heard use automotive clear coat.

 

Do either of these work?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Jason