# Fluval edge, final opinion.



## bubbles1 (Jun 25, 2011)

Okay so I decided on a final stock for my fluval edge 2 (12 gallon)

My lighting is supposed to be 7600k or 4.6 watts so I'm trying to suite plants for this,

3 crypts 
2 micro sword
1 Anubis nana

And I want some plant for height, but I'm not sure, any suggestions?

Fish wise

6 crystal shrimp
2 Nerite snails
6 male guppies
6 dwarf Cory's (panda or juli)
6 cherry barbs (debating)

Is this okay? 
Paz give and advice, open to ideas !!


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Brazilian Pennywort would be a nice stem plant for background height. And it doesn't take up too much space (width).

From your other previous thread, your water is soft, so I would not consider livebearers (like the guppy mentioned here). These fish need harder water and basic pH to be healthy.

Byron.


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## suicune (May 6, 2012)

Haha nice to see fellow fluval edge owner :-D

I also have soft water like you... though my pH is always around 7.8 due to the city water. I have 2 anubias, one broad leaf one thin leaf. and 4 java fern... believe it or not my tanks are full of live bearers. I actually bought the platies not knowing anything about them (it was my new days in fish keeping). That was in September and they're still doing well :shock:. I also has a swordtail and that one is still doing well too...

I can't say that about the guppy I've just started with though.... fatality rates for newly bought guppies in my case is quite high... some people said I probably picked the bad one from the store and they're bound to die anyways. :-?but like I said I don't know... 

I guess you can try to keep some soft water friendly fish like tetras... 

Hope to compare result and share experience with stocking Fluval Edge tank with you. It's a nice tank, all my relatives and guests have been complimenting me on the tank. Since it's a tall tank, be sure to choose fishes that are willing to go different water level so they won't end up over crowding themselves on one single water level.


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## bubbles1 (Jun 25, 2011)

Alright well the live bearers don't really phase me though  so I gueess maybe some lemon tetra or pencil fish or dwarf rainbow to substitute  as long as I can keep my clean up crew!

And I'm glad I can talk to someone else with a fluval! Did you keep your lighting that you purchased with your fluval edge 2? Cause if you did that made my day! Cause now I know I can put some nice plants in! Currently my tank is cycling with some duckweed and a anarchis.. What substrate do I have to get though? Like is just normal sand okay?


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## suicune (May 6, 2012)

bubbles1 said:


> Alright well the live bearers don't really phase me though  so I gueess maybe some lemon tetra or pencil fish or dwarf rainbow to substitute  as long as I can keep my clean up crew!
> 
> And I'm glad I can talk to someone else with a fluval! Did you keep your lighting that you purchased with your fluval edge 2? Cause if you did that made my day! Cause now I know I can put some nice plants in! Currently my tank is cycling with some duckweed and a anarchis.. What substrate do I have to get though? Like is just normal sand okay?







This is a video of my tank from top view I recorded via iphone.
and yes I kept the LED light system that come with the tank. The problem with the old fluval edge light is that they were hanging by a threat.. This one did a great job by adding a cover over the LED lights so they wont fall this time. and I did a bit of research over the 7600K LED light. They said that it is actually brighter than we human can perceive so when you look at them with your eyes you might think that the light is a bit weak. If you are still worried about the light then just keep anubias and java fern like me as they won't require much light but will still do well at higher light intensity. I kept Java moss as first but they grew too messy at the top.. whenever I feed my fishes, the food would get stuck into the floating plant. Also, don't use plants that can grow too quick, the problem with Fluval Edge is most people like to fill the water to the neck (like me, that's the whole point of buying this tank!!). Which means anytime you want to do anything to the tank, be it introducing new fishes, put in new plants, or plants care, you'll have to drain the water down a bit to prevent overflow, which is quite annoying.
You can keep an Amazon sword plant in the middle as a center piece too. that'll be great. I personally like to keep the top half of my tank empty for the fish to swim freely and make feeding less messy. Also that will keep the fry population in check.
One biggest note as to my experience with heavy root feeder plants like sword plant, you will need to put flourish tab right next to the root of the plant to ensure nutrient.

Otherwise just use my strategy, anubias and java fern, they looks great, when I first bought them I had 2 java fern, and 1 small anubias with 2-3 leaves on them. As you can see in the video, the 2 java fern has "jumped" and now I got 4 little fern, also my small anubias becomes considerably bigger. I just bought a new broad leaf anubias too.


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## bubbles1 (Jun 25, 2011)

Wow man... This a lot!! That was all the info I needed! Really nice tank to!

And I'm gonna debate with java moss cause that can go berserk sometimes  maybe a small carpet or something.. But thanks a lot for the light/plant info!


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## suicune (May 6, 2012)

bubbles1 said:


> Wow man... This a lot!! That was all the info I needed! Really nice tank to!
> 
> And I'm gonna debate with java moss cause that can go berserk sometimes  maybe a small carpet or something.. But thanks a lot for the light/plant info!


yeah I threw away my java moss after it grew so fast... you don't wanna do a water change 3 times a week just because your plants are growing out of control :-?. I suggest to keep plants on the bottom area and leave the top level clear like me it'll make it easier for maintenance. more live plants mean more ammonia consumers for your tank, fishes like real plants better too. I'd suggest anubias if you worry about nutrient deficiency as they survive even the worst environment.

Also I dose Nutrafin plant grow from Hagen once a week. As I often worried about iron poisoning for the fish I dose lower than the recommended amount. (they said 5 ml for 10 gallon water, I dose 3-4ml for the tank which is 12 gallon). As you can see the result is the lush green color i got from the plants. I keep the light on 12 hours a day, then turn it off at night, sometimes I would turn to blue moon night light then observe the fish in the dark, they seem fine too, kinda weird to see my guppies lying on gravel as if they're dead....

if you have any other tips on your side I'd like to hear too.. you can try a group of 6-7 cardinal or neon tetras or the like. I myself thought about that set up at first. However, I was worried about the tetra disease and my home water's high pH, so I went with my current set up instead, though I admit my tank is a bit overstocked but the plants have been helping out quite a bit. nitrate has never reached over 10 ppm.


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