Fluval Edge 46L Marine Set up

[GTO NEMESIS]

Hi,

Quick run through on my recent 46L Edge set up.

 

Set Up/Equipment:

Fluval Edge 46L White

Local Fish Shop RO Water

Natures Ocean Reef Sand (10 LBS)

14KG Live Rock

AquaClear Powerhead 18 - 76L (127 L/Hr 127 US gph)

Fluval Edge Heater (Now replaced)

Interpet Delta Therm 100 Watt

Stock filtration (sponge, Carbon sack, Bio tubes)

Stock LED Lights

 

 

Water Stats:

Salinity - 1.022

Temp - 24.5C

pH - 8.2

Ammonia (NH3/NH4+) - 0 PPM

Nitrite (NO2) - 0 PPM

Nitrate (NO3) - 0 PPM

Test Kit used = API Saltwater Master Test Kit & Instant Ocean Hydrometer

 

 

Inhabitants:

Peppermint Shrimp

Shrimp

Orange Sponge

Blue Sponge (which I think is dying)

 

 

 

Pictures:

 

 

 

Blue Sponge on it's way out?

(It is now in a 10L tank by it's self)

 

Chemicals/Additives:

Nutrafin Cycle

Kent Nano Reef (Part A &

 

 

Hope you like and please feel free to give any advice you think I may benefit from as I am still new to Marine tanks (had fresh water for many years)

 

Thanks

Mark

 

PS: Sorry for poor pics but they were done on an iPhone as I was too lazy to get my decent camera

 

I am going to go to the local fish shop today to by some more kit, I was thinking of the following:

Refractometer - best type?

Something to test Calcium?

Something to test Phosphates?

Another powerhead

 

Any advice?

 

Thanks

Mark

[Bekolsyra]

Looking good, love that blue sponge.

A thing that worries me is your salinity, might want to raise it a little, 1.024 might be appropriate.

I have almost the same type of circulation pump, mine's a AquaClear 30 thought. You'de might want to put a filter or something to prevent fish from getting caught in the intake, mine cost me a Clown Goby, made me real sad.

I think your powerhead should suffice, you'de might want to re-think your heater, get one with a built in thermostate, not to strong of a heater though, if it jams it could cook you tank. I've got an AquaEl one, reliable, and the cheapest brand where I'm living..

Good luck.

As I said, looks well nice.

Oh, get a deep blue LED-light or a moon light, makes the colours pop like mad.

-Oskar

[GTO NEMESIS]

Bought some new bits today:

Salifert Phosphate PO4 Profi Test

Salifert Calcium Ca Profi Test

New Era Marine Pellets

Another Interpet Delta Therm 100 Watt for getting my water change up to temp

Nature's Ocean Nutri-SeaWater 4.4 Gallons for a water change

1.3 KG live rock with polyps (2 pieces in total)

 

I also plan on getting a Hydor KJ1402 Smartwave + Koralia 1600 kit but just searching to see if £99.99 is a decent price (or at least a semi decent price as my local fish shop doesn't seem very cheap!)

 

 

The test results 2 Hrs post water change are:

 

Calcium = 430 mg/L or ppm

Phosphate = 0.25 mg/L

[Stoops718]

Looks good so far. You might wanna get rid of that thing in pics 8,9 & 10. It looks like a huge aiptasia anemone. I would raise your salinity also. I keep mine at 1.025. Check out my thread in the link below. I have a love/hate relationship with my Edge. They are very hard to work with but look awesome when everything is going good. Good luck.

[GTO NEMESIS]

Both large aiptasia were killed/removed a week ago but I can see a very small one round the back of the tank which the Peppermint Shrimp is currently munching on.

 

The salinity is now 1.026 on the Hydrometer following the water change but I have lost the other shrimp

I changed the water very slowly using the hose from the gravel cleaner to transfer the water from one to another and kept checking as I went along.

I checked it 5 mins ago and it is 1.026 so maybe the "sea water" was not such a great idea for a water change.

 

I'm off out to another fish shop now to try and get a decent Refractometer and hopefully some better advice.

I will look into some filters for the power head too.

