# Beginner's Fluval Edge 12 gallon.



## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Got the itch for another Edge so I got the 12 gallon, going to try a low light aquatic set up. Dwarf puffer fish is the main fish I want, along with a Otos.

Fish: 1 - 2 x Dwarf puffer. A Otos. 
Substrate: SeaChem Flourite Red.
Plants: Low light plants, probably some Anubias Nana and some Crypt. 


Waiting for the tank to cycle a bit before I grab the Dwarf puffers.


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## Krystal907 (Oct 31, 2011)

I had that exact same blue gravel for my first tank, but decided to go with natural gravel eventually. Is that your tank set up in the other 2 pictures?


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Krystal907 said:


> I had that exact same blue gravel for my first tank, but decided to go with natural gravel eventually. Is that your tank set up in the other 2 pictures?


 nope, that the older Fluval Edge I have. I did exactly the same thing you did, brought the blue gravel because it looked good but now I'm going to Flourite Red. 

They are two different tanks, one is the smaller 6 gallon and the new one I haven't set up yet. Still waiting for the Flourite to lose all that cloudy dust.


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## Krystal907 (Oct 31, 2011)

Ahh, well good deal  will be looking forward to how you set it up. What kind of plants were you thinking for the little puffer to hide behind?


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Not too sure but I think I might go with some Amazon Swords and a few Anubias Nana. 

The pretty girl at the fish store said they're getting some puffers next week, so hopefully my tank will be cycled by then. She told me I could have 5 dwarf puffers in there but I'm thinking of 2 - 3 and an Otos for the algae.

Check out how clear the water got in 2 hours, the whole tank was a light chocolate brown. 










Oh, and does anyone know how to get rid of the air bubbles in the AquaClear HOB 20s. It's not a steady steam, my other AquaClear 20 is at max power.


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## beastoise (Apr 17, 2011)

The amazon swords will quickly outgrow your tank, but the anubias sounds good. And from the looks of the last picture, you're getting bubbles because your water level isn't high enough.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Is there a good low light hardy background plant? I want to cover the intakes of the AquaClear and try to hide the back of the tank from showing.


Oh and about the bubbles, I was talking about the AquaClear intake pipes. It's not a complete stream of water going in, but a very weird shape intake. I'll snap a picture, it's this. See that intake into the filter , there a air pocket in there. My other AquaClear 20 is completely filled at that intake.


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## Krystal907 (Oct 31, 2011)

How about Wisteria? Watersprite, hornwort, etc. Lots to choose from  Those just grow really fast.


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Lookin' good... are you planning to get some small snails for the puffers to munch on? It's always awesome seeing them give a big crunch!


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

In my experience the air bubbles in the Aquaclear intake will just work themselves out over time.


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## HeathBar (Aug 28, 2007)

I have the same problem with the filter on my edge, everyone says it'll work itself out in a few days but mine still has air in it after 3 weeks. The dang thing is still a little noisy too. 

Good luck with your 12 gallon, I can't wait to see it all setup with plants in it.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

THANKS Heathbar, your 12 gallon long looks amazing! Where did you get those rocks? I'm trying to do something similar in my tank but it's slim picking over here. 

I took some media from the old 6 gallon to the new one, just some floss and water to cycle it faster; anything else I can do to speed up the cycle without fish?

Notice to owners, my 12 gallon tank has very poor silicone seal, it's almost as if Hagen rush these tanks out. 

I was thinking of ripping the excess off but that might rip the whole thing off. This is before adding the water, there a lot of excess silicone on the inside and a bit on the outside. Not really what you expect for newer product, the old Edge was flawless.


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## HeathBar (Aug 28, 2007)

I got the rocks at a LFS, it's petrified wood.

For the cycling, did you add the bottled bacteria Fluval includes in the box? My 6g came with it, not sure if the new ones do still. That, your old filter material plus plants and I think the tank will cycle super fast, if not instantly.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

There was actually two bottles of the stuff and it did speed up the cycle, I'm getting some good numbers from my API kit.

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the rocks, those are wood? If so, did they release Tannin in the water? 

Can't seem to find anything that resemble the ADA driftwood they have on the net. Would you happen to know a plant that releases a lot of oxygen? The new Edge has the same filter and same size opening in a bigger tank. Not sure how I can add more oxygen to this beast.


