Fluval Flora, Any Good?

Numbersix · Nov 23, 2012

Im looking to add another small feature tank to my lounge primarily for plants but also to house my siamese fighting fish.

I want it to have a nice look about it and was thinking of a fluval edge in pewter until I was advised that its led's were not good enough for plant growth. I then looked at the fluval spec due to the better lighting but have noticed online a 30l tank called a fluval flora.

It seems to be geared for plant growth with better lighting and also a basic C02 setup which I have never experimented with before. It is also quite inexpensive. Has anybody got any experience of this tank and if so is it worth trying out?

Cheers

Rich

Chad · Nov 23, 2012

I don't have the tank but I do use the co2 system. It's basic...not fancy...but for a small tank it works great. I am very happy with it. My plant growth is better than I had expected.

MBOU · Nov 23, 2012

Fantastic little tank!

Great quality glass, great little filter (surprised me actually!) and I like the substrate and backing.

Its one of the few tanks I come into contact with every day that I would actually pay for... most of them all I see is faults and problems but I have never seen any problems withthis one

Only problem maybe would be the polystyrene backing but if you dont like it, its held on with 4 dots of silicone and easily comes off...

HAMBONE · Nov 23, 2012

I has this tank.. Use it as a sex farm for my endlers..

also has cherry skrimps in mine.. very nice..

Numbersix · Nov 24, 2012

Thanks for the replies guys. Sounds like its well worth trying then as its cheap and it might make a good intro to C02 as well as its something id like to get into eventually in my other tanks. I shall put it on my christmas list!

DrRob · Nov 24, 2012

Personally, for high tech, the CO2 is OK, but it's a small cylinder system, works but I'd be very tempted to upgrade it.

The filter I've found very good, but clogs up in a matter of a day or two (but then it's a small internal and to be honest I've found that all of them do that) and I've ended up changing that over as I wanted a lot more flow for a heavily planted aquarium. Good filter though otherwise if you keep an eye on it for clogging.

The light is good, you'll need to take a dremmel to it if you want to change the bulb rather than replace the fixture but it can be done. It's a nice piece of kit otherwise though, and can grow most things at the depth involved with no trouble.

Remember to add a heater to your supply list, as unless they've changed it it doesn't ship with one.

The tank itself is otherwise lovely. I personally really like the background, I've seen advice to add a touch more silicone as some of the early ones made a bid for freedom, and I did this without giving it a chance as I had some lying around. I managed to break the cover glass, but it's not too much trouble to get an acrylic square to replace that if you stand on it by accident.

Numbersix · Nov 24, 2012

oh i was assuming that it incorporated a heater. Is it possible to add a small one without ruining the look of the tank? Presumably a regular heater cable will require some drilling so that the lid fits down ok?