My New Fluval Edge Journal

[LiamGoodaire]

Hey, been looking around and noticed peoples journals which seem to be a good idea for 2 reasons: #1 because it helps keep track of your own tanks progress & #2 people offer their advice on different stages.
Therefore i have decided to right my journal so far for my Fluval Edge which is 26l. may be a little late however i can remember most details from when we bought this.

30/12/10
went to the local fish store with my girlfriend after she saw a fluval edge during a random visit previously which she has had her eyes set on since and bought her the tank for her room. so on the night of the purchase my girlfriend was working so i decided to set up the tank for a little suprise as she came home. i rinsed all the pebbles and decor very thoutoughly then placed them in the tank as i felt best then i added an adequate amount of water to the neck of the tank and removed all the air bubbles, after this i added the freindly bacteria substance to the tank and the adequate amount of water conditioner to remove the chlorine

02/01/11
joined the amazing TFF and realised that the available advice was essential for my knowledge with such a small tank!

06/01/11
added the correct amount of household ammonia advised by this site to the tank to help speeed up the cycle of my tank

08/01/11
obtained an API freshwater testing kit, obtained some mature media from a freindly user nearby who i began talking to on TFF who was clearing all of his stock

10/01/11 and 11/01/11
a water test done either day to see how the tank was getting on, the results i obtained on both days were the same:
Ph = 7.4/7.6
Ammonia = 8ppm
NitrIte = 0.25ppm
NitrAte = 5ppm

any advice or comments on my procedure so far or on the results of my water tests would be very much appreciated cheers
p.s this is how the tank currently looks (sorry for bad quality, i have other pics however my phone is currently getting repaired) any tips to improve appearence also appreciated

View attachment 62129

 

[SensesFail]

Id do a water change and get the ammonia to 5ppm max. Any higher can promote the incorrect bacteria. (Thats what i was told a while back) its good to see nitrite appearing. just get the tank to 5PPM ammonia and leave t until it drops to about 1 or under and top it up again. Eventually the nitrite will peak and then start to fall. The nitrate will continue to rise but that will be sorted with a large W/C.

When the ammonia and nitrite are dropping within 12 hrs your done. I found the ammonia dropped within 12hrs on my tank while the nitrite lagged which i suspect is normal due to the ammonia producing higher amounts of nitrite than that of ammonia.

 

[SensesFail]

Id do a water change and get the ammonia to 5ppm max. Any higher can promote the incorrect bacteria. (Thats what i was told a while back) its good to see nitrite appearing. just get the tank to 5PPM ammonia and leave t until it drops to about 1 or under and top it up again. Eventually the nitrite will peak and then start to fall. The nitrate will continue to rise but that will be sorted with a large W/C.

When the ammonia and nitrite are dropping within 12 hrs your done. I found the ammonia dropped within 12hrs on my tank while the nitrite lagged which i suspect is normal due to the ammonia producing higher amounts of nitrite than that of ammonia.

Id also try and test twice a day 12 hrs apart really just testing ammonia and nitrite with Ph every so often. Nitrate isnt really important at this stage.

 

[LiamGoodaire]

cheers pal much appreciated ill get on with it now, definitely dont want anything unfriendly becoming established in the tank i currently struggle testing twice a day as my and my girlfriend are both at college and we live quite a distance from each other

 

[SensesFail]

cheers pal much appreciated ill get on with it now, definitely dont want anything unfriendly becoming established in the tank i currently struggle testing twice a day as my and my girlfriend are both at college and we live quite a distance from each other

Its hard i must say i tried as best i could to keep within it but you always end up straying by an hr. So hard to do it, unless you want to get up at stupid AM haha near enough will be fine im sure. At this point if you not hitting the 24hr you could maybe just do it 24 hrs and when they read 0 can then move to the 12th hour. just means you dont know the levels at the 12th hr but i dont really see why we would need it at the early stage.

