Fluval Edge Setup Instructions Confusing

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evolutionary

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Hi all -

I am in the process of getting the Fluval Edge set up. Did anyone else find the setup instructions confusing? I am referring primarily to when you reach the steps for adding water/chemicals. The way they wrote it makes it sound like you can add your fish the same day as you start the cycling. This made no sense to me, so I did the following:

Filled the water 1/2 way like the instructions said and added the specified amount of the chemicals. Then I filled it to within an inch or so of the "collar". The next two days I added the rest of the cycle formula like the instructions said. So the water as of today has been going for four days now - is this enough time to begin adding fish?

My other question is for when I add the fish - the water level is still an inch below the collar, so after I add the fish (in which I will avoid adding any of the fish store water), should I just top off the Edge with a side jug of water that has been treated with the dechlorinator chemicals, i.e. basically what I would have done had I been performing a standard water change?

Any advice would be appreciated, b/c I found the instructions to be very murky and want to make sure I'm setting this thing up correctly.
 
I wouldn't take any notice of the setting up 'instructions' that come with the Edge. The general consesus is that those bottled 'bacterial starters', like the Cycle, do nothing, as the bacteria can't survive without a flow of water and an ammonia food source.

You have two options; a fishless cycle (recommended, as you don't risk the lives of any fish if it goes wrong; especially with an Edge, where the small volume gives you very little breathing space to rectify any problems) or a fish-in cycle (a lot of hard work, involving daily (sometimes twice daily) water changes and the constant risk of killing or causing long term harm to the fish).

There are articles on both methods, plus other useful info, in the beginner's resource centre (link is in my sig) which I'd recommend you have a read of before going any further.

Don't worry about getting water from the LFS into your tank; you can hardly dry the fish off before you add them to the tank, so anything 'bad' in there will get into your tank anyway.
 
Welcome to the forum evolutionary.
As fluttermoth has said, you must cycle yur filter and we tend to favor the fishless method here on TFF. I also have links for noth fish-in and fishless cycling in my signature area.
 

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