# Kernowmcraes 12 Gallon Edge - monster LED!!



## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Just a quick update- I've received a couple of exciting packages in the post- both from tunze!

One is their powered Co2 reactor, the other is a truly tiny nano powerhead- this thing is microscopic, but should still flow up to 300lph!

I'll get them in and update this with some pics tonight.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

That's a cool little tank and a nice layout, have you ever noticed your wood looks like a seahorse or water troll, I swear it looks like it has a long snout with an ear on the left and it sitting with it's legs folded under it's bum, spooky.

Oh, welcome to the forum.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

You're right, I hadn't seen it before, but it's affectionately become known as the elephant in the tank! I'm planning on growing some moss type affair on the top, ideally to disguise the elf effect- just worried it may look like a chap with an Afro if done wrong!
Does anyone have any experience of white hair type algae growing in their co2 permanent test intakes?


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Looks good, I always like the Fluval look. What kind of fauna are you going to put in there (noticed you did have some but guess all but the corys died, sorry to hear!)


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

I've always loved the look of the galaxy rasbora (celestial pearl danio), so having researched and researched some more, I went for ten of these little guys- they were incredibly shy though, which I expected- so Ive got 5 white cloud mountain minnows- similar sized, but far braver- since introducing them the tank has come to life!

Here's the guys in the tank:
YouTube video


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Thought i'd snap a couple of pics of the new inhabitants this evening - their colours are stunning, and IMO blend nicely with the Corys patterning - they just move so fast... Quite tricky to snap them, but here goes..

By the way, the Tunze Co2 diffuser won't stay attached to it's powerhead - i've left it for now, because any work on a Fluval Edge requires draining the tank slightly, and I tried countless times last night to keep it on there!

Thanks to some awesomely prompt customer service though, I've got a replacement part arriving tomorrow in the post.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

fusiongt said:


> Looks good, I always like the Fluval look. What kind of fauna are you going to put in there (noticed you did have some but guess all but the corys died, sorry to hear!)


The Fluval thankfully has never seen a fatality, my last tank was stocked with Rummy Nose Tetras, Harlequin Tetras and Neons, (typical first tank, lets buy anything I like!) and that suffered a heater "mishap"... these guys are doing great!


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Just a quick update- the problem with my co2 diffuser turned out to be a slightly mis-formed rubber grommet/disc thing- a phone call to Tunze later, and a replacement assembly arrived in the post the next day, fantastic service.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Evening ladies and gents - just a quick update, I noticed that I haven't been seeing a lot of growth in my plants, dispute the Co2 and ferts regime, so I decided to dust off my old Arcadia Gro tubes and give the plants a few hours of proper light - I'll keep this up for a week and see what difference (if Any) it makes...

Here's what I need help with though... What is the white stuff "growing" in my Co2 bubble checker, and secondly, are these Pogostemon Helferi doing really badly? They were in terrible shape when I first got them, but appear to be throwing out new babies, I just can't tell whether they're actually growing, or even the right colour...


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Hey everyone, another update tonight...

The white fluffy cotton candy looking growth in my CO2 bubble checker has vanished - I'm wondering whether an adventurous Cory or the snails are responsible... either way, i'm chuffed, it looked particularly difficult to remove!

I also noticed that my supposedly fast growing Vallis wasn't looking great, and had barely moved in size since I planted it, leave alone the poor pogostemon, which was really struggling... I decided to dust off the old plant tubes from my last tank, with incredible results.. everything's sprouting and shooting up, and pearling like nobodies business!

What does everyone think of my super stealth install of the lighting?? I take them off in the evening, and pretend the LEDs are good enough!


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Just felt I should add an update to this having been using the larger lights - The growth on the vallis is amazing!

I've ordered a single 10w LED unit on eBay, 6500-7000k, hopefully should so the same job....


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Looks good! Nice job! Though, have you thought about possibly adding a background?


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Just a quick update - a full week of the upgraded lighting, and what a difference.... Getting some Thread (Fuzz) algae now, but nothing a few Amano Shrimp won't handle - am I right in saying they'll be happy to sort that problem for me? It's just a tiny bit around my plants and on the glass/wood etc, but it's not taking over (yet!)

The Helferi is looking good, and the vallis is touching the waters surface now... wondering whether I could reduce the light time to slow these down?