 

Thanks

Mark

[GTO NEMESIS]

This afternoons trip to the LFS resulted with:

16L of RO water plus minerals

D-D H2Ocean Refractometer

2 X Small Red hermit Crabs

1 X Small Snail (Name TBC)

Omega 3 Enriched Brine Shrimp frozen food

(I already had some frozen Krill)

 

I checked the calibration on the the Refractometer with some RO and some De-Ionised water then started measuring.

 

First up the the shop supplied RO = Zero

Water in bag with Crabs = 1.025

My tank = 1.023

 

I then did some tests Vs the Aquarium Systems Instant Ocean Hydrometer:

Shop supplied Crab water = 1.028 Vs 1.025 with Refractometer

My tank = 1.026 Vs 1.023 with Refractometer

 

So either the shop water AND my new Refractometer are bad or the Hydrometer is useless and I wasted £14.50

The annoying thing is that I asked the chap in the shop if the Hydrometer was the best option and he said yes, they are great. Mind you this is also the same shop that sold me a 25 Watt Fluval Edge heater for a 46L tank (which they have now refunded me on despite not having any of the packaging).

 

I think I will take my Hydrometer and the Refractometer down the LFS shop tomorrow and get them to test them Vs their kit and their water just so I know if I am going down the right path of adding more salinity.

 

Ah well time for some dinner now.

 

Mark

[HVani]

Nice start.

 

I wanted to point out that shrimp is not a peppermint shrimp, it's a camel shrimp. They are often mixed up. The bad thing is camel shrimp are not considered reef safe and might eat future corals.

[GTO NEMESIS]

Nice start.

 

I wanted to point out that shrimp is not a peppermint shrimp, it's a camel shrimp. They are often mixed up. The bad thing is camel shrimp are not considered reef safe and might eat future corals.

 

Thanks.

Yes, I found out earlier today about the shrimp not being a peppermint shrimp, I think a trip back to the LFS is in order tomorrow (along with my dead blue and stinking sponge )

 

I think I will stick to buying livestock from the LFS closes to me, the shop I bought the shrimps and sponge from is also very close but I had not used them before but was pointed in their direction by a friend.

 

I have taken a couple of picture of the snail and one of the crabs.

It would appear that one of my red legged hermit crabs isn't so red legged, just another little error from the same LFS...

 

Any clues on what this snail is?

 

 

And my not so Red Hermit crab?

 

 

My Orange Sponge seems to be ok even though the blue one is pretty much dead:

 

 

Oh and this is what my lovely (read sick!) Wife brought me for dinner when I was sorting the rocks out on the tank...

There is something a bit odd/twisted about eating Lobster while doing a fish tank.

 

Mark

[Bekolsyra]

I think the snail in the picture is a Trochius snail. I have a bunch of them, they're fierce cleaners. Don't throw it out!

Did you calibrate the refractometer against RO water? On the top of it there's usually a small screw under a rubber or plastic plug, lift the plug and use a small screwdriver to tare it to Zero against Ro-referance.

Mine was showing way off before I set it straight.

Good luck.

-Oskar

[asting]

Nice start.

 

I wanted to point out that shrimp is not a peppermint shrimp, it's a camel shrimp. They are often mixed up. The bad thing is camel shrimp are not considered reef safe and might eat future corals.

Was just about to say that.

[Stoops718]

That lobster looks delicious.

[banshee]

Nice set up! Can't wait to see how it goes. Sorry the LFS hasn't been so awesome. I got lucky and found an awesome one about an hour from me that hasn't steered me wrong yet.

 

ETA: That snail looks like my Trochus snail. Very interesting little guy to watch! Mine was all over the tank this morning cleaning the glass.

[GTO NEMESIS]

Few more pictures and a bit of an update.

Camel shrimp is dead, cleaner shrimp is dead, blue sponge is dead, one red hermit crab is also dead.

 

That makes it everything bar one red hermit, one blue hermit and an orange sponge that has died from one LFS (not the closest one to me- so far they have been super helpful).

 

Dead Blue Sponge:

 

 

Dead little Red crab:

 

 

Latest bits of Live Rock:

 

 

Peppermints:

 

 

Overall tank:

 

 

Just starting to do some research into what fish I want in there so I am ready to add them in a week or so.

