# 6G Edge Reef



## itsru

So I got a Fluval Edge as a gift early on in march '11 - I set it up with everything I was given - freshwater with mixed gravel, some deco, 2 ghost shrimp, 3 danios and a red tail Shark - Ill put a link to an image here - Slowly getting bored of the lackluster life in the tank, I wanted to take the challenge to setup a reef tank (my first  and a 6 Gallon at that) so after my puppy turned 6 months I took the salt challenge and jumped right in. I re-homed the little danios and the shark into a friends tank and flushed my tank clean.

The following weekend I picked up 3lbs of Live Rock, a bucket of salt, a cheap hydrometer, argonite sand, a Koralia Nano and a Corallife 10W to rig in for the cycle.

My build is as much about learning as it will be about aesthetics and growth. The tank being small requires a few DIY projects, which will lead to a lot of info and a personal determination to learn.

*Equipment:*
6 Gallon Fluval Edge tank
AquaClear 20 (came with the tank) 
Filter Media (bottom up)- AC20 Sponge, 1 Layer of Poly, Chemi-Pure Elite, 1 Layer of Poly
2x - MR16 21 SMD 5050 LEDs (4.5 Watt each) 
3x - 15 5mm LED Strips (4 Watts total)
1x - Corallife 10 Watt
API Reef Test Kit
API Freshwater Test Kit (with saltwater card)
Koralia Nano Powerhead - 425 GPH
Kent Hydrometer 
CoraLife Digital Thermometer
Instant Ocean Reef Salt
Aragonite Sand (Bimini Pink) - 10lbs
Live Rock - 4lbs (Bali, Fiji)
25 Watt Visi-Therm Stealth Deluxe

Hydor Pico 800 (Salt mixing)
Visi-Therm 50 Watt Heater (Salt mixing)

*Planning To Buy:*
AquaClear 70 for HOB Fuge
DIY Refugium Light

*Current Stocking List

Corals*
- Zoa Colony  (Thanks duckhams)
- Hairy Mushrooms
- Red Bubble Tip Anemone (Thanks ameekplec)
- Clam
- Purple Deaths
- Xenia
- GSP Rock
- Green Milli
- Blue Acro
- Acans
- Purple Mushrooms
- Green Mushrooms

*Fish/Fauna*
- baby clown

*CUC (Clean Up Crew)*
- 2 Hermit Crabs
- 2 Astrea Snails
-1 Trochus Snail

Last Photo before I shut it down on March 5th 2012 - sadly was not an FTS









Old Photo - Jan 5th, 2012









Old Photo - Oct 19, 2011


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## itsru

Reserved for Build Updates

Day 1- September 29th 2011
Sand, Live Rock, Salt (dirty tank)









Can anyone ID what this is? (Was underneath a liverock from my initial batch)









Day 9 - October 7th 2011 - Tank has cycled

Day 10 - October 8th 2011 - Added small CUC - 2 Astrea Snails, 2 Hermit Crabs, 1 Emerald Crab (Emerald crab video)

Day 19 - October 17th 2011 - Added Zoa colony on a live rock, and 5 hairy mushrooms big and small on a live rock from duckhams

















Day 21 - October 19th 2011 - Added RBTA from Ameekplec









Day 29 - October 27th 2011 - Added 5 Heads of Purple Deaths and my chemipure-elite came in. (really cleaned up the tank water)









Day 50 - November 17th 2011 - Added a some Trochus Snails, a Torch Frag and Xenia Frag


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## darthvictor

It looks great!  Do you think you will need more LR tho?


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## itsru

darthvictor said:


> It looks great!  Do you think you will need more LR tho?


Thanks! - Im looking for advice on that - I know many people who do Liverock in two batches, first batch for the cycle and the second batch after the cycle, Ive been acquiring coral on live rock lately, and intend to do so, but how much live rock do you think I should be using in a 6 Gallon tank? - I cycled with 3lbs

Also looking for advice 
Option 1 - Build a HOB Fuge with a AC70
Option 2 - Something like a Jebo 178 - HOB Skimmer/Filter

Which one would benefit the tank more, and how? Which would reduce water changes? Or should I continue at 2 Gallons a week even after a refugium or skimmer.