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

FlyingHellFish said:


> I'm not quite sure what you mean about the rocks, those are wood? If so, did they release Tannin in the water?


Petrified wood is fossilized wood that is millions of years old. Most of it comes out of the American Southwest, but I believe it can be found other places as well. Its the same stuff I have in my Edge 

If you want to encourage your cycle you could add a bit of fish food... it will give your growing colony of bacteria something to feed on. Adding plants will also help... there is no need to wait for your tank to cycle before you start planting.


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

ps. keep an eye out for the possibility that your dwarf puffers may attack/nip at any ottos you put in with them. The one time I kept them they nibbled the fins off my panda cories and would not leave them alone. I ended up removing them from the tank and keeping them in a species only setup.

They're adorable, and I think they would be great for an Edge, but they're vicious little suckers and not to be trusted.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

raven_wilde said:


> Petrified wood is fossilized wood that is millions of years old. Most of it comes out of the American Southwest, but I believe it can be found other places as well. Its the same stuff I have in my Edge
> 
> If you want to encourage your cycle you could add a bit of fish food... it will give your growing colony of bacteria something to feed on. Adding plants will also help... there is no need to wait for your tank to cycle before you start planting.


Oooh , I thought it was a rock lol. Your Edge pictures are back up and that is one fine looking tank sir! How are those moss doing? Did they end up covering up the entire piece of wood? Did your petrified wood stain the water at all?


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## Krystal907 (Oct 31, 2011)

Well, petrified wood is basically rock now. The bf has some that he found in his driveway (central WA) and I'm hoping to convince him to let me use it in a tank someday  The fast growing plants tend to soak up and release a lot of oxygen. I hear water sprite does awesome with that, but I know they like more acidic water than I get out of my tap so I had to go with wisteria.


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## aznartist34 (Nov 19, 2010)

For the air pocket in the filter intake tube, turn the filter to the lowest flow setting for a bit and you will see the air being worked out of it. That always worked for me.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

fusiongt said:


> Lookin' good... are you planning to get some small snails for the puffers to munch on? It's always awesome seeing them give a big crunch!


Sure will! I just hope the snails don't over take the tank. I heard the dwarf puffers don't need to grind down their teeth, hopefully I can just throw in some empty shells for them to play with.


Anyone know if it's better to have a school of them or a pair? I'm trying to get some Otos for algae but like Raven said, puffers don't play well with bottom feeders. 

Anyways, picked up a Hydor Theo 50 Watts and a thermometer. I also did aznartist34's trick and it worked like a charm.










I also got some wood and these rocks for the tank. Any aquascaping suggestion on the placement of these? Oh forgot to mention the stones are OHKO stones but I call them mud stones, because all that mud I rinsed off was equal to the weight of the stone. No wonder they sell it by the weight


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

First off, I am a ma'am not a sir. 

Now... about dwarf puffers:

They might not NEED to grind their teeth down but they are probably still going to crave snails (also it is cool as hell to watch them hunt). Your best bet is to introduce ramshorn snails which will breed on their own and the puffs will keep the population in check. OR, if this fails and they eat all of them, you can just periodically pull snails from your other tank (where they are breeding safely) and toss them in with the puffs for dinner.

Keep in mind that you should give them ramshorn snails, NOT malaysian trumpet snails- their shells are too hard and apparently they can hurt themselves.

As far as schooling goes- *NO. Dwarf puffers do not school*... in fact they are territorial little buggers and need plenty of room for each to have their own space. Given the size of your tank I would say that you should purchase no more than two, or MAYBE three but only once your plants have grown in densely- they need ample foliage to break up their sight lines and establish boundaries. This is serious business, once I pulled my three puffs from my 30 gal and popped them into a sparsely planted 5 gallon they went insane on each other until it was last puff standing.

They really are a wonderful fish but they are particular and you should research them thoroughly before you purchase any. This site, http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/, is a good start.

Finally, I suggest that the first thing that you focus on is getting your tank planted and settled. Get the puffers (or any other fish for that matter) once you know that their home is set and you are not likely to have to tear it apart again any time soon.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

raven_wilde said:


> First off, I am a ma'am not a sir.


Apologies ma'am,  Thanks for the advice, was under the wrong impression from my LFS tank. They had 3 - 4 all swimming together. Vicious little guys when they get mad.

