# 9 gallon fluval flex



## dmastin (Jun 19, 2009)

Cool, I have a pretty new 9g flex as well.
I've used malleable metal bands to hold down plants until they root. 
According to those that know the metals are stable and do nothing to the substrate/water.
BTW, I google light mods for this tank and found a flexible strip light solution someone had gotten to work.
I tried it and ended up with a big ball of silicone and flexible led strip. Gah! What a mess.
I scraped it all off and ordered from fluval another of the same light that came attached from the factory.
I glued that with silicone next to the original and so have double the light. It's still not much.
What' your thinking?


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## SageBear (Apr 15, 2018)

I didn’t k ow you could order another light! I also googled the lighting mods and it was on my to-do list. I probably would’ve ended up in the same mess as you, cause I was looking at those flexible strips too. Thanks for the tip, I haven’t read anything better than what you suggest. I know the lights are adequate, but I’m waiting to see if they are enough for the HC I’m putting in. I doubt it.


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## dmastin (Jun 19, 2009)

Now I'm not saying it's not possible to do the led flexible light strip thing, it just didn't work for me.
If I had found the hi rez picture and tried to follow the path and realized some parts had to stand on end etc. I might have been ok.
I mean, you can get a lot of lights in there for cheap, but just knowing how frakkedup my job was under there got to my OCD.
It was more expensive to get the Hagen/Fluval parts. I bought the lamp assembly and the power supply for $53.97 total.
LED Lamp assembly for FLEX 9 US Gal | A14763 | Replacement Parts | Fluval
Power Supply for LED Lamp on FLEX 9 US Gal | A14764 | Replacement Parts | Fluval
I think if the page doesn't show the price they may be out of stock, not sure.
I used aquarium silicone glue and glued the control in upside down as I didn't want to drill a hole in the top.
I just lift the top and shoot the beam from the original remote under there to control the second light.
It appears to all be watertight even upside down.
I'm sure there are other solutions, but here's how I did it.


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## SageBear (Apr 15, 2018)

Thanks for the amazing info! I love what you did, totally going to do the same. 
Have you planted yet? What stratum are you using? I’d love to see pics of your tank as well.


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## dmastin (Jun 19, 2009)

Aw thanks SageBear!
I'm very happy with the solution although I'm a bit ambivalent about the top in general, but I think I'm going to keep it.
I am a high tech addict as I run six T5 (three Super Flora Giesemann POWERCHROME T5 and three Tropic Giesemann POWERCHROME T5) on my main tank. So, I get the feeling something is wrong if plants aren't almost visibly growing as you watch.
I'm a beginner, so don't look to me as an expert.
I have planted the tank and have some good growth. I'll try to take a picture for your tomorrow!
I use Eco Complete as I bought some for my main tank several years ago having been impressed by the advertising script. On reflection I imagine it's just an inert gravel with some bacteria starter thrown in.
I mix that with Tropica Aquarium Soil Powder because that was used in my inspirations:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8804641-post254.html


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