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## darthvictor

well usually 1 to 1.5 lb LR per gal, so it would be around 7lb LR but I think it is actually the amount of rock surface that's matter. Water changes is a must don't think you can cut corner with that especially with a small tank like Edge; I heard ppl using Chemi Pure Elite can help reduce water change to one in 2 weeks. So $$ can buy you time


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## itsru

darthvictor said:


> well usually 1 to 1.5 lb LR per gal, so it would be around 7lb LR but I think it is actually the amount of rock surface that's matter. Water changes is a must don't think you can cut corner with that especially with a small tank like Edge; I heard ppl using Chemi Pure Elite can help reduce water change to one in 2 weeks. So $$ can buy you time


I actually picked up Chemi-Pure Elite.. Just to make sure the phosphates are in check, didnt knwo that would buy me time.. Ill look that up for sure thanks!


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## darthvictor

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=271767&view=findpost&p=3503404

He has great result with it.


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## sig

Looks good. I like it, but to small.. 

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## 50seven

In spite of their smallness, I've always thought the Fluval Edge looks nice, and has lots of potential with SW. Keep up the good work, and more importantly, keep up with the pics! We love pics!

You might be okay with that amount of LR, really depends what you put in there and how faithful you are with your WC's. Really experience is the best teahcher of knowledge in this hobby. nano-reef is a good spot to get more resources...

Might want to look into care of anemones, as usually they are only recommended in tanks that are 9 months old or more. It might be good to do some reading on their care/needs.


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## sig

I seen this tank today in BA and top is not removable. How in the world you guys clean glass there in SW?

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## PACMAN

sig said:


> I seen this tank today in BA and top is not removable. How in the world you guys clean glass there in SW?


good question! +1


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## itsru

50seven said:


> In spite of their smallness, I've always thought the Fluval Edge looks nice, and has lots of potential with SW. Keep up the good work, and more importantly, keep up with the pics! We love pics!
> 
> You might be okay with that amount of LR, really depends what you put in there and how faithful you are with your WC's. Really experience is the best teacher of knowledge in this hobby. nano-reef is a good spot to get more resources...
> 
> Might want to look into care of anemones, as usually they are only recommended in tanks that are 9 months old or more. It might be good to do some reading on their care/needs.


I have been looking into the care of anemones, the tank lighting is from a center source and the light has a 120 degree spread, but the spot in my tank that the anemone settled is behind a LR with quite a big shadow.. keeping my fingers crossed that it moves soon.

The mushrooms have opened up soo much more - I have to update the FTS 



sig said:


> I seen this tank today in BA and top is not removable. How in the world you guys clean glass there in SW?
> 
> 
> PACMAN said:
> 
> 
> 
> good question! +1
Click to expand...

In theory its the same way that you clean the sides.. a magfloat


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## sig

itsru said:


> In theory its the same way that you clean the sides.. a magfloat


I hope it will work in practice, because I should use raiser blade every week to clean close to sand. The tank is a beauty anyway

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## PACMAN

itsru said:


> In theory its the same way that you clean the sides.. a magfloat


Once corraline algae grows, your magfloat will most likely not take it off. You should see how much force i have to apply to take off some of the spots I had, using a credit card!

I wish you good luck with the magfloat though. Maybe if you catch the coraline at an early stage, it will come off easier. (i left my corraline for a while!)


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## Cypher

Hey Ru,

Wow, I'm impressed! With all the things you mentioned you had purchased I thought your tank would have been crowded looking, but it's not! It looks nicely spaced out and balanced. Nicely done man!


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## itsru

Cypher said:


> Hey Ru,
> 
> Wow, I'm impressed! With all the things you mentioned you had purchased I thought your tank would have been crowded looking, but it's not! It looks nicely spaced out and balanced. Nicely done man!


