Fluval Edge Tank For A Noobie.

[leekinks]

Hi to all reading this,

This seems like a great forum. I am new to fish keeping and after much thought, research and debate purchased the Fluval Edge tank with additional

heater and various potions for the water to make the envirionment the best i can for the fish.

After reading about the edge i was doubious about it from the size, access hatch and what to keep in it, but due to the small size of the gaffe its size was

the best option. I would just like some advice from Y'all re what fish to keep in it i want to take it slow to begin i will let the tank settle for week to

sure the water filter, heater etc work correctly i went to a general pet store to buy the tank and every person i spoke to gave me different advice on

what to keep also id just like some beginners advice if you have a moment.


Thanks

Lee

 

[PDSimon]

Hi and welcome

Have you read about fishless and fish in cycles?

Theres some information on the homepage in the beginners section - worth a read

I'm new as well but I believe if you're doing a fish in cycle, in a small tank especially, you'll have to have some hardy fish in there to start of with. I think guppys are quite hardy but you best check that

 

[Assaye]

Hi to all reading this,

This seems like a great forum. I am new to fish keeping and after much thought, research and debate purchased the Fluval Edge tank with additional

heater and various potions for the water to make the envirionment the best i can for the fish.

After reading about the edge i was doubious about it from the size, access hatch and what to keep in it, but due to the small size of the gaffe its size was

the best option. I would just like some advice from Y'all re what fish to keep in it i want to take it slow to begin i will let the tank settle for week to

sure the water filter, heater etc work correctly i went to a general pet store to buy the tank and every person i spoke to gave me different advice on

what to keep also id just like some beginners advice if you have a moment.


Thanks

Lee

Hi there!

I've just written out a very long post to someone who rushed into things and ended up with sick and dying fish, so it's great you've found us before putting fish in. Saves me finger ache, anyway!

Now, the Edge is a very cool little tank if stocked right. It's not a good tank for over-stocking or creating a super-busy display due to the constraints on oxygen in the tank from the glass top.

Here are some stocking suggestions:

5 x male endler's liverbearers
8 x cherry shrimp

OR

3 x sparkling gourami
8 x cherry shrimp

OR

6 x ember tetras
4 x pygmy corys

OR

6 x celestial pearl danios
2 x african dwarf frogs

Of course, you can mix and match a bit. The key is if you want a group of fish, go for really teeny ones (under an inch as adults). If you one a smaller group, you can go for something up to about 2 inches (such as the tiny gouramis I mentioned). If you want bottom feeders, same decision. Try not to mix larg groups of shoaling fish and large groups of bottom feeders (so not 6 corys AND 6 tetras). It can be done, but the key is starting small and only experimenting with over-stocking once you have some experience.

This post has some suggestions for small fish. Bare in mind that they are talking about a larger tank so some suggestions won't be suitable but of course, you'd research all the fish anyway, right?

Now, you don't just want to add these all in together at once. Oh no. You have to think about preparing your tank first. This is called a cycle and is a way of building a vital eco-system in the tank. There are two main methods:

Fish-less Cycle

Fish-in Cycle

The first saves you a lot of water changes and your fish a lot of potential discomfort and stress but makes you wait a while for fish, where as the latter lets you put a fe fish in very soon at a certain amount of risk to them.

Please, please read those links. it's all very well to listen to the guy in the shop (trust me, they often don't know as much as they'd like to think) but you don't want to have a disaster on your hands in a couple of weeks.

Here is a link to our excellent beginner's resource centre - have a read!

 

[leekinks]

Hi thanks for the warm welcome and advice,

Im taking this whole project nice and slow. Today i cleaned my gravel, plastic plants and decorations(fresh water only) made sure my filter was correct

and free of defects at the mo its all looking good. I did a bit of research on cycling my tank first ive decided on doing this fishless and waiting a week,

i added the potions that the LFS advised which was Tetra safe start, Nutrafin Aquaplus and nutrafin cycle. I placed my Fluval heater at the back of my tank for optimal heating (i hope) and left it for 15mins before switching it on.

