My New Edge

[JACimages]

I had recently moved and unfortunately i had to get rid of my awesome 60gal. which i dearly loved. As of going to my nearest petsmart i saw the fluval egde and chi. at first i decided to go with the Chi cause of desk space. and this is what i started with.

after having the chi i wasn't satisfied with it so i decide to return i, telling them is was broken (shhhh )and got the edge cause i read a lot of things good about also like the styling of it. i chose to go with a white freshwater substrate. when i pulled it out of the bag i realized it was as fine as suger, and was kind of worried. this is what i started with.

a problem that i have seen is my bubbles, i have read to push them towards the center but i cant seem to get all of them out with my magnetic cleaner, also i am getting bubbles from the filter which i have read is just to change to having the sponge at the top will reduce them greatly.
so after taking a trip to the store i decide to scape a little. not with a finished product by any means.
and ended up with this, 3 lives plants. a peace of drift wood and an existing fake plant i had.

unfortunately i had hoped the it would get all the tannins out but it didnt so it stained my water and when i went to bed i had noticed the from the filter it had dug a whole in the sand because it is so fine. so i need to find a fix for that.

mind you this is all in the first day of having the edge so much more is to come. i think today im going to re-scape it. and do a large water change to clear some tannis and boil the wood. also to come is probably switch the the MR11 Led's

**need some help with thinking about which plants are best for this tank since i havnt done any living plants before. and if the sand i have will be too fine and i might need to change it? or what to do with the bubbles?

THANKS!

 

[james_fish]

Some carpet plants would be nice, all over the tank. Something like Dwarf Hair Grass, along those lines. And some Riccia on the bogwood.
All depends on how you plan to look after the plants and such. Co2? Fertz?

This has the potential to be an excellent Shrimp tank!

James.

 

[JACimages]

Some carpet plants would be nice, all over the tank. Something like Dwarf Hair Grass, along those lines. And some Riccia on the bogwood.
All depends on how you plan to look after the plants and such. Co2? Fertz?

This has the potential to be an excellent Shrimp tank!

James.

thanks for the response! i like the clean look. so strategically placed plants are my game, not so much the overgrown look i really like the idea of the Riccia on the wood ill visit my local aquarium store to see if they have some. im not running Co2 and im going to be using a liquid fert and pray it works

i think im going to place shrimp and a school of tetras.

 

[KittyKat]

Without CO[sub]2[/sub], I would start with Java moss and a couple of small Anubias (for example A. barteri var. nana or var. nana petite). I think some shrimp and 6 ember tetras would work well.. the low surface area limits the stocking options a bit.

 

[Curiosity101]

Also.. just looking at the plant front left... It's not big enough for me to be sure but it looks suspiciously none aquatic.

Could you get some close up photos of all the live plants? Just to be sure...

 

[JACimages]

Also.. just looking at the plant front left... It's not big enough for me to be sure but it looks suspiciously none aquatic.

Could you get some close up photos of all the live plants? Just to be sure...

not going to lie... it might not be. haha i just grabbed a live on off the shelf at petsmart. it said aquatic! im a rookie when it comes to plants. but figured i would give it a shot since some of the Edge's ive seen look beautiful with plants. i think i might start fresh with the tank, scapeing and all.

 

[Curiosity101]

Well if it isn't fully aquatic (more likely a marsh plant...) then it will eventually rot as they can't stay under water permenantly.

Simple test is if it holds its shape out of water. There are very few true aquatics that can hold themselves up out of water.

 

[JACimages]

Well if it isn't fully aquatic (more likely a marsh plant...) then it will eventually rot as they can't stay under water permenantly.

Simple test is if it holds its shape out of water. There are very few true aquatics that can hold themselves up out of water.

lesson learned its most likely not aquatic rookie mistake #1.. CHECK

does the really fine sand pose a problem? is it not recomended in these kind of tanks? cause ive seen alot of people with more gravel than a fine sand.. when i mean fine i mean FINE! and since its white it shows a lot of stuff

 

[Curiosity101]

Most aquatic sand is super fine. Nothing wrong with it. You might want to cover the inlet of your filter up with a bit of fine black sponge though. Just get a cube of sponge big enough to slot over it, cut a slit in the middle (not all the way through) and slot it on like a hat/sock. It should help slow the filter flow down (you said the filter had blown a whole in the sand) and should also stop any sand getting pulled into the filter by accident.

 

[JACimages]

So day 2 i am going to rescape my tank and try boiling my driftwood to hopfully get the tannis out.. i boiled my driftwood about 5 times and all times came out very dark in the water, so i thought i might be getting close!! yay!! i also added the hYdor Mini heater 2-5 gallon and put it in the back of my filter. and did about a 95% water change.

i put my driftwood back and and a couple hours later, what do you know!!! MORE TANNIS! so i think im going to take it out tom and do a large water change. and maybe try somthing different. im not much of a rock person but i might have to try it. i want to start cycling my tank so i can start planting some live stuff and get my tank looking how i want too!

here a picture of the end of the day today

 

[MFZB]

Your Edge is looking very nice. I wish that when I started mine I would have opted for real plants rather than fake ones as they make the tank look so much better.

 

[JACimages]

Your Edge is looking very nice. I wish that when I started mine I would have opted for real plants rather than fake ones as they make the tank look so much better.

the one on the right is fake i wanted to give it a few days to get the plants going

 

[Aqua Tom]

Very nice, cool looking tank those Edge's are. Good luck with it, I have seen some realy pretty ones set up although they can be a bit tricky.

kudos