 

Mark

[darthvictor]

hmm did you cycle the tank before adding those in? If the tank is cycled it shouldn't be so many dead

[GTO NEMESIS]

hmm did you cycle the tank before adding those in? If the tank is cycled it shouldn't be so many dead

 

Yes, or at least I think a complete cycle was done:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=295222

 

The 3 Peppermints from a different LFS have been fine.

[James2011]

I have the same tank, and I would say you are loosing your corals, especially the sponge due to poor lighting. The stock lighting is simply not powerful enough to keep corals, maybe the odd softy. I upgraded my LEDS and added 3 ECO PICO strips. This was enough for Zoas. I have just ordered a DIY LED Retrofit kit, it comes with 12 high powered CREE LEDS, this will be enough for any coral. I will post pictures once it all arrives!

Keep up the good work

[GTO NEMESIS]

I have the same tank, and I would say you are loosing your corals, especially the sponge due to poor lighting. The stock lighting is simply not powerful enough to keep corals, maybe the odd softy. I upgraded my LEDS and added 3 ECO PICO strips. This was enough for Zoas. I have just ordered a DIY LED Retrofit kit, it comes with 12 high powered CREE LEDS, this will be enough for any coral. I will post pictures once it all arrives!

Keep up the good work

 

I haven't lost any corals... (Never had any).

I'm putting the blue sponge down to the girl in the fish shop exposing it to air.

 

The orange sponge is fine although it does attract a bit of algae.

 

Keep me updated on your new LED's though as I do plan on adding corals and a nem at a later date.

[Cnebo]

How's the tank holding up since the last update? Are you params still at zero? or has there been any spikes?

 

I also agree with James2011, once you start stocking corals (if you plan on) you may want to upgrade the lighting.

[GTO NEMESIS]

All of the parameters are spot on, highest NO3 has been 0.5 ppm but that was before the last update.

 

The tank has two clowns in it now (one died within 24 Hrs and the LFS replaced it) and a red fire fish (who is great to watch but I think it a bit frightened of the clowns).

 

I bought an additional test kit API Reef Master for additional testing and I have now moved to testing every 3 days but still not seeing any spikes.

 

Maintenance wise, I do between a 7 & 10 litre water change every week and so far have only used 1L pure RO as top up as it doesn't evaporate very much due to the small open space.

I'm also onto my 3rd Fluval Edge Carbon bag so they are being replaced roughly once a month.

I do have some Chemipure Elite so I will try that next.

 

My total filter set up consists of:

White Edge sponge

1 sheet of activated carbon sponge (about 6mm thick)

Edge carbon bag

Edge Bio Pellets thing (These keep the NO2 & NO3 at zero, these have never been changed yet - When I removed these I saw the 0.5ppm spike although it may not be related)

 

All of the above gets washed using tap water and a the spray head in the kitchen sink (my water is filtered and seemingly very pure!). I then rinse it in RO. This happens once per week.

 

My LFS is now going to do a display Edge marine tank based on what I have done with mine.

 

The next thing I will look into is getting some additional LED lights then adding some corals and if I can provide a suitable system I would like an anemone for the clowns.

 

Mark

[Cnebo]

I would suggest not using the biopellets, its good to rely solely on your live rock for biological filtration. As far as an anemone, I don't think the edge is large enough to sustain one comfortably. Someone else might want to chime in.

[GTO NEMESIS]

Updated pictures.

I'm hoping to get new lights tomorrow then I will start stocking with corals (one at a time).

 

 

TOP:

 

LEFT:

 

RIGHT:

 

FRONT:

 

Water quality is still exactly as it should be.

Moved testing to once per week now.

[Bobby1]

Check out this led hood for the edge, its really awsome.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fluval-Edge-ReefBr...a#ht_3176wt_922

[GTO NEMESIS]

Hi chaps,

Thought I would do a little update on how things are developing on the tank.

 

Equipment Wise:

One of the Korrila pumps melted itself (the wire) and kept shorting my house out (took sometime to track down the offending item)

That pump has been replaced by a Seio M620

I have also added a filter unit to the Aquaclear 20 and the air pipe. The filter until has two types of media in it and some floss wool as the outside filter. I added this as I lost some livestock to the pump but I'm really pleased I did as it is great at filtering the tank.