Thanks man.. sorry for being MIA been so hectic and busy while prepping to leave for three weeks.. hard to setup a ~5 gallon to automate for three weeks..

Ive added a torch and Xenia since. As well as a six line wrasse to control a pod problem my Zoas went through.


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## Cypher

Woah... 3 weeks??? Difficult to do that for a 100 gal tank, let alone a nano! I hope you've got some one dropping by to at least top off the tank. Would be interesting to see how you've automated it though!


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## BettaBeats

the non removable top i would find to be a problem, but imagine the savings on evaporation! 

looks good! wish i had gotten that bubble tip!


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## itsru

BettaBeats said:


> the non removable top i would find to be a problem, but imagine the savings on evaporation!
> 
> looks good! wish i had gotten that bubble tip!


The RBTA is awesome.. quite the personality (he does although get quite pissed when the emerald crab makes a pass)

BTW Evaporation is a B**CH.. on a tank this small no need for kalkwasser but ATO mandotory to avoid big swings!


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## itsru

Cypher said:


> Woah... 3 weeks??? Difficult to do that for a 100 gal tank, let alone a nano! I hope you've got some one dropping by to at least top off the tank. Would be interesting to see how you've automated it though!


Yeah madness on a nano - I know

1. DIY air pressure based ATO - an electrical float switch connected to a DIY relay box that powers a whisper air pump to pressure up and push RODI till the switch triggers

2. Just a fresh SW drip (debating some coral food) from a bucket with a small pump and heater into the tank (1 drop per 20 seconds)

3. Just a small drip pulling SW out of the tank (1 drop per 20 seconds)


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## ameekplec.

I would be more inclined not to set up a drip based WC system, just because there's no way to stop it, just in case either component fails. Since youre going away for 3 weeks, just do a big WC just before you leave, and skip 2 weeks of WCs (happens all the time with me, even when I'm at home!).

It might require some TLC to get it back up to speed after you come back, but that's much preferred to a catastrophic tank emptying (for the tank and the floor) that could occur with your siphon and drip based system.


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## itsru

ameekplec. said:


> I would be more inclined not to set up a drip based WC system, just because there's no way to stop it, just in case either component fails. Since youre going away for 3 weeks, just do a big WC just before you leave, and skip 2 weeks of WCs (happens all the time with me, even when I'm at home!).
> 
> It might require some TLC to get it back up to speed after you come back, but that's much preferred to a catastrophic tank emptying (for the tank and the floor) that could occur with your siphon and drip based system.


yeah after playing around with dosing pumps/timers and working fail safes.. I think ill just stick to my ATO and hope everything stays well.. btw I cant believe how fast the anemone is growing (i've fed it mysis once!)


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## itsru

Been a really long time, but here's a little cell phone video I took of my clown hosting!.. took three weeks -> in another 3 weeks they will both be moving over to my 25G Cube


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## itsru

Shut down the tank as of March 05 2012 all the livestock and corals moved to my Cube in my signature


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## des

I was hoping to see more updates on your tank but you've decided to shut it down 

I still have mine running since October 2011. Here's a video I took in February and looks more or less the same today. I continue to do water changes weekly. It's my first marine tank. All is good except the stubborn coralline algae that's starting to appear.


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## itsru

des said:


> I was hoping to see more updates on your tank but you've decided to shut it down
> 
> I still have mine running since October 2011. Here's a video I took in February and looks more or less the same today. I continue to do water changes weekly. It's my first marine tank. All is good except the stubborn coralline algae that's starting to appear.


Nice tank man! I was pretty good with keeping up with water changes on the Edge, how are you dealing with ATO did you set one up? I did a diy that Im no longer using and might sell with my tank.

Also that bio load would definitely require you keep up with water changes, I only ever had one fish in there at a time, Ive seen 3 adult fish in an edge as a safe max like what you have (2 clowns and a goby).

did you mod your filter? Chemi-pure elite changed my tank from ok to ridiculous but Im happy that Im done with HOB filters that can leak like the cheap AC20 the edge came with.


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