Reef Discussion

[Jeso]

Hi all,

Im new here but after seeing a few other threads with mixed thoughts i thought I needed to ask the question to find out the pros and cons. I have kept a 200L fowlr tank which has now been passed on because of lack of room in our new appartment. I must say I am not an expert but know a little about what is needed(still very much a begginer tho)

My idea:

Tank - Fluval Edge 2 (43cm W x 35cm L x 59cm H) 46L
Stock Lights and filter.

Aim is to have some really nice corals.... 2 or 3 fish (small), cleanup crew (not sure what yet tho)

And thats where I am up to. Please any help is much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Dynamic]

Taken around 2 minutes ago. It is not an edge 2, just an edge (23l). One blue light is out for now, but you get the idea. You will need to modify your lights. It is a bit of a pain to work on it when you need to clean it, but it looks nice. I still need to put my lights on a stand so they cover more of the tank.

I just cleaned the glass, but the water is usually pretty clear and you don't see the light edges.

I have a bicolour blenny, a clown, a hermit crab, and some other shrimp thing that came on the coral. It looks much better when you look at it though.

 

[Jeso]

Thanks Dynamic. It looks great.

Everyone seems to have done the 23L edges but have stayed away from the 46L edge. Is there a reason behind this? also are the lights in the new edge 2 good enough for what I want to do or still need an upgrade? Thanks for the help

 

[MTG]

What are the specs on these fluval edge twos?

 

[Jeso]

42 bulbs on the 46L model with a 7600k spectrum with 3 blue LED's for nightlight. 100 gph, 3-stage power filter provides mechanical, chemical and biological filtration (aquaclear 200?)

 

[Mitchell Codey]

i would upgrade those lights to a decent DIY led setup, especially because of the extra capacity

 

[MTG]

so would i, the problem with the fluvel edges are that they are realy limited in space for heaters, pumps and lighting. and the lighting never looks great once installed as all the leds are in the middle of the tank. it can be done as dynamic has but as you can see you will only have a small amount of usuable light for coral

 

[Mitchell Codey]

optics?

 

[MTG]

optics would make it worse. that would make the spread less!

 

[Mitchell Codey]

lol... check pm matt

 

[Jeso]

Any idea on the cost of the diy led kits? I like the look of the edge but it sounds like im going to have to modify it a bit to do what I want. Is there another small all in one system that is better for around the same price that might suit me better?

 

[Mitchell Codey]

How much are they? there are some great 38L all in one tanks (have a rear inbuil filtration compartment) than many a reefer have had success with

 

[Jeso]

The cheapest ive found the 46L is 275 but average is 300.

 

[Mitchell Codey]

im pretty sure that is what i payed for my orca (38l all in one) any decent marine aquarium will know that your asking for, there are several brands re-badged as orca, aqua world, jbj is in the US i think and a few others.

 

[MTG]

PM SENT jeso

 

[Jeso]

wife permitting ill be buying the tank this weekend.... Its a really hard choice because the edge really does look awesome all set up but it lacks a few things that the orca seems to have.

:confused:

 

[Mitchell Codey]

Good luck with the choice! if it was me id probly impulse buy and end with a 3rd option.... haha

 

[Jeso]

Good luck with the choice! if it was me id probly impulse buy and end with a 3rd option.... haha

knowing me ill be upsold to a cube the size of the tank I just gave away. haha. Thanks for the help

 

[MTG]

have a read
http://www.thereefuge.com/threads/topic-of-the-month-oct-2011-nano-and-pico-marine-aquariums.1031/

 

[slin1977]

Good luck with your nano !