A Dip Over The Edge....

[stucolls]

Well finally, after much deliberation and scepticism (which must be over 2 years now) ive taken the plunge into Marines......in a nano format.

A friend of mine at Pets at Home gave me a gorgeous Fluval Edge complete with pump from the back of the store and I thought it would make a pretty stunning nano.

So.....I cleaned it out and went away on holiday to think about it....came back with a few hundred quid to spare so took a trip to our LFS (aquator) and asked what I needed to go Marine, there and then.

I came home with about 2.5/3k of LR (it doesnt look very live to me though lol)some sand and 25litre of pre salted water.

This was on sunday gone, so since then I literally chucked it all in the tank, added a heater to and ive left it to run. Ive had the light on but its only a dim little halogen thingy.

Anway......where do I go from here, well I think im right in saying I should get my water tested on sunday, thats given it 7 days to do something, then if my levels are all ok perhaps introduce some CUC? ive also bought a strip of LEDs from fleabay but need to work on wiring them up (they didnt come with a plug lol)

IS there anything I should be doing? adding? water changes etc....im feeling kinda helpless and lost at the moment lol

I will add some pics soon of what I have so far and keep them coming throughout journal life )

Cheers

Stu

p.s........ive read a few posts since starting my tank at the weekend saying that the @fluval Edge' is not the best for marines......we'll see

editics added....

http/i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm92/StuColls/P16-05-10_1551.jpg

Empty with LR

http/i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm92/StuColls/P16-05-10_155401.jpg

Added the sand

http/i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm92/StuColls/P16-05-10_1554.jpg

got all steamed up adding the H20

http/i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm92/StuColls/P16-05-10_1612.jpg

and we have light!!

http/i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm92/StuColls/P16-05-10_2220.jpg

 

[stucolls]

UPDATE!!

I decided to get my water tested early rather than wait till sunday.....all my parameters are perfect, no ammonia etc but my PH was a little low, needed it to be 8.4 and it was 8 so I have added some buffer and have been told to go back to the LFS tomorrow for my CUC!!

No idea what im going to add yet, maybe some snails and hermits with possibly a little shrimp?

 

[seffieuk]

Stu

Can we just whoa a minute, rush, rush rush

Your rock, I assume it came from the lfs, was it out of water for any length of time? I am surprised that there is no reading at all for ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. I would be very tempted to wait a while before putting in a cuc, just in case.

Normally you would expect a small cycle at the least, have you got diatoms on the sand or rock?

When the cycle is complete, do a 50% water change and then wait 24 hrs - test again and then if nitrates are <10 get your cuc. I would go for approx 4 Nas vibex, i turbo and one dwarf hermit. Shrimps are more sensitive than other inverts, although they are also sensitive so add them later. You could probably keep a couple of small bean gobies in there but can't think of anything else except the dwarf hermit, shrimp and snail.

Seffie x

 

[injektion]

to the salty side!

your water parameters will look normal for a while, as the process of cycling a tank takes about 4 weeks. until then i would not recommend putting any livestock in the tank yet, although i've had mixed results when it comes to adding CUC. wait another week or 2 and bring in your water to get tested and you'll probably see some changes. also, don't change any water until your tank is fully cycled (spike has dropped to 0).

these fluval edge tanks look pretty cool, but i've found that they lack the water flow marine tanks need. i would recommend buying a small powerhead so that you can eliminate any dead spots in the tank, as well as provide better aeration in the tank.

as for the CUC, like you said, snails and hermits are the way to go for now. shrimp can be a little difficult to keep for some, as they are scavengers and won't likely find a lot of food in a nano tank, so they will require you to feed them from time to time.

what kind of fish are you planning on keeping in there?

 

[stucolls]

I havent really put any thought into fish stock yet, the LFS have a few different ones that max out around 1.5", I think of the top op my head they may be damsels and gobies? they were a purple/blue with yellow on them and there were also some black and white striped ones. I just want a few little chappies in there to entertain me while im off work staring at the tnank for 6 weeks lol.

