Fluval Edge 6 gallon

[Cloudburst2000]

Hey all,

I just won a Fluval Edge 6 gallon tank from the local pet store. Anyhoo, I would like to convert it into a pico saltwater for a couple shrimps and maybe a crab...things I don't have in my reef tank. I might try a limited amount of coral too, but only if I can find a way to upgrade the lights in the tank. The lights that come with it are two 10w halogens. I don't have the tank yet. I'm going to pick it up on Monday so I'm not entirely sure what the sockets for the lights look like. Hopefully, I can find something better to go there, or perhaps rig up somthing else. I've heard that the filter on the thing actually does a pretty good job. I guess time will tell. Had anyone heard about people retro-fitting this aquarium for saltwater use and what changes they made to the aquarium? I would love any suggestions.

 

[jamesgang]

I'm now subscribed to this thread. I saw one of these in my LFS as a freshwater tank and would like to see someone do this as a saltwater tank. Since the filter and put back are in the rear and seem to set higher than the water in the tank since it's completely full with a small stack in the back I'd like to see a small overflow built to surface skim.
This could get pretty interesting

 

[live rock addic]

I was looking at one of those the other day in LFS still debating on it and was thinking the same as you , Maybe a couple shrimp or a crab or something and make it like a species tank for something that doesnt play well with others,
Im still on the fence about getting it, and Im going to subscribe to this and see your progress with it, Good luck and for sure keep us posted...

 

[Cloudburst2000]

I just picked this up from the pet store today. I found out I won it like Saturday maybe, but the pet store is a 45min drive so I didn't have time to make the drive until today. I'm going to be unpacking it tonight. I'll take pics of everything to show you guys.

 

[live rock addic]

:lurk:

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Here are the first pics of the aquarium. Just the aquarium so far nothing else.


Here is a pic of the box before I opened it...sorry cat does not come included

Here is a pic of opened box but still packed.

Here is a pic of all components after unpacking the box.

Here is a pic of all the packing used in box. They did a nice job with the packaging, IMHO. Anyone want a cat. He looks ready to be boxed up and shipped out

Here is a pic of where I think I will place the aquarium. I believe that I will move the sculpture to the other side table and place the aquarium there. I wuld have put it on the other one, but it is too close to the window. And yes, the sofa does have a back. It has been removed because I'm planning on re-upholstering the thing.

Here is the inital set-up of the base, the aquarium, and the back section with the lighting fixture.

Here is a pic of the filter unit.

Here is a pic of the filter unit inserted into the back part of the aquarium.

Here is a pic with the cover aquarium cover added on.

Here is a pic with lights turned on. Gives a spotlight effect and not hugely bright.

Here is a pic of lights turned on when other lights are turned off.

Keep in mind, I only found out I was getting it like three days ago or so. The pet store called to tell me I had won their drawing so I don't have squat to go in the tank. I'll look at getting some live rock this week. I have live rock in my 25 gallon tank, but I don't want to take rocks from it for and ruin my land-scaping there. The places around here don't really sell good live rock. The best store is Fishy Business in Bowling Green and that's a two hour drive almost. I'll be going home this weekend (meaning childhood home), and I will stop there on the way back to see about live rocks. If they don't have any I like, then I will have to order some and have them shipped. I'll go ahead and add water, but first, I have to get my brother-in-law to make me some more RO/DI water. I just picked up some water from him yesterday for my 25 gallon tank so he hasn't had a chance to make anymore yet.

I'm going to check about alternate lighting this week. The lights that come with it are rather weak, and since they are halogen, probably heat the water a bit much. I'm open to suggestions on the lighting front. I figure that the least I can do is replace the halogen bulbs with a stronger led that would heat less. Also there is room in between the two bulbs to add additional lighting. Maybe a strip light of some sort. Send me your ideas.

Also, could people post suggestions on a small (preferably black) heater, and a small powerhead that would work well in a six gallon tank. I've never done a nano tank so I'm not really sure what would work the best. and post other suggestions/improvements that I could do for the tank.

Overall, the tank was easy to assemble. The black casing isn't flimsy but isn't as sturdy as it could be either. The filter looks like it might do well. The filter area contains a foam filter, carbon filter, and biomax filter. We shall see.

 

[live rock addic]

I tlooks easy enough to set up, Im with you on the light it does look kinda weak, maybe the LED upgrade might be the trick,
Nope dont need a cat lol I have a full house lol
Thanks for posting the pics Have you decided what your going to put in it yet?

