# My first planted tank (and journal!) v.Fluval Edge (UPDATE 2-20-10)



## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

UPDATE: 2-12-10

Well I've changed a few things up.....following a tip from another member on here I decided to grab some plastic screen and sew some Java Moss to it. I've also rescaped my tank (again) and removed some rocks and added a piece of driftwood I found in a lake.






































So far so good! 

One more thing, my glass diffuser has STILL not shown up! Its been almost 3wks and I'm starting to get irritated....


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

that looks great! one suggestion is i would probably turn the driftwood around so the bigger part is in the back and it gets smaller toward the front. i ordered a nano diffuser from aquatic magic and it took 2 MONTHS to arrive.. after several emails back and forth. they also have alot of good reviews so hopefully yours will show up soon


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

JennaH said:


> that looks great! one suggestion is i would probably turn the driftwood around so the bigger part is in the back and it gets smaller toward the front. i ordered a nano diffuser from aquatic magic and it took 2 MONTHS to arrive.. after several emails back and forth. they also have alot of good reviews so hopefully yours will show up soon


Well that sucks to hear! I wish I could source one locally...as for the drift wood, I thought about doing that but the other end doesn't look nearly as cool.

I also just found out that the grass I have in the back by the wood is Kyoto grass which isn't for aquariums so I gotta pull that :icon_roll

I may move the wood around again and see if I can get it set up differently to my liking.


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

Well my diffuser just came in a little while ago so I did some rearranging again :coold:

Also got rid of the Kyoto grass.


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## doggyhog (Oct 7, 2009)

Wow it looks stunning!! I love Fluval tanks. So unique!


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

great work!


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

*Update 2-20-10*

Been a busy week. Added some fish and a bunch of new plants. Ditched the java moss. Finally bought a API master test kit and found out my Nitrite levels were really high and I lost 2 neons and 3 ghost shrimp in the process. After 5-6 water changes the levels came down and they've been looking good for the last few days. I'm now dosing Flourish Iron, Florish Potassium, Flourish Comprehensive, using plant tabs, and running the CO2 at 1 bubble every 8-10 seconds.

Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
Ammonia 0
PH 7.4

I rescaped bit today after planting and this is probably going to be my final setup.


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## dkbmxr18 (Oct 25, 2009)

Tank is looking really good!


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

Thanks! Unfortunately I don't know how long these plants are going to live. I think the trip in this cold weather have done them in. The only thing looking good right now is the flame moss. I dosed them with Flourish Iron/Potassium/Comprehensive today and turned the CO2 up a hair so I guess we'll see


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

so what route did you end up going with the lighting? I am very interested in purchasing one of these tanks as long as the lighting issue is dealt with.


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

Well until a couple of days ago I was using the LED bulbs + CFL but I changed to this setup using a home depot hampton bay desklamp: 


























To be honest, its a little brighter but the difference isn't as big as I thought it'd be. I now have all my previous lighting for sale.


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## allknighter (Feb 26, 2010)

Check your Sale page! I'll buy 'em off of you!


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

allknighter said:


> Check your Sale page! I'll buy 'em off of you!


Just sent you a PM!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

TeaQue said:


> *Update 2-20-10*
> 
> Been a busy week. Added some fish and a bunch of new plants. Ditched the java moss. Finally bought a API master test kit and found out my Nitrite levels were really high and I lost 2 neons and 3 ghost shrimp in the process. After 5-6 water changes the levels came down and they've been looking good for the last few days. I'm now dosing Flourish Iron, Florish Potassium, Flourish Comprehensive, using plant tabs, and running the CO2 at 1 bubble every 8-10 seconds.
> 
> ...



l really like the first picture and how you managed to make the center of the drop the main focal point really draws my eyes there. looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

!shadow! said:


> l really like the first picture and how you managed to make the center of the drop the main focal point really draws my eyes there. looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.


Thanks! I've actually changed it up a bit. After my parts from GLA come in and I get the rest of my new plants I hope to have a setup that I can leave alone :icon_roll:smile:


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

yea l hear you l love gla. They got decent priced parts and quality to follow. leaving alone is often the hard part of this hobby we aquarist are always so picky and inpatient cause i know i can be at times.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

keep us updated how that light works out


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

by the way, did u put the reflector for the light in the canopy?


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

Fat Guy said:


> by the way, did u put the reflector for the light in the canopy?


I put it right behind the bulb. If you look closely in the pics you can see that I bent one side to shield the bulb from the filter (it doesn't splash if you keep the tank filled but I'm paranoid haha)


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## tuonor (Nov 26, 2009)

New lighting and the scape looks great!


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## martinpc (Apr 20, 2010)

TeaQue said:


> Well until a couple of days ago I was using the LED bulbs + CFL but I changed to this setup using a home depot hampton bay desklamp:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How is hampton bay lighting working? DO you still like it? Is it bright enough?


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## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

I am curious as to the wattage of that bulb and the availability to replace it. Lookin real good so far. I like the mod.


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## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

I also forgot to ask you about the CO2 regulator. Do you know the manufacturer brand? And how accurate is it without the bubble counter?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

27w and 5$ each. l got 2 extra for my hampton bay desklamp in case they decide to discontinue it . l try to think ahead


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

I'm been planning on driving down to the US to pick up that fixture for a while. The Home Depots up here don't sell it. Luckily I'm not too far from the border (only about 2 hours away).


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

How is that regulator working out for you? I want to run it on my 10 gallon but is it working for you good? Do you regret buying it? Coll tank so far =D


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

any pics?


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

Yikes, been awhile since I updated. Well I ended up rescaping the tank (huge surprise  ) and tried my hand with HC. It ended up growing like CRAZY! However I've had a lot of issues with algae and I have no idea how to get rid of it because its damn near impossible to remove by hand from the HC.

I've got some blyxa that hasn't done hardly anything but stay alive. I thought maybe it wasn't getting enough light so I pulled it out to move it towards the center of the tank a bit and it had 4in roots so obviously its living. I also have a big ball of christmas moss I just stuffed in the corner because I didn't want to throw it out. 

I'm still running the Hampton Bay light and I've been using pressurized CO2 and dosing Nitrogen, Potassium, Iron, Flourish Comprehensive, twice a week and do 50/50 changes weekly. I've cut lighting down to 6hrs a day to help with the algae but so far it hasn't made much of a difference.

I just did a water and filter change tonight so the water is too cloudy for pics so a crappy iphone pic I took awhile back will have to do for now!


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

Oh and all my fish were doing great until a few weeks ago. My spare CO2 tank valve failed and decided to emptry itself while I was at work and killed 6 fix. 

Somehow my snail, 3 fish, and 6 shrimp all survived.


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## tuonor (Nov 26, 2009)

Looking good (but sorry about your fish)! Hopefully you have more patience than me with algae.

A bamboo skewer inserted into the HC and twirled works pretty well for thread / hair algae.


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## TeaQue (Jan 26, 2010)

Well..........its been a really long time since I updated this journal. I lost interest for awhile to be honest but my tank is now running fairly well so here are a few pics 

(Just added DHG and a bamboo shrimp--I found both at a local petsmart of all places)










Scampi, my new Bamboo skrimp :coold:


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