 

Filtration:

Juwel Aquarium Blue Sponge Course - In stock Edge hang on back unit

Interper PF2 Carbon Sponge - In stock Edge hang on back unit

Fluval Edge Carbon Sachet - In stock Edge hang on back unit

Bag of Rowa phos

Fluval Edge Bio Cyliders

 

Filter Wool - In Aquaclear 20 Filter cartridge

Fluval Clearmax Media - In Aquaclear 20 Filter cartridge

Forgotten name of Phosphate remover sachet stuff - In Aquaclear 20 Filter cartridge

 

Green Killing Machine UV Steriliser

 

 

Lighting:

1 X TMC Aquatile 1000HD - 6Hrs plus 2Hrs direct sunlight

1 X TMC Blue LED flexistrip - 24/7

Stock lighting removed

 

Live stock - What's come and gone...

Two blue damsels gone (donated to LFS)

1 Peppermint shrimp (Died when sucked into a Aquaclear 20 powerhead)

1 Pink tip Malu (Died when sucked into a Aquaclear 20 powerhead)

1 Orange sponge due to it's constant issue with hair algae

1 Pulsing Xenia (Died when I got RO instead of Salt RO from LFS)

 

 

Current Stock:

2 X Common Clowns

2 X Fire Fish

2 X Manderin

1 X Cleaner Shrimp

1 X Peppermint Shrimp

1 X Blue Legged Hermit

3 X Small scarlet Hermit Crabs

2 X Yellow Sea Cucumber (was 1 but it split into 2)

3 X Turbo Snails

1 X Trochius Snail

2 X Nassarius Snails

1 X Coral

1 X Coral

1 X Coral

 

 

Water Parameters: - Tested every two weeks and always before maintenance

Salinity - 1.025

Temp - 25.1C

pH - 8.2

Ammonia (NH3/NH4+) - 0 PPM

Nitrite (NO2) - 0 PPM

Nitrate (NO3) - 0 PPM

Carbonate Hardness - 161.1

Phosphate - 0 PPM

Calcium - 520+ PPM

 

 

Maintenance:

10% Water changes every two weeks

Filter media washed every two weeks

Carbon sponge replaced every 6 weeks

Fluval Carbon Sachet replaced every 8 weeks

Rowa phos changed every 12 weeks

Phosphate remover sachets thing changed every 6 weeks

Fluval Clearmax Media changed every 12 weeks

Daily 5 ML dosing of Part A Kent Nano Reef

Bi Daily 5 ML dosing of Part B Kent Nano Reef (to try and reduce Calcium)

 

 

Feeding:

6-10 bags of Copepods per week

Weekly mix of live bloodworm, Brineshrimp or other

Dried flake every other day

Frozen Food Cube per day (varied types - See pictures)

Brightwell Aquatics PhytoGreen-S 1-2 um 5 drops every 2 days

Premium Blend firstbite Live phytoplankton - 3 ml every 2 days

 

 

Some Pictures:

 

Some HD pics to follow when they upload (BT Broadband sucks).

 

All in all, quite happy with the tank as it is progressing. Biggest downside is the amount of equipment in such a small tank, but as I'm currently sorting a 1800L one out I'm not too worried.

I'm happy with the fish stock (regardless of others possibly thinking it is overstocked) but I will add a few more corals over the next few months.

 

Mark:wave:

[Falcon789]

If I am reading correctly, do you have?

 

6 fish in a 12 gallon?!?

 

Mandarin are not easily trained to eat pellet food, only eat live copepods.

 

If you do have 6 fish you need to get rid of them immediately. I think 4 might be okay but thats even pushing it!

[GTO NEMESIS]

If I am reading correctly, do you have?

 

6 fish in a 12 gallon?!?

 

Mandarin are not easily trained to eat pellet food, only eat live copepods.

 

If you do have 6 fish you need to get rid of them immediately. I think 4 might be okay but thats even pushing it!

 

Correct, I do have 6 fish in the tank and no I won't be getting rid of any.

All of my fish eat fine (you clearly did not read all of the post) and my parameters are never out.

 

No hassle with the fish being in each other’s space either.