 

[LiamGoodaire]

alright pal, cheers will do my very best to keep upto it, probably the best readings i will get will be during the weekend cos of the times test it

 

[LiamGoodaire]

removed 2l of water and replaced that, hopefully that should of done the trick will test at some point tonight or tomorrow, thinking of modding the lights because i have seen a nice and simple multicolour mod which looks pretty well

 

[SensesFail]

removed 2l of water and replaced that, hopefully that should of done the trick will test at some point tonight or tomorrow, thinking of modding the lights because i have seen a nice and simple multicolour mod which looks pretty well

can test it straight away matey will give u a true reading. i usually switch everything bk on leave for 10mins then test. mixes straight away though. love the fluval edges may have to invest in a nano tank for the kitchen

 

[LiamGoodaire]

ok mate ill run an ammonia test now and post results

ok mate ill run an ammonia test now and post results

oh and yeah theyre very attractive, id love a bigger tank just need to find my own place when the time is right as im only 17 and my mum would go crazzy at any suggestion of a large tank in our house!! lol

 

[SensesFail]

ok mate ill run an ammonia test now and post results

Fingers crossed for 5PPM When i was doing my tank if i had say 0.5 ppm i used to just add another 4PPM and sit under 5 instead of trying to get bang on in case it went over lol. The calculator on here is a god send!

In the same would love a biger tank or even better a bigger tank then i can convert this one to marine haha marine tank is very far in the distance for me i must say. Master the tropics first the ill move on when i get a proper job haha

 

[L4byr1nth]

I love how it starts off as your girlfriends tank, and gradually becomes referred to as 'my tank'!

Looks great, keep up the good work fella.

Ben.

 

[LiamGoodaire]

ok mate ill run an ammonia test now and post results

Fingers crossed for 5PPM When i was doing my tank if i had say 0.5 ppm i used to just add another 4PPM and sit under 5 instead of trying to get bang on in case it went over lol. The calculator on here is a god send!

In the same would love a biger tank or even better a bigger tank then i can convert this one to marine haha marine tank is very far in the distance for me i must say. Master the tropics first the ill move on when i get a proper job haha

Yess according to the chart its somewhere between 4ppm and 8ppm however i believe it is closer to the 4 so i think its best to leave it to cycle now

 

[JasonandJill]

Looks like you're really keen and trying to set it up properly
I've noticed a couple of posts in other sections, all I can say is: take your time, don't rush it, and only buy fish you really want in your tank. Trust me, it's easy to get carried away buying fish you really like, and then realising that what you REALLY want doesn't go with what you've already got.
Also, it's not so easy to "just take it to the LFS and get something else when it gets too big/not so colourful etc etc" as some people think beforehand.
I'm not suggesting you would do any of the above, but sounds like a good opportunity to mention it

 

[LiamGoodaire]

I love how it starts off as your girlfriends tank, and gradually becomes referred to as 'my tank'!

Looks great, keep up the good work fella.

Ben.

like it! lol
well its practically mine with the work i have and will be doing on it lol

Looks like you're really keen and trying to set it up properly
I've noticed a couple of posts in other sections, all I can say is: take your time, don't rush it, and only buy fish you really want in your tank. Trust me, it's easy to get carried away buying fish you really like, and then realising that what you REALLY want doesn't go with what you've already got.
Also, it's not so easy to "just take it to the LFS and get something else when it gets too big/not so colourful etc etc" as some people think beforehand.
I'm not suggesting you would do any of the above, but sounds like a good opportunity to mention it

yeah thanks the advice pal ive posted other topics and i think what im going to stock is:
1 pair of green endler guppies
5 galaxy rasboras
4 tiger shrimp
what you think?

 

[SensesFail]

ok mate ill run an ammonia test now and post results

Fingers crossed for 5PPM When i was doing my tank if i had say 0.5 ppm i used to just add another 4PPM and sit under 5 instead of trying to get bang on in case it went over lol. The calculator on here is a god send!

In the same would love a biger tank or even better a bigger tank then i can convert this one to marine haha marine tank is very far in the distance for me i must say. Master the tropics first the ill move on when i get a proper job haha

Yess according to the chart its somewhere between 4ppm and 8ppm however i believe it is closer to the 4 so i think its best to leave it to cycle now

Good Good 4-5 PPM now we need to see it drop hopefully will be quick for you then some more ammonia can be added D

I dont usually like waiting for things but with my tank it took that long i got used to it having nothing in! now its got a bit of life but feeding is my stressful thing am i giving them too little or too much! im sure something will click and ill get some sort of fine balance!

If not ill be spending hrs water changing!