I've also got a 10w LED, heatsink and power supply on order, so hoping to get some decent lighting in the standard edge canopy without too much modification - the stock led rig will have to come out though, I think!

@RipariumGuy - I've resisted a background so far as I like the Water Cube effect - with the standard lighting, I don't think it's noticeable, and it only just lights the wall up - I'd love some different wood to hide the heater more, but I'll hold out until I spot the perfect piece!


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Another update this evening - i've finally managed to get some Amano Shrimp back in, and they've been busy stripping the algae from my Vals already... such fun to watch too.

I've also planted some unknown Crypts today to add some more cover for the Galaxys - has anyone got a clue what they are?

Can anyone identify this shrimp though, is he an Amano waiting to moult, or another breed?

I've also had a lot of boisterous behaviour in the tank over the last couple of days, and the reason has become apparent - we've got spawning! The Galaxys have been performing their little spiral mating dance, and the white clouds have been flaring their fins all day - this evening, a male and female started to spawn in the Vallis!

Can't wait to get my LED light in the post, just got to wait for it to arrive from Hong Kong.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

This evening, I had to post a couple of pictures - my new Crypts have gone in and started melting a bit, but I can already see new growth - the thing that shocked me was the colour of the Helferi, and the speed that my poor fin nipped Galaxys have started healing with an added dose of Melafix... the White Cloud in question is still not in my good books, but he's trying...

Anyway, on with the pics!

Main siting pic of the tank.. Yes, that is a Proton Pack!










A bit closer in, Co2 in full swing..










Galaxy Rasboras have taken the Vallis as theirs










Shrimp Shell - they're obviously growing!










Amano Shrimp hard at work:










slightly melting Crypts - new shoots though after one day










Pogostemon looking happy, must have finally found the nutrient substrate




























These poor guys barely had tails a couple of nights ago, recovering well











That's it for now, i've been experimenting with light levels, and should be ready to fit my DIY LED fitting soon.. Thanks for looking!


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Evening all - Another quick update - the Crypts appear to have thrown a bit of a wobbly, and have shed almost all their leaves - It wasn't unexpected, but after a day of being in the tank??

Here's a before and after, can't quite believe how they've died off!

A couple of hours after planting:







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A few hours later:









And this morning:









There weren't as many leaves floating around as i'd have expected, so I can only assume my Amano shrimp have been enjoying some greens - even caught my Corys having a nibble too!

My Pogostemon appears to be flying along, and going from strength to strength - having had real problems with them melting and yellowing in my previous tank, I'm justifiably proud of these.











I've also added another Male Galaxy Rasbora, 2x females, and 3 more female White Cloud Minnows - I lost one of the smallest Galaxy Rasboras to bullying from the White Cloud males and fin nipping, so adding some more females appears to have given him something else to do for now.

thanks for looking!


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

I don't really know what type of scaping style this is called (though you see similar scapes around) but I like it. Sort of half way between a Dutch style and one of the more technical styles.

Reminds me more of what freshwater areas look like in the non-tropical areas of North America.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Hi madness, thanks for your comments, I'm not sure either- if I'm honest I've always liked the style of Amano style tanks, but haven't ever had the time/funds/patience to pull one off! As long as it looks right to me, I'm happy! (I'm half dutch too, maybe that's where it's creeping in from...)


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Evening Ladies and Gents - it's been a while since my last update, so thought i'd show you how it's progressing. I've been through Green Water, Beard Algae, all sorts of stuff, until I realised the tank was getting far too much light from the 50w T5HO lights I was using before installing my LED!

Having blacked the tank out for three days, and checked my tap water nitrates had reduced again (had an almost 20ppm spike!), I am back in business - just got to tidy the last of the BBA off the wood and the Heater.

I have also seen a lot of new growth on my Crypts, but i'm shocked at how dark they are - is this nutrients or light?

Thanks!

Shrimper and a huge snail:











Posing White Cloud, dramatic face:











Growing in well, light cube effect with 10W LED:











As it is now:


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Afternoon everyone

Just a quick update to show the growth progress, and update you on my LED project- I've had to install a fan, as towards the end of the day, the heatsink was hot enough to boil water! Having added a PC 80mm fan, it's a lot cooler, but the fan's fairly noisy, so i'll have to figure out a way of slowing it down somewhat - any ideas?