Seffie......the rock was cured at the LFS and had been in their tank since whenever they got it, no drying time, I transported it wet to mine (just down the road). Its only a 23litre tank and the guys in the shop seemed to think that with it being so small and the rock being good that it was ready for some CUC, they said try that and if it goes well then ad fish at a later date. I will quiz them again tomorrow when I get the PH checked again. OOh and what are diatoms?? sorry )

The flow....the flow from the HOB filter is really good, granted it doesnt really 'hit' the corners but its strong enough to blow all my sand away from the middle of the tank lol ive put my 3 pieces of rock directly under the 'waterfall' to give them maximum flow, I was thinkng of adding a small koralio powerhead though.

Can I add any of those funky looking anenomes or trees (im guessing thats coral) with the CUC??

Thanks for the replies guys, all duly noted x

 

[seffieuk]

No anemones i'm afraid unless you lower the temp and go with beadlets.

The tank is too small imo for anything other than a small little Clown goby, they are usually a striking yellow colour (but you can get other colours), comical and very sweet looking.

You could probably put some mushrooms in there, they don't need much light

Seffie x

 

[stucolls]

Im sure they had small yellow chappies in there to so if so I may well have one, I dohave some LED lights (flexi string ones) to link up, will that give me a few more options with the mushrooms??

You never said what the diatoms are??

Thanks Seffie x

ooh and my temperature in there is around 24/25 I think(its upstairs and im on crutches and cant face another jaunt up there yet haha)

 

[seffieuk]

There are some really cool coloured mushrooms, even stripy ones! The temp. needs to be raised to approx 27 Stu.

Diatoms - are a brown, yucky looking mess that starts to appear on your sand bed and rock when the tank is near the end of its cycle (in a new tank) - in an older tank it shows you that your phosphates are too high and you need to do a water change, pronto!!

Seffie x

ps cuc eats them

 

[stucolls]

ah I see, like a browny/purple kinda mark on the rock I have that on some of it, almost looks like a birth mark haha

I keep saying things waving at me to from the rocks, looks to me like some kind of seaweed or algae but im sure it moves itself rather than moving with the current??

PH up to 8.4 today and all other parameters (according to LFS) are perfect.

Oh and as im by the tank today and dont have to hobble upstairs the temp is.....26/27

 

[seffieuk]

ah I see, like a browny/purple kinda mark on the rock I have that on some of it, almost looks like a birth mark haha

I keep saying things waving at me to from the rocks, looks to me like some kind of seaweed or algae but im sure it moves itself rather than moving with the current??

PH up to 8.4 today and all other parameters (according to LFS) are perfect.

Oh and as im by the tank today and dont have to hobble upstairs the temp is.....26/27

Diatoms are brown, almost like a powder on the rocks and sand.

The waving things are probably brittle stars - cool

Temp is fine now

Seffie x

you might need a fan in the hotter months to keep the tank cool

 

[stucolls]

Ooh I never thought a fan was something id need!!

I take it those brittle stars are 'life' thats good to know, I was disappointed I hadnt seen any hitchhikers!

 

[seffieuk]

Indeed, life have you looked in there after dark with a red torch?

Seffie x

 

[stucolls]

Noooo??? I dont have a red torch at the moment but what does it do???

 

[seffieuk]

It will show up all the 'life' all the tiny bugs etc woo hoo, you can usually buy a small red pen type torch really cheaply - or if you have a bike, they sometimes have a red light on them

Seffie x

 

[stucolls]

Right then.....im off to track down my bike rear light haha

Update: today ive added some more LR and corals (I think thats what they are anyway haha) I believe I got some yellow polyps, fuzzy mushrooms, brown zoas and xenia all on nice rock. In the next week or so I should be getting a green goby and 1 or 2 more hermits at the same time all from the same guy, obviously dependant on parameteres being ok.

Oh also modded my hood a little with some flexible LED light strips, they dont provide nearly enough light at the amount but they fit in perfect and it was dead easy so im going to get a few more strips and add them in to see how it looks.