As for stocking I thank you for the suggestions which i will look at shortly along with my own research. I do fancy tetra and pretty looking fish, i will avoid like the plague over stocking as i want to be minimal at first and build myself up, which will also allow me to give the best care to the fish. I was advised to get a couple of glass cleaning fish, it being a small tank they would hoover up in there but im not so sure until i research a bit more, is that a lazy suggestion by the store worker??

I will have a good read of the beginner resource.

Thanks for your time.

Lee.

 

[Detritus]

Hi Lee

Good timing on the post, I'm 100% the same position as you, just bought a Fluval Edge, cleaned gravel, added water, fluids that came with Fluval and waiting for Master testing kit to arrive tomorrow for my fish less cycle. I started all mine on Saturday, so sounds liek very similar timings as you.

And thanks to the other guys who have responded here, good info, especially about ideas to stocking.

I bought some live plants today and they are in and looking nice.

I have just tested using API 5 in 1 strips and got the following results:
NO3 = 30ppm
NO2 = 0ppm
PH = 8
KH = 240ppm(max on colour chart)
GH = 180ppm(max on colour chart)

I have not added any ammonia yet, still waiting for my test kit.
I am worried about the hardness of my water though. Time will tell. lol

Hopefully more to report more after proper testing.
Regards
David

 

[waterdrop]

Sounds like you both have the right idea, going for a fishless cycle. It takes a lot of will-power and patience but can create pristine water to introduce your fish to. You are waiting for your good liquid-reagent test kits to arrive, that is good, the paper strips are worse than useless, they can be misleading! You will want to post up your tap water parameters for the members one you have the liquid testing kit.

You'll want to start an aquarium notebook where you'll keep daily records for yourself and you'll want to post up a mirror of the daily fishless cycling test results here in your thread on the the forum so members can help you. We're also usually interested in the adventure of finding the right type of ammonia - the places to find it are different in the UK vs. the USA.

The way to think about your fishless cycling schedule is that you will establish a time, usually in the morning or evening, which will be your main "add-hour," the hour when you will make your "24-hour" set of tests and will add ammonia if it dropped to zero ppm within the previous 24 hours. Its good to do some thinking about it and establish it at a time when the opposite test time, the "12-hour" time, is also at a time you can be home. So, for example, your "add-hour" might be at 7pm, so that later in the cycle you'll also be able to test at 7am, before you have to go off to work or school or something. The 12-hour testing is not really needed until later in the process, after the nitrite spike phase, but if you've already planned for the time, it helps to keep everything nice a regular so that the results from many days of testing make more sense.

So your log entries at each of these times when you do a test battery are:
Day X, AM/PM, Temp, Ammonia(NH3), Nitrite(NO2), pH, Nitrate(NO3), (amt NH3 added, if any), Notes
You should establish a habit of noting virtually everything in your aquarium notebook as it will quickly become very valuable to be able to look back and see exactly what you did on a given date. During fishless cycling though, you do not need to perform every type of test on a daily schedule, it varies depending on which phase of cycling you are in and with some of your individual tank chemistry. At first, day, time(am/pm only), temp, Ammonia and pH are all that matter. Gradually, after a week or so you'll want to peek at nitrite(NO2).

A lot of things are coming at you currently but hopefully you can look back at this later and get some things!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Assaye]

Hi thanks for the warm welcome and advice,

Im taking this whole project nice and slow. Today i cleaned my gravel, plastic plants and decorations(fresh water only) made sure my filter was correct

and free of defects at the mo its all looking good. I did a bit of research on cycling my tank first ive decided on doing this fishless and waiting a week,

i added the potions that the LFS advised which was Tetra safe start, Nutrafin Aquaplus and nutrafin cycle. I placed my Fluval heater at the back of my tank for optimal heating (i hope) and left it for 15mins before switching it on.

As for stocking I thank you for the suggestions which i will look at shortly along with my own research. I do fancy tetra and pretty looking fish, i will avoid like the plague over stocking as i want to be minimal at first and build myself up, which will also allow me to give the best care to the fish. I was advised to get a couple of glass cleaning fish, it being a small tank they would hoover up in there but im not so sure until i research a bit more, is that a lazy suggestion by the store worker??

I will have a good read of the beginner resource.

Thanks for your time.

Lee.

