The Edge - 6G

[toofazt]

Getting back into the hobby after a couple year hiatus. Wanted to try something different so I picked up a Fluval Edge 6 gallon aquarium. There's a couple of flaws with the design of the tank but all in all, I'm happy with it. The stock halogen lights aren't that great so I'm going to replace them with two MR16 LED lamps. I've added a 13W compact florescent to the end of the stock light bar. I'm also waiting on a new immersible heater so I can clean it up a bit inside.

I used Aqua Soil Amazonia for the substrate and lace rock for the hard scape. Right now I only have Blyxa Japonica (background), a stem of Staurogyne Repens (front left), and a couple currently melted Cryptocoryne Parva (front right). I'm not set on what plants or how I'm going to arrange them yet. I want to keep it relatively low-tech, only dosing Flourish and Excel for now. The tank has been setup for about a week and I'm just waiting for it to cycle. I've got some more plants coming next week and I'm planning on adding a couple Rummy Nose Tetras down the road...

Current Flora:
Dwarf Sagittaria Subulata
Nymphoides Taiwan
Subwassertang
Needle Leaf Java Fern
Cryptocoryne Parva
Blyxa Japonica
Staurogyne Repens
Myrio Mattogrossense
Hygrophila Polysperma
Fissidens Fontanus

Current Fauna:
2 Rummynose Tetra (Hemigrammus Rhodostomus)
1 White Cloud (Tanichthys Albonubes)
1 Oto (Otocinclus)
1 Crystal Red Shrimp (Caridina sp)
1 Ghost Shrimp (Palaemonetes sp)
5 Assassin Snail (Clea Helena)

3/16/11


3/2/11


2/18/11


2/9/11


1/27/11

[toofazt]

It's pretty much impossible to light this tank evenly due to the aesthetic design of the hood. I would like to add another compact fluorescent but they don't have the directional ability of the LED's...

I found this 13W CFL at Walmart for $10. I couldn't find it on their website but here it is on Northern Tool: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...9807_200309807

It comes apart easily and includes a 6500K bulb. You can use the clear plastic tube to protect the bulb and it even comes with a cap you can flip around and use to seal the tube from accidental splashes. There's also a decent reflector in there. This is an economical option you can purchase locally!

[Wolfgang]

Nice edge. It is really clean and neat. Look forward for updates.

[senoufo]

check my sig for ideas on LED build.

[toofazt]

Originally Posted by senoufo

check my sig for ideas on LED build.

Wow, that's an in-depth build. Looks very clean and well thought out. Any reason you went with LEDs over SMDs? What did the build end up costing?

[senoufo]

i must be old or the coffee didn't take...what's SMD?

If SMD means the MR16s with embedded LEDs, it may give off a bit better light but the spread is still poor ( corners are dark, and the spectrum is not what i was looking for ), also they are very close to the water and i never trusted 2 pins to hold up this light for a very long time.

the build was $120 ish, and took about 48 hours from start to finish. It was fun as i wanted to keep it as stock as possible, and wanted the proper light spectrum for reefing, so 3 watt crees was considered due to lots of reefers using those and having success with different types of coral.

thanks btw :-)

[toofazt]

Originally Posted by senoufo

i must be old or the coffee didn't take...what's SMD?

If SMD means the MR16s with embedded LEDs, it may give off a bit better light but the spread is still poor ( corners are dark, and the spectrum is not what i was looking for ), also they are very close to the water and i never trusted 2 pins to hold up this light for a very long time.

the build was $120 ish, and took about 48 hours from start to finish. It was fun as i wanted to keep it as stock as possible, and wanted the proper light spectrum for reefing, so 3 watt crees was considered due to lots of reefers using those and having success with different types of coral.

thanks btw :-)

Surface mount device, it's those low profile square LEDs. I googled 3 watt crees and I think we might be talking about the same thing, lol. SMDs generally have a much wider view angle than LEDs.

[senoufo]

gotcha!

the cree XRE's i used are 100 degrees, so no problem there, and i have no spotlighting or dark corners.

cool whites are 10k temp, royal blues are 450 to 465 nanometer wavelength.

[tetraontheedge]

Would it be possible for you to show a picture of the lighting mod mounting (the Walmart 13w)? Specifically, I am having trouble imagining how much of the flashlight is mounted (the whole thing?)

I am in the process of upgrading the lighting in my edge. Thanks!

[jeffvmd]

Here is the light mod in the official edge thread.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pl...ge-thread.html

[tetraontheedge]

Thanks for that--yes, that is where I got the idea about the lighting mod to start with.

My question is about how the flashlight mod mentioned in this thread works--I don't understand whether the OP is taking part of the flashlight off or just mounting the whole thing.

I am very electrically inexperienced, so it may be a rather dumb question...

ETA: To clarify my question, is the OP taking off the bottom flashlight part and just using the flashlight bulb, casing, and top cap thing on a conventional bulb socket/cord fixture?

[jeffvmd]

Oops didn't read the question too well.
That's what being online and checking posts in the early morning does.

That probably is the way to go with that light, taking the bottom part off.
But will it fit the front arm of the edge? The casing seems to be a bit big to be accomodated under the hood.

Maybe toofazt can post pics of how it looks like.

[toofazt]

Right now I have the bulb just zip tied to the end of the stock light bar. I'm not using the light tube it came with because it's literally 1/8" too big and the hood will not close the last 1/4". If you were to get rid of the stock light bar you could easily fit a couple of these 13W lights with the clear tubes protecting them. I'll get some pictures up later...

[jeffvmd]

2 CFL's was what I did with my edge before

[toofazt]

Originally Posted by jeffvmd

2 CFL's was what I did with my edge before

I don't like those type of bulbs because instead of one fluorescent loop there's two and the one on top is blocked by the one on the bottom. They're made to disperse light 360° to light up a room. The bulb I used only loops once and there's a reflector to help direct the light into the tank.