Jaunty Angle:









Tank growth progress:









Pearling and happy fish:









Twisted Vallis:









My Crypts going well:


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## mattrt09 (Jun 12, 2010)

tank looks great! i dont know of any way to "slow down" a fan but im sure if you can find a way to decrease the voltage to the fan it would slow it. I thought i saw an equation from someone with such info... anyhow great tank it fits the room very well!


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## Fluvledgend (Mar 28, 2012)

Just amazing mate!!! Really got the light sorted!!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

wouldnt decreasing the voltage increase the amperage and there for cause it to burn out faster? Maybe not, I know they do make variable speed pc fans though. Maybe it would be better to just invest in a better/quieter fan. when I was building pcs they used to rate them for noise I thought.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

carpalstunna said:


> wouldnt decreasing the voltage increase the amperage and there for cause it to burn out faster? Maybe not, I know they do make variable speed pc fans though. Maybe it would be better to just invest in a better/quieter fan. when I was building pcs they used to rate them for noise I thought.


I must admit, I had a fan speed controller (variable resistor?) which seemed to have burnt out- bit annoying! It worked for all of 10 minutes. The fan is supposedly rated at 11dba, should have been "Silent" but it's got a definite reverberation at the moment- other than that, the light is perfect, just enough- I'm tempted to make more light assemblies for my larger tank now.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Fluvledgend said:


> Just amazing mate!!! Really got the light sorted!!!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Thanks dude!


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Evening guys and girls...

Just a quick update, the more astute amongst you may notice the return of the twin T5s... they are a temporary solution to the recent failure of the LED module after it fell in the fish tank... I guess double sided number plate tape wasn't quite up to the job! The water has taken the fan I'd bought with it too, so i'm waiting for a replacement fan (80mm case fan) and the LEDs from Hong Kong... Just hoping they turn up soon!

In the meantime though, have a look at the growth, my co2 reactor is barely visible!










Does anyone else's Pogostemon Helferi look like this?? I Blame the light failing personally...


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Love the look, Crypts turn darker with higher light and the Downoi will grow vertical at times.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Aha, the crypts have certainly grown back in a really nice deep green, contrasts nicely with the downoi!

I keep finding small downoi plants floating around too, do they reproduce in this way?

Thanks!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Not sure. I know they spread out with short runners. I think the leaves are dropping possibly.


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Evening Ladies and gents... It's been a while since the last update, but a lot has changed... the Edge had settled into a happy routine of weekly water changes, adding frets and occasionally clearing the pre-filter sponge, and periodically removing the massive growth from the straight Vals, until one evening..


The top of the tank shattered while we were watching TV!

It had cracked from the corner of the water "neck" across to the opposite corner of the tank top, and started weeping water... Of course this meant a new tank which our Local fish shop provided under warranty, but it also meant a full tear down and re-establish, with a very well established planted tank, and incredibly muddy, fine substrate. I was not impressed.

This is the result now, I've removed the Straight vallis as it was growing like a weed, and blocking the light to the rest of the plants - I've also re-engineered my LED assembly with a slow speed fan (More details soon!) and attached it properly to the hood using guitar strings twisted to form fasteners after the last 4 LED/fan assemblies met their ends falling into the tank during the day while I was at work.

This time it's been done properly, and works perfectly!

The Tank in situ now, next to my other hobbies...











The LED top down:











Close up of the top, huge resistor visible to slow the fan:











The plants will need some time to recover after the re-plant, and being starved of light for nearly two weeks, but I'll persist and keep removing the old stuff as the plants shed it... what do you think of the new layout?


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

Just thought i'd snap a couple of pictures of the LED/heatsink arrangement for anyone who's interested - the specs of that resistor are unknown, just went for a trial and error approach which seems to have worked so far.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

I like the tank.


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## halffrozen (Nov 4, 2011)

Awesome tank, and holy heatsink batman!


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## Kernowmcrae (Feb 22, 2012)

halffrozen said:


> Awesome tank, and holy heatsink batman!


She's a beaut, isnt she? eBay, all the way from Hong Kong, and it certainly got "warm" before I installed the fan- 80 degrees celcius warm at times!


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