Fluval Edge Nano Reef

[CTCG]

I am new to saltwater but this is really fun and going great. Thanks for the input and advice.

Here are the stats:

My Nano Reef

First fish: Petey, the clown, 4/15/11
Just had first diatoms bloom.
Added cleanup crew and they are busy!

Fluval Edge, 6 gals
6 lbs live rock/3 lbs lace rock
Stock 3-stage filtration
Stock light fixture with warm MR11 LEDs (Bright White in the mail!)
Just added the Hydor Korala nano 240 gph

1 Ocellaris
2 Nassarius snails
4 Hermit crabs

Pulsing Xenia
Button Polyp
Unknown worm
Various things coming to life

 

[CTCG]

The worm. It has clear iridescent spikes coming out of it's head. Kind of gross. Lol.

The hermit cleans up!

 

[Henry405]

Very nice, I also have a fluval edge and am considering doing a reef, is the light strong enough to support it? I've seen a lot of people replacing their lights

 

[CTCG]

Since it's only a few weeks old, I don't know. I saw in another thread that someone was interested to see how I did "LED only".

The soft corals have only been in since Sunday. The current lighting is two 140 lumen, 2.1 watt, MR11 LEDs, warm. Ugh. I did not realize what I was doing. Bright white (160 lumen) pair should be here soon!

 

[Henry405]

The bright white are very nice, I have a pair with 10 LED's in each and it lights up the tank. The only issue I do not like is that the lights do not have a wide enough angle to get every corner in the tank so the sides are kind of dark. I'm planning to use reflective tape on the inside of the cover and see if it can reflect more light. If not, I'll prob just use LED strips

 

[CTCG]

The bright white are very nice, I have a pair with 10 LED's in each and it lights up the tank. The only issue I do not like is that the lights do not have a wide enough angle to get every corner in the tank so the sides are kind of dark. I'm planning to use reflective tape on the inside of the cover and see if it can reflect more light. If not, I'll prob just use LED strips

Exactly what I'm getting. Agree about the dark spots. What kind of LEDs work without seriously modding the cover? I tried some cheapo eBay ones that were not quite the right config. Was only $6 to try though. Good learning.

Interested in the reflective tape project!

 

[thominil]

I have wanted to see one of these setup ever since I saw them in PetSmart last year. Looks great! Thanks!

 

[Henry405]

if you youtube it, theres quite a few nice ones. I bought a strip of 9 LED to use as my moonlight on my 36g that's quite bright. Since my brother is using the tank right now, I wont have a chance to mod it.

 

[CTCG]

The biggest problem...lol...is how little the hood/tank opening are!

I tried some flat "automotive" ones from eBay. Not bright. Messy under the hood but sort of worked. They need to be bright!

I'll google. I could always drop $350 on that super duper custom made one. NOT. I don't even have that much into the entire set up.,,yet!

Want to add a shrimp or two today!

 

[Bige]

nanotuners.com has retro fits for it. Very nice tank. Wanted to do this too ever since they first came out.

 

[Henry405]

their retro fits are very nice, but very expensive also. I've seen most people just tape a strip of LED onto the bar that holds the light bulbs and shine the light down

 

[CTCG]

Hmmmmm... Will explore. Would love a DIY where I could use individual or 2-3 LEDs at a time.

 

[Henry405]

I think i've seen a DIY moonlight with individual LED's, but I find that buying a LED strip is a lot cheaper when doing small projects like this. The LED strip would prob just come with a positive and negative wire so you have to take apart your current light fixture and wire it together so its a little DIY haha

 

[CTCG]

My new test kit and first test! Woot.

 

[CTCG]

New additions!

 

[Yeahitstrue]

Im concerned that when the clownfish get's bigger that that tank might not be quite big enough for it. I'm not sure, but I've never heard of a clown (one clown) in anything lower than a ten, and I think in small amounts of water like those, four gallons can make a big difference. Anyone else feel any concern?

 

[CTCG]

Here's a 2 gallon with two!

 

[iDream]

Just because someone else did it doesn't mean it's right. I suggest getting something like a clown goby, trimma goby, or some other smaller fish for the tank if you truly want one.

Not to mention clowns aren't the neatest eaters out there

 

[CTCG]

Just because someone else did it doesn't mean it's right. I suggest getting something like a clown goby, trimma goby, or some other smaller fish for the tank if you truly want one.

Not to mention clowns aren't the neatest eaters out there

That's not my point. The aquarium store staff told me a clown is THE fish for starting a saltwater tank (and they sold me the setup).

 

[Yeahitstrue]

Never ever do what the LFS says! The rule is usually do the opposite of what they say!