Re-scaping Fluval Edge

brian1 said:

I love sand substrata, it will look great when it's all done, I am not up on plant names but it would look better with real plants (small)if you decide not to put real plants in you may as well take some of the sand out to about 1.5" give more room for the fish,.....here is my small 16 gallon tank

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Hi Brian, the java fern should be planted on wood or rocks/stones, not in the substrate as it will rot and die.
The tank looks lovely

Hi,

I've had good sucess with plants & not used any co2 or ferts.
Bought some cabomba from my LFS a few months ago & its growing really well. I have even been able to cut some off & use in my betta tank.

Hope this helps

KCB said:

Very nice set-up you've got there! I would love to have real plants instead of artificial as they look much better, but I don't think I have enough knowledge to keep them well enough. I've heard things about CO2 injectors and plant food etc that I just don't get, so I'll stick with the artificial ones for now until the tanks established then look into live plants .

I did think I'd gone a bit overboard with the sand but it was such a hassle to get in the tank I'm not sure I want to take it out again lol. Maybe when I've worked up the courage!

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snazy said:

brian1 said:

I love sand substrata, it will look great when it's all done, I am not up on plant names but it would look better with real plants (small)if you decide not to put real plants in you may as well take some of the sand out to about 1.5" give more room for the fish,.....here is my small 16 gallon tank

Click to expand...

Hi Brian, the java fern should be planted on wood or rocks/stones, not in the substrate as it will rot and die.
The tank looks lovely

Click to expand...

Thanks Snazy, it is in wood it is quite thin so hard to see,I am going to get a larger piece and attach it...... Anyway thanks

Hey, I saw your avatar and wondered if you had update this journal, I think it's as bout time you did
You still thinking of doing live plants?

Haha thanks for the reminder! I didn't realise how long it had been.

Yep still going with live plants. I've narrowed it down to this list:
Foreground - 'Echinodorus tenellus' Pygmy Chain Sword Plant
Midground - 'Cryptocoryne wendtii'
Background - 'Hygrophila stricta' Stricta/Siamensis

Does that sound good? They are supposedly easy to care for and don't require added CO2 or strong lighting.

The only changes I've made to the tank recently are removing some sand and taking out the fake plants. I was kind of waiting for my tank to cycle before adding plants but now I'm getting impatient lol. It's Day 48 in my cycle and I think it'll just be another week or so until it's finished, I think I can hold off till then...

I might as well post my data whilst I'm here


So it's going pretty well I think, just a little slowly. My 127L tank is keeping me a little distracted at the moment but I cannot wait till this Fluval is ready for fish

Here's a picture from today:

you could try some mosses with the pygmy chain sword, it would give you a contrast and the mosses are really easy to care for

Thank you for your suggestion, I never thought of mosses to be honest so I'll have to take a look into that.

Ammonia and nitrite are only taking 2 days to process at the moment, the tank should be fully cycled any day now

The tank should finally finish cycling this week (hopefully) so I am gathering the plants I want and should at least have them in the tank soon even if I can't get the fish!

The tank now has some Echinodorus tenellus as a foreground plant and I think it makes the tank look a bit less barren. Still looking for a taller background plant though to finish of the aquascaping side of things, though I was thinking of putting one or two pebbles in, what do people think of that?



Comparing this picture to what the tank looked like just 2 months ago (in post #1) shows such a difference and I'm very happy with how it's turning out!

Just a tip here m8, I dont know what your planned stocking is but I suggest you get the foam cap for the filter intake that fluval make for the Edge, I lost a few lamp eyes in mine that got drawn into the filter and you can guess the rest, if your planning shrimp any young uns wouldnt stand a chance, hope this helps.

Ah I see, my planned stock will be Endlers, Black Phantom Tetras and Pygmy Corys, I don't think they would fit through the intake but I wouldn't want to risk my fish injuring themselves. Is this the one you mean? http/www.amazon.co.uk/RC-Hagen-A1387-Fluval-Pre-Filter/dp/B002LL32RY

Thats the one, endlers would fit through the intake no problem at all, since I installed that pre filter my lamp eyes and shrimp have both bred and Ive lost none through the filter, just another word though, because the pre filter is so fine it does need rinsing quite often as it does get clogged up.

Thanks for the tip, I'll be sure to add one before I add the fish!

Update for today: Went on a road trip to Chiltern Aquatic Superstore today as I read on their website that they had some Pygmy corys. Turns out they didn't have the corys at the time (or I just couldn't find them!) but picked up some Amazon Swords to finish planting my tank. Here's the result.



I'm really happy now that it's finished and glad I went down the live plant route. Unfortunately after adding some pygmy swords a few days ago, the filter was left off a little too long and now my cycle is acting up It's going to take a bit longer and it's quite frustrating seeing as It was almost ready for fish, but I guess if I've waited this long I can wait a little longer

it looks good

Questions? said:

it looks good

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Thanks Hopefully it'll look better when the pygmy swords have grown more, they look a little worse for wear at the moment.