# Fluval flora kit



## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

The Flora comes with a CO2 setup however from what I've seen on this forum the CO2 replacement cartridges get to be really expensive. If you are serious about shrimp you can also take a look the the Fluval Ebi which is basically the same setup as the flora except more tuned towards shrimp.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

vvDO said:


> The Flora comes with a CO2 setup however from what I've seen on this forum the CO2 replacement cartridges get to be really expensive. If you are serious about shrimp you can also take a look the the Fluval Ebi which is basically the same setup as the flora except more tuned towards shrimp.


Yea the co2 system that comes with the flora sucks. The ebi should also be lower priced than the flora, comes with the same light, a smaller grain of the same substrate. Better deal in my opinion.


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## Plantlet (Jul 7, 2012)

The EBI uses shrimp substrate, says its better for them. Pretty sure its not the same thing, because it doesn't come with all the fertilizers. It does come in a smaller grain as the user above me mentioned. The EBI is also $10.00 less than the Flora at Petsmart. Thats pretty much just because it doesn't come with the Stratum/CO2.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

The Flora kit doesn't come with any fertilizer and the substrate is the same - just a larger grain - for sure.

The only thing it includes that the Ebi does not is a really awful and eventually way too expensive CO2 system.



Plantlet said:


> The EBI uses shrimp substrate, says its better for them. Pretty sure its not the same thing, because it doesn't come with all the fertilizers. It does come in a smaller grain as the user above me mentioned. The EBI is also $10.00 less than the Flora at Petsmart. Thats pretty much just because it doesn't come with the Stratum/CO2.


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## FreshPuff (Oct 31, 2011)

I was given a Fluval Flora for my birthday last year and it's what started my obsession with aquascaping! Honestly the tank itself is pretty nice. The front rounded edges give the tank a unique aesthetic quality  The co2 system that comes with it tends to be a pain in the butt because you have to manually refill the clear plastic thing that goes in the water at least 2x a day to get adequate co2 in the water column. Definitely not the most efficient way of doing it either. And not to mention, 1 co2 canister will last you about 3 weeks at most. If you add up the cost of those canisters you will see its not cheap. The substrate is not too bad as long as you fertilize. I had a hard time keeping fine rooted plants such as HC and hairgrass down in the substrate though because its somewhat light. But once rooted, the plants took off! The light is only 13watt so if you do go through with bying the setup I recommend purchasing an additional light such as a Finnex 26watt refugium light so you can grow pretty much anything you would like!


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## FreshPuff (Oct 31, 2011)

I forgot to mention, the foam backing tends to pop off. It happened to me and it made a mess. I definitely recommend taking it off.


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## CryptKeeper54 (Apr 14, 2012)

I would definately look into other "kits." Great idea for the novice but ends up being impractical like everyone said. In fact, I recommend against it in my up and coming website (check my sig), and would recommend you check out an Eheim "kit" instead. Amazon's price fluctuates (weird and I don't know why), but I got the Eheim aquastyle 6 gallon kit for as low as $63; I now have five of 'em.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I'm not entirely sure how the Fluval Flora/Ebi is impractical, as there are tons of folks here on this very forum who use it with ease and joy. 

The Flora's CO2 kit is sub-par, to say the least, but that's about it. 

It's one of the easiest to modify kits on the market, additional lights can be added with ease, it's sturdy, allows the growth of taller stems, et al. So it can be very practical for the average planted tanker interested in a rimless cube that includes a glass top, lighting, filter (which is okay for some, not for me) and substrate for usually less than $100.


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## fishmagnet (Jul 1, 2012)

Ok ....some conflicting reports...i have an empty 55 gal , I think I will just dive in head first and get that set up to be planted.


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## CryptKeeper54 (Apr 14, 2012)

somewhatshocked said:


> I'm not entirely sure how the Fluval Flora/Ebi is impractical, as there are tons of folks here on this very forum who use it with ease and joy.
> 
> The Flora's CO2 kit is sub-par, to say the least, but that's about it.
> 
> It's one of the easiest to modify kits on the market, additional lights can be added with ease, it's sturdy, allows the growth of taller stems, et al. So it can be very practical for the average planted tanker interested in a rimless cube that includes a glass top, lighting, filter (which is okay for some, not for me) and substrate for usually less than $100.


You're right, impractical was a poor choice of word on my part. I just think there are better "kits" that your money could go towards instead, in a market which will only continue to grow and improve. I was thinking the CO2 system is somewhat impractical due to being constantly on and having to manually turn it on and off each day; not to mention the costs being greater in the long run vs. a 5lb tank system.


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## Calmia22 (Aug 20, 2011)

I got my Fluval Flora tank for Christmas and love it. The light does a great job, I have yet to find anything that doesn't grow well in it. I also haven't had an issue with the background popping off. I highly dislike the co2 that it comes with, and instead started doing diy co2 which works very well in the size of the tank. It's a little hard to really plant things into the stratum substrate too, but you get the hang out of pretty quick.


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## FreshPuff (Oct 31, 2011)

Stock light fixture is only suitable for low light plants, nothing more.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Unless you add additional lamps, which are just $20ish.



FreshPuff said:


> Stock light fixture is only suitable for low light plants, nothing more.


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## Plantlet (Jul 7, 2012)

somewhatshocked said:


> The Flora kit doesn't come with any fertilizer and the substrate is the same - just a larger grain - for sure.
> 
> The only thing it includes that the Ebi does not is a really awful and eventually way too expensive CO2 system.


Flora comes with FloraMax or GroMax liquid fert or something like that.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I left out a word.

Should have read, "The Flora kit doesn't come with any useful fertilizer..."

At least not in the sense of this hobby.

I think it's Nutrafin Plant Gro and not very much of it.


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