Mostly sounds great, so I'll only comment on two things:

1) Fishless cycle - will take more than a week unless you are total genius. Some people use the phrase "cycle" incorrectly to refer to simply leaving the tank to settle down for a week or so. Have a look at the information on link I sent. Of course, you probably mean a waiting a week before starting your cycle but I just wanted to clear up any potential confusion.

2) Cleaner fish. A bit of a scam, if you ask me. No single species will 100% clean up. There are many kinds of algae and detritus ans not all fish will eat all kinds. Also, most sucker mouthed fish will get to big for your tank. Your best option would be otocinclus but they need to be kept in groups of 6 and will take away room for some of your more "showy" fish. You could always try shrimp - some varieties are very colourful! They won't clean your glass but they will clean up some algae on plants and will eat un-eaten food. Nothing works better than a good gravel vacuum and glass scrub once a week, though.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, good point Assaye, one of the things we always have to be sure we've helped newcomers get past is this occasional misinformation of the "cycle" being just a week of letting it sit or something. Quite a large number of our fishless cycles take over 2 months and require quite a bit of patience! But mostly doing little daily squirts of household ammonia and taking tests is far easier than having to do lots of water changes, as can happen in a fish-in cycle. And having a fully working "biofilter" is an awesome thing for new fish that are just being introduced to the tank, making it all worth it in my opinion.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[leekinks]

Hi Guys I am so impressed with this forum and the help and advice thanks again,

David, Its cool we have the same "edge" cycle ie bought around the same time and set up the same time, it will be good to see how our tanks pan out re stock and our own adventures to get them running so i'll keep
in touch and maybe we can help eachother to learn!! Thanks for the reply.

Waterdrop& Assaye, again some top advice esp the notebook for records and i thought the cleaner fish was an easy kop out for the pet store worker,
the shrimp sound good though I had not planned on putting any in but may think on it. Cycle wise again the store advised 3 days before adding fish
but that seemed a bit premature, in my own mind i thought a week but given the advice i'll wait for a month or so.

Looking at the tank this morning i see lot of bubbles on the glass im just assuming it is because of the nutrafin nd safestart i added yesterday?

other than that Im awaitng my test kits etc before i start my Fish Keeper diary.

Cheers.

Lee.

 

[Detritus]

Hi Guys I am so impressed with this forum and the help and advice thanks again,

David, Its cool we have the same "edge" cycle ie bought around the same time and set up the same time, it will be good to see how our tanks pan out re stock and our own adventures to get them running so i'll keep
in touch and maybe we can help eachother to learn!! Thanks for the reply.

Waterdrop& Assaye, again some top advice esp the notebook for records and i thought the cleaner fish was an easy kop out for the pet store worker,
the shrimp sound good though I had not planned on putting any in but may think on it. Cycle wise again the store advised 3 days before adding fish
but that seemed a bit premature, in my own mind i thought a week but given the advice i'll wait for a month or so.

Looking at the tank this morning i see lot of bubbles on the glass im just assuming it is because of the nutrafin nd safestart i added yesterday?

other than that Im awaitng my test kits etc before i start my Fish Keeper diary.

Cheers.

Lee.

Hi Lee
Most definitly, it will be good to compare as we go on, and I had the same thing with the bubbles, but 24hours later they all cleared thank goodness, looks really nice already. I have had a major change today, as my water here is so hard, I've just done a complete water change with RO water, cost me £3.99 for 25 liters. Also bought some mature media to put inside tank to boost bacteria levels, one wooden log and 2 small lumps of what looks like a porous rock. Also added a fresh bottle of JBL Filterstart to add to the RO water. As with you, still awaiting delivery of testing kit, wish ebay was quicker lol. My PH, GH, KH have all calmed down to good start levels. GH=0, KH=30, PH=6.5.

Ill pm you my number so if you want to have a chat about things with how we progress would be cool to hear from you.

Regards
David

 

[Detritus]

Thought I'd chuck a picture in of my tank so far Lee.
Interresting times ahead I think. lol

 

[Assaye]

Hi Guys I am so impressed with this forum and the help and advice thanks again,

David, Its cool we have the same "edge" cycle ie bought around the same time and set up the same time, it will be good to see how our tanks pan out re stock and our own adventures to get them running so i'll keep
in touch and maybe we can help eachother to learn!! Thanks for the reply.