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Well, when I upgrade the lighting, I'm thinking of putting a few small pieces of coral (only after a lighting upgrade though) and possibly a shrimp and a porcelian crab. I don't have any crabs but hermits in my main tank because I'm worried about them and my fish. But since I won't get fish for this one, I'm thinking it might be a good place for something like a crab. I'm open to other suggestions also. Any cool smaller animals that you don't have the guts to put in a larger aquarium. The one thing I won't consider is a mantis shrimp. I'd be too worried that it would break the glass.

And I wouldn't really give away my BennyBoy (the cat AKA Benson). Even though he's often a pest and doesn't realize that he hasn't been a kitten for two years, he's my baby.

 

[DaveK]

IMHO, if your going to set up the tank as a SW reef, that would be fine. It will work for a shrimp, or maybe a small fish. A few zoas and such, and it could be a real gem.

However, I do not recommend investing in lighting or any other upgrades to this system. They will not really be cost effective. By the time your all done, you will have spent more than you would have if you just put together a larger, better system from scratch.

Just because you got it for free doesn't mean it can't cost you a lot of money.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

IMHO, if your going to set up the tank as a SW reef, that would be fine. It will work for a shrimp, or maybe a small fish. A few zoas and such, and it could be a real gem.

However, I do not recommend investing in lighting or any other upgrades to this system. They will not really be cost effective. By the time your all done, you will have spent more than you would have if you just put together a larger, better system from scratch.

Just because you got it for free doesn't mean it can't cost you a lot of money.

I never said I wasn't willing to put a bit of money into the tank. I really like the way the tank looks. One of the cooler looking small tanks that I have seen...not that I would have paid $170 for it. The style goes well with my mid-century modern decor, and I've not seen many tanks that go well with my decor. I'm willing to invest some money into a lighting upgrade. I'll be seeing my brother-in-law this weekend, and he owns a business that sets up and maintains marine aquariums. I'll ask him for some suggestions. I'm also worried that the halogen bulbs will heat up the water too much so I think I would want to replace them for that reason alone. And I'm not a huge fan of the spotlight effect the current bulbs give.

 

[DaveK]

I never said I wasn't willing to put a bit of money into the tank. ... I'm willing to invest some money into a lighting upgrade. ...

I think your missing my point. I'm not saying that you are not willing to spend money on the tank. I am saying that I don't think it's a wise move.

To explain further, the market that this system is going after is a beginner wanting to keep a few FW fish. This means that all the equipment supplied with the tank is going to be limited as far as a SW system goes. Not just the lighting, but the filtration.

I think that if your willing to upgrade the lighting, and possibly other items, that you should consider something more or less designed as a SW system.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

I think your missing my point. I'm not saying that you are not willing to spend money on the tank. I am saying that I don't think it's a wise move.

To explain further, the market that this system is going after is a beginner wanting to keep a few FW fish. This means that all the equipment supplied with the tank is going to be limited as far as a SW system goes. Not just the lighting, but the filtration.

I think that if your willing to upgrade the lighting, and possibly other items, that you should consider something more or less designed as a SW system.

I actually have talked to a couple people who have set this up as a saltwater system. Found it on another SW forum. They said the filtration actually worked well. All they did was do a light upgrade too. She keeps a couple shrimp and a goby in the aquarium as well as some coral, and everything seems to be working well. And even if I did freshwater with this I think I would still change the lights because she said that the halogens do heat the water a bit. I would probably have changed to a lighting system that put out less heat anyway.

 

[burntricer]

the heat from the halogens is probably done on purpose.

rather then installing a heater...(no access to allow for a cord to exit)
the halogens probably provide a good amount of heat for your basic fresh water tank.

Albeit a SW setup would look cool, i realy dont think its practical.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

the heat from the halogens is probably done on purpose.

rather then installing a heater...(no access to allow for a cord to exit)
the halogens probably provide a good amount of heat for your basic fresh water tank.

Albeit a SW setup would look cool, i realy dont think its practical.