I'm trying to finish the tank by a week's time, before finals comes up. Cycling is moving pretty slow, and I can't seem to find drift wood with long branches that will fit through the hole.


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

Yeah... don't rely on what is going on in the LFS's tanks as a measure of what a long-term setup should be like. Those tanks are not meant to be forever homes- just stop overs on the way to (hopefully) better digs.

Case in point: I picked up a pair of sparkling gouramis from my LFS this past week and even though this is a really good store run by super knowledgeable folk they had them in a tank with a pretty large school of cardinal tetras simply because they didn't have anywhere else to put them. End result- my gouramis have pretty banged up fins from being picked on pretty relentlessly.


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## matty26 (Feb 25, 2011)

I would definitely not go with 3 puffers in that tank. They're pretty territorial so even with 2, make sure there's quite a few plants that will block their lines of sight. They're neat fish though! Definitely recommended.


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

Also, have you looked through the swap and sell for manzanita wood?

Quite a few people sell it and they would probably be able to hook you up with just what you need if you told them what kind of tank you were trying to fit it into.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Tank driving me insane, I had to tear everything down and move it a few inches because I needed access to the electric outlets in the back of the wall.


Cycling.... AGAIN. 


Plus, the stupid drift wood wouldn't sink. I try boiling it, submerging it, yelling at it. It's the most unsinkable thing in the world, if the Titanic had this onboard, it would of saved the ship. 
I had to use the stones to weight the thing down. Can't even aquascape yet because of this, was going to grab some new plants today but now I have to wait. The iphone 4 camera adds a ton of reflection
to the glass, it's no where near that much with the human eye.


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

Do you have any more flourite on hand? If you want to root plants I would suggest adding more, you'll need at least 2" for most species.


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## sssnel (Nov 8, 2011)

I really like this tank. I can't wait to see it finished.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

raven_wilde said:


> Do you have any more flourite on hand? If you want to root plants I would suggest adding more, you'll need at least 2" for most species.


Yeah, I got half a bag left and I just rinse a bowl worth of the stuff and toss it in there.

So 2inch you say? I was thinking of mountains and hills, you know, the artistic wavy look. I need some support and holders to keep the hills from failing down....... any suggestions? 

Where did those ADA guys get those plastic holders?, and can any type of plastic be used?


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

And this is why I'm a beginner....

Best I can do 









More completed pics soon.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

So I'm done the aquascaping, but I'm worried about an infestation of Trumpet Snails. 

I got some free ones and when I was testing them, 1 of the baby MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails) went into the substrate and disappear. Hopefully 1 snail doesn't turn into a BILLION ZILLION. :icon_redf

Anyways, here are some pics. Keep in mind, these two dwarf puffers are so small, it's hard to take a good shot of them. Especially when your taking pictures with an iphone 4. 


























































And an nice artistic shot with the reflection of my granite counter top.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

I also have a video of the puffers close up, but I'm not sure if youtube links are allowed?

Are they? It's a 1 min clip of both my fish chilling.


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

yeah, you can post youtube links.

Looks good by the way- I like how the flourite and the ohko stone look together


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Check it out Raven, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ8HoQbVHmo&feature=feedu

One day, I will record them begging for food, it's hilarious. They seem to school with each other, hopefully they be fine. 

You think I need some SeaChem Excel for these plants? 

Plants:
Water Sprite 
Hygrophila Corymbosa
Crypt Spiralis
Crypt (unknown , small one in front)


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

Excel certainly wouldn't hurt- my plants do noticeably better with it.

Also I wouldn't worry about the MTS getting out of control... your puffs might not be big enough to take down the adults but I bet they will have no trouble picking off babies. That should keep them in check.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Anyways, here an update. 

After a few days with cherry shrimps, I decide to add more since my dwarf puffers don't even touch them. Unless they try to steal a blood worm. I also had to move my 6 amano shrimps to my 12 gallon because of a weird cycle break down in my 6 gallon Edge. 

I hope my amano recover from the nitrate spike, they are moving and doing well today. Here some pics, 

















Size comparison 








Tug of war.
















Camo


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Amano Shrimp getting back their color, 23 hours after the whole crisis. 









Chilling on his branch,








My Red Cherry Shrimp, solid red color, maybe it's a Fire Red.








Mirror effect of the Edge has a nice reflection on my granite.


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