# Fluval Edge 6Gal journal



## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

Hey Guys,

This is the tank where I first attempted an Iwagumi landscape. Started in February 22 2012 and still on going. Here are some pics of it's past to current progression.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*February 22 2012*

After a few days of letting the dust from the substrate settle, I added an endler and some marimo moss balls into the tank to get an idea of the ratio of the tank to live stock and etc...

**Sorry for the bad picture as it was taken with my Crapberry at the time.**


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*February 29 2012*

I was given some rocks and decided to try them out and see how i liked them. I also added a DIY driftwood which was originally a Bonsai tree that died and attached some moss onto some rocks to make them look like bushes. I ended up loving the rocks and wood as it gave it a Canyon look and it gave me further inspiration to what i wanted to do with my tank.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*March 12 2012*

I upgraded the lighting to LED's and added a 15W mini compact fluorescent light under the hood for the plants. I also added Dwarf Hairgrass to emphasize a more natural ground while adding more lively colors. A sponge around the intake filter and added white cloud minnows. At the time i was still searching for the best type of fish to fit with my scape...white cloud minnows were not the right selection.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*April 18 2012*

I got inspired by some of the scenery that i saw on my way back home from Montreal and decided to re-do my tank according to what i had seen. Also during that time, Jaysan introduced me to Crystal Shrimps and immediately fell in love with them which only meant that i HAD to have some. So without much knowledge on Crystal Shrimps except for their sensitivity to water parameters, i went and got CRS and CBS to put into my tank, removed the White Cloud Minnows and added more petrified wood. I added HC on the top level hoping for it to spread into a nice green lush carpet while planting Dwarf hairgrass on the lower level so i would have 2 different carpeting effects. You can also see in the background that i have added a Drop Checker and a DIY C02 which has been supplying C02 for my tank until last weekend. Not bad for DIY C02


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*May 10 2012*

After noticing repeated CRS death in my tank and with the help of fellow GTA members, i had added a heater, frog bits, mineral rocks, and I squeezed some Mini Pellia in between the rocks to try and lower the Nitrate level and maintain the appropriate temperature in my tank. As for plants, I added some Blyxa Japonica as well as some riccia attached to a rock to give it more greenery. You can notice some BBA growing in the tank and green spot algae on the back of the glass.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*June 2 2012*

My tank has been pretty stable ever since i had done all of the changes with no death in my CRS...well at least that i have noticed. The nitrate lvls are still between 20PPM to 40PPM. I added some micro thai crabs which you won't see since they are always hidding and i also I cleaned up the tank last weekend...here are the updated pics plus some pics of my favorite CRS. The first two pictures of a CRS is one of my top favorites. Solid white and red throughout his body, and the V band looks like a thunderbolt...which is why i named him Thunderbolt


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

Looking nice, is that dwarf hairgrass or the regular variety?


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## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

Kooka said:


> Looking nice, is that dwarf hairgrass or the regular variety?


Its dwarf hair grass he has


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

good to see ur HC spreading! i think u're one of the very few who managed to grow HC with a fluval edge!  u should be proud and put that on your "hobbyist resume" lol


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## FlyingHellFish (Mar 7, 2011)

Cool Edge!

I hate BBA too, it such a pain to clean the Edge.

You got the same Thermometer as me hahah.

I'm trying for a HC Cuba carpet with mine, with only Flourite Black it's tough!


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

FlyingHellFish said:


> Cool Edge!
> 
> I hate BBA too, it such a pain to clean the Edge.
> 
> ...


mine is spreading super slowly though...how fast is yours spreading?


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## bmc (Jun 3, 2011)

nice tanks folks! I have an edge too total PIA to clean. So i just kinda gave up on cleaning. noticed a lot of hydra and loads of baby mystery snails from my actively breeding snails....might need to cull the snails soon!


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

i would totally take your snails if you were near sauga...gives my assassin snails something to eat


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## bmc (Jun 3, 2011)

they are too tiny right now but they are all over my tank. Almost too tiny to catch them all but once they get a little more visible, Ill msg u.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*August 9th 2012*

Moved and removed a few plants. One of my CRS is berried. I hope it goes well


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*August 26th 2012*

With a new load of shrimps coming in soon. I re-scaped my edge to make it less busy and more spacious for the creatures that will soon inhabit the aquarium.

I ended up removing ALL of my Dwarf Hair Grass, Blyxa Japonica and taking out a lot of rocks and a lot of substrate.

Although i'm thinking SOME Blyxa Japonica in the tank would still look pretty good.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*September 17 2012*

I've added a new heater in my tank that looks much nicer. The Marina 10W mini compact heater. On the box the heater looks pretty thick but as soon as I had it in my 6gal tank...it was just perfect.

I'll try to post a new picture soon...I'm still trying to figure out the placement of my C02 diffuser.

On the other hand...I'm not sure if some of you remember...but for the longest time I've had the hardest time raising/keeping Crystal Red Shrimps. I had a very high death rate and I just couldn't figure out why my nitrate lvls were consistently at 80PPM. I decided to finally sell all of my CRS due to that fact except for 3 of my most prized possession CRS. 1 Male PRL, 1 Female PRL and the best looking Female CRS I had left. I just didn't have it in me to let them go after all the effort it took me to get them in. Unfortunately, my female PRL disappeared and only my Male PRL and Female CRS was left...Surprisingly my Female CRS got berried but as usual I didn't have much hope for them to hatch.

One day I decided it was time for me to re-scape that tank as I was tired of the layout and it was getting ridiculously ugly and dirty. I took a night off of my regular routine and did exactly what I had planned to do; Restart my tank from Ground 1. A few days passed since I had re-scaped my tank and as I walked by my tank, I decided to take a look at how my berried CRS was doing, although this time I noticed she was no longer carrying her eggs. I've never seen any of my berried shrimps survive passed the berried stage before so I started looking around the tank to see if i could find any anomalie. After a few minutes of frantic searching, I finally found some of the smallest tiniest little shrimpies clinging on the glass! I was soooooooo happy and relieved!!!! and a few days later she got berried again!

When I almost gave up on CRS... My colony is finally rebuilding itself from the last two shrimps i had remaining. I felt it was appropriate to name them Adam and Eve. So here they are...meet Adam, Eve, and their babies


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

*September 24 2012*

Not much has changed in this tank except for the hair algae outbreak. I added a few more Amano Shrimps and I reduced my light from 12hours/day to 10hours/day...might reduce it an extra hour or two to control the algae issue a bit more. I've also changed my heater to the 10C Marina Compact Heater to give it a much sleeker and cleaner look.

I also acquired a few more CRS-S grade to the family  Adam seems like he's enjoying the new company


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## FlyingHellFish (Mar 7, 2011)

You Sold the TANK? Everyone is selling, getting rid of their Fluval Edge, sad face.

I still love mine tho,


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

Don't get me wrong...i had one hell of a hard time letting it go... It was a great tank for me to learn from and now it's time for bigger and better things


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