Yeah well, I'm a scientist so I like to experiment with things. It's just the way I am. I'm looking at this as an experiment. I know it can be done because it has been done by others already. I want to see of I can do it. I like the challenge of it. Truthfully, some of the mods that alot of nano-reefers make to their equipment aren't practical, but that doesn't mean they don't work. I've seen nano aquariums that had so many mods done to them that you KNOW it had to cost a fortune...more than alot of people pay for large tanks. It might not be practical, but the tanks look great. The only mod I'm going to be making is the lighting. And I'm certainly not going all out there. I just want something that will be a little brighter and heat the water a little less. Shouldn't be all that hard or expensive to do. I don't really think it will be dificult at all to remove the existing lighting feature and putting something else in it's place. I'll also be designing some type of a cover for the lights. The lights just hang over the tank with nothing between them and the water. The idea of condesation on the lighting fixtures has me worried so I'll be making something to go over the light area. But that should be very easy and cheap to do.

 

[burntricer]

i agree it would be cool. how bout something like this...

take your existing fixture out completley, put a HOB filter on it and let it flow in, as an overflow, also will help evap. then run your lighting across the top, through the plastic?

 

[Cloudburst2000]

i agree it would be cool. how bout something like this...

take your existing fixture out completley, put a HOB filter on it and let it flow in, as an overflow, also will help evap. then run your lighting across the top, through the plastic?

Uhhh...you lost me a bit. Do you mean take out the the lighting fixture only, or the whole swing arm thing that holds the lighting fixture, or are you saying to get rid of the swing arm thing, the HOB filter, and the black aquarium cover and run lights over the top of the aquarium? cnfzd: I'm not exactly sure what you are saying to get rid of.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Okay, I was talking to someone who had bought a lighting fixture for this unit from a marine supply store. It was a waterproof light designed for boating. Her onyl problem so far is figuring out how to mount it in the tank. She's in the process of removing the swing arm, then she will probably mount it to the top of the cover somehow with a bracket. Anyhoo, I was like 'that's a good idea, I'll check out some marine supply stores too.' While browsing some on-line stores, I came across some high-output waterproof LED rope lights. They look like the rope lights you would use on a Christmas tree but are stronger. Most LED rope lights are about 0.5-0.8 watts per foot. These were around 7 watts per foot. I think that by winding these back and forth, you could easily fit 2-3feet of rope lights in the hood area, maybe more. If I am not mistaken, one watt of LED lights gives off about the same light as 3watts of halogen lighting. So if it was feasible to get about 3ft of the high-output LED lights in the hood, that would be about 21watts of LED which would be around the same light output as 63watts of halogen lighting. Please correct me if I am wrong here. The lights were also rated at 6500K. If these could work then it would be a pretty cheap and easy fix for the lights.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Also, I will be putting water and live sand in teh tank tonight. I'm just going to use the current lights until I remedy the light situation. I'll post pics after putting everything together. I'll be gone this weekend, and hopefully, I'll get some live rock on my drive back.

 

[Ready4Reef]

I have the same aquarium. Got it about a month or two ago. I liked the cool modern look as well. I'm new to reefing and I'm learning with my 34 gallon RedSea Max (5 months now). Currently I only have some FW live plants and a Betta in the Fluval. Figured that was easy enough. :chair:

I'd be interested in seeing how this would work as a SW tank. My first question was what about skimming, there's no portein skimmer with the tank and I thought that was integral part of maintaining SW tanks?

Good luck, will be watching and learning.

 

[jimbojangles]

yo. you should make a custom little fixture for a 20W 50/50 screw in CFL (the "energy saver" fluorescent bulbs)

coralife makes a 50/50 cfl @ 10 and 20w... they are actually pretty dope especially because you get two different tubes, one tube is 10k the other true actinic. Small Aquarium Lighting: Mini Compact Bulbs

they only seem to have the 10w, but the 20w is out there! just don't feel like searchin for it... i have it, my LFS ordered it for me.

my tank first set up this way... i took the tiny lil 15w t8 that came with it out ripped the guts out of the light fixture (just the plastic hood..) then put in some 6500k CFL's, cheap ass way to get like 80w of lighting on a 20g. (cost me about 15 bucks)

eventually swapped the 6500k's for 50/50's now running a 70w metal halide, still not as bright as those CFL's.... so i gotta make a canopy so i can add the CFL's back in.

then i just took some extension cord and you can get this little light socket (got mine at walmart for like 1$) that just has a plug on the opposite end, so its a tiny piece like the size of a walnut, that has a light socket on one end, and the other end is a plug, so basically you can plug a bulb directly into a socket.... so just take the halogen light fixture off completely, and stick that sucker up under the canopy.

really simple...