Waterdrop& Assaye, again some top advice esp the notebook for records and i thought the cleaner fish was an easy kop out for the pet store worker,
the shrimp sound good though I had not planned on putting any in but may think on it. Cycle wise again the store advised 3 days before adding fish
but that seemed a bit premature, in my own mind i thought a week but given the advice i'll wait for a month or so.

Looking at the tank this morning i see lot of bubbles on the glass im just assuming it is because of the nutrafin nd safestart i added yesterday?

other than that Im awaitng my test kits etc before i start my Fish Keeper diary.

Cheers.

Lee.

Another point with regards to the cycle - sorry to hammer on about this!

As I said, the cycle is more than just about leaving the tank to settle down. With a cycle, you need to actively prepare the filter for the fish. The filter is a remarkable thing, because it doesn't just physically filter out the waste from the water but also has a fantastic colony of bacteria that biologically remove the waste. Some also have chemical elements, such as carbon and zeolite, which remove chemicals such as medication and things like air freshener (the carbon) and some excess ammonia (the zeolite). Don't worry too much about those now, though.

In order to prepare your filter for the fish, you need to grow the bacteria. This is called the cycle. The bacteria won't just grow by leaving the tank for a few weeks - the bacteria need fish waste to feed off or they'll never grow at all! You can give them fish waste in two main ways - with actual fish and with household ammonia, which is essentially pure "chemical" fish waste. If you do the former method, you can add fight right away BUT you can only add a tiny number of fish (two very little ones is a good start) and you need to test your water every day for ammonia and nitrite (using a good quality liquid test kit) and you also need to do lots of water changes to make sure the waste doesn't build up while you're encouraging the bacteria to grow. The waste is very toxic to the fish!

With the fishless cycle (using the ammonia), you still need to do a little but and you can't add fish right away, but it beautifully prepares the filter and means that no fish have to suffer in their own waste products in the meantime. Cool, huh?

Pop back up to my first post in this thread and read those links. They'll give you a full understanding of what is involved in each method so you can decide what works best for you. I would always recommend a fishless cycle - it's totally safe for the fish and actually less work for you, as you don't need to keep worrying about doing water changes every day (or even twice a day, as might be necessary).

The bubbles on the glass are probably just excess air from when you added the water to the tank. It'll clear in a few days.

Thought I'd chuck a picture in of my tank so far Lee.
Interresting times ahead I think. lol

It's looking great!

How are you keeping the plants alive? I've found that until I add fish and get a really vibrant eco-system going (including lots of fish poop), my plants don't do so well. Have you considered adding some plant food? Your local fish shop should have a selection - something fairly cheap should be enough to keep the plants ticking over until you add fish.

In fact, I add fertilisers to one of my tanks the whole time and the plants are just incredible. It's definitely something to think about if you fancy a planted tank. Pop over to the "planted tank" sub-forum for some advice.

 

[Truck]

With those plants you're best of doing a silent cycle in my opinion, here's what I would do:

Add a few more plants, then add your desired fish, and the plants will take care of any ammonia, just test daily and if you do get any minor readings, correct them with a water change, the plants should deal with the ammonia anyway, if you plant well from the start. Lightly feed for the first month, and do weekly water changes and it will be cycled in no time at all, if you could add a bit of mature media, that would give you a safety net also.

You should be fine without fertilisers whilst using the above method, but once the cycle is over you could start to add a something like TPN+ but I think you'll be fine without it.

 

[Assaye]

If you have enough plants and few enough fish, a "silent cycle" could well work. IMO, you'll probably need more plants and you want to stock really lightly to start off with and only add more if your water is looking totally clear of ammonia and nitrites.

 

[leekinks]

Hi David the tank is looking sweet mate,

I will try and get a pic of mine up in the near future to see what you think.

Regarding plant life in the tank ive gone for plastic fauna do you know the + and - of using fake vs real etc.

Works been eating into my hobby time haha. I find myself sat in work think of fish and how my bacteria are doing in the filter!!