jeffvmd's take on the edge (DECOMISSIONED)

[jeffvmd]

Hello everyone. I now had partially finished setting up my fluval edge tank after a long long time of thinking in getting one or not (well lurking in this boards has helped me in my decision.)
without further ado, here are some shots of the tank. I will probably start a journal together with the other edge owners here in the site.

These photos were taken last week.
Daylight shots (2 x 10W walmart aquarium light)


Moonlight (LED strip light)


A little breakdown on what I have:
Flora:
Hygrophila stricta corymbosa
Anubias barteri nana
Rotala Indica
Java moss and pellia attached on driftwood
Dwarf hairgrass
Hemianthus callitrichoides

Fauna plans:
CRS
Some small tetras (around 5-6)
Otos (1 or 2)
I'm just waitng for all the plants to be fully established in the tanks before i add the livestock.

Lighting system:
2 10w walmart aquarium CFL
Blue LED strip light (waterproof silicon coated car strip lights on ebay)
Automatic timers

I am planning on installing a 216 LED bright white. It is still on the build process and will be posting in some pics soon and updates if this will work in growing plants.

Heater:
Hydor mini 15W

CO2 system:
automatic timer
glass nano diffuser (from ebay)
glass CO2 counter and one way valve
DIY yeast bottle
I am currently in the process of building up a regulated yeast bottle. I will post the build as well soon. I'm still awating some parts to go on with the build.
Thanks Tuonor for sending over some spare fittings for the clippard minimatic.


I have a couple of parts from tuonor (clippard part 2CPF, 11999-PKG) which I can pass on to anyone who needs it for a build. I'll be sending them in the mail for free so just PM me.

[Craigthor]

Just so you know DIY and using a solenoid probably is a really bad idea.

[jeffvmd]

I have been having some thoughts about that too.
Will it be the possibility of the bottle not containing the pressure build up when the solenoid shuts up?
What I actually have is the clippard minimatic ev24 model.

[luke20037]

sorry guys, solenoid?

[jeffvmd]

I was talking about the clippard minimatic electronic valve. Is it different from the solenoids used in other CO2 systems?

[jeffvmd]

Here are some updated photos of the set up as of this afternoon. More than a week after set up.


So far the HC seems to be melting away.

I am using flora pride for fertilizing. I ordered some flourish products online and hope to be getting it this week and see if the HC can bounce back.

The other plants are somehow adjusting and with some visible growth.


Some new roots and leaves coming out of the Hygrophila corymbosa stricta and new leaves from the anubias.
I also added some pellia on the driftwood.

Storage compartment under the tank.


DIY yeast bottle with brass valve, glass counter and check valve

The brass valve was a bit of an overkill and wasn't really necessary but since I got it in the mail I might as well just use it.
I am planning to attach a clippard minimatic valve to this set up just to see if it will work having the DIY bottle regulated with a timer.

[Fat Guy]

good lookin schweppes!!

nice start. what's your lighting setup?

[jeffvmd]

@FatGuy haha.. that's the empty bottle I found lying around in here.
Got a bigger one for the next batch.

Here are some pics of the temporary light set up i did.
I used soda cans split in half as reflectors.
I didn't use the spiral cfl anymore since my wife got me another walmart aquarium cfl.


I got some wires (from a built extension cord at home depot) and metal braces which i cut, bent, ziptied and used double sided adhesive to attach them on the insides of the top cover.


I also attached a blue LED strip as nightlight.


So far I'm planning to redo the light system and am still waiting for the LED's, fan and other hardware to make a 216 LED fixture and see if it can grow plants in this tank.

[xmas_one]

Don't give up on that HC, it's probably still going, very slowly....

I have some in a low light LED tank that looks similar, but it's still spreading out and growing nice new leaves.

[VincentK]

Yeah, don't give up on the HC yet, I had a similar experience with my HM, all of it died and turned dark brown and melted, then, it grew a stem from the dead parts and and is doing great now.

[nemosreef]

Looks good.

[Hilde]

Read at msnikkistar thread that you were looking for ideas on improving plant growth. I think Seachem tabs would help. Flora pride has mostly potassium sulfate in it.

[jeffvmd]

Thanks for the encouraging words guys.
I got the seachem complete liquid fertilizer and will see how it goes.

[jeffvmd]

Time for a weekly update.
So far the HC seems to be getting worse throughout the week. Most of if has turned transparent with a brownish hue. Same thing is happening to the dwarf hairgrass on the left side of the tank. The right side dwarf hairgrass patch seem to be just holding on. no improvement nor any deterioration seen.
The anubias, Hygrophila, rotala are doing ok. I replaced the rotala bunch on the right with some unknown stem plants I got from petco. The rotala which I pulled out has rooted already which I am a bit surprised to see as the plant doesn't have much improvement on leaves. I had it placed on a vase still thinking If i will be replanting them as there are a lot of things I want to redo on this tank.



I went on a trip downtown to WIN and got these little guys.



I think I found about 3 of them are berried out of the 10 I got plus a whole lot of tiny shrimp which was included in the bag. That somehow made my week.




I just got in a Leland nr24 regulator and still waiting for other parts to come in so I can build the CO2 set up tuonor made.
For those looking for the regulator, search on ebay now as there is a cheap source of used Leland NR 24.

[jeffvmd]

Its time for another update on this edge project.
As with most people having a new tank, we never ever are contented with on scape.
There is always the itch to tweak a little this and that.

Here is what I did with the tank for the past week or just today during my scheduled water change.

The taiwan moss I got cheap from ebay just came in today so I had to build the moss wall I had planned.
I had 3 separate moss mesh wall plates made for "easy" (well not really ) installation and removal during trimming.
Rough estimates on the mesh plates (I didn't use a ruler as I was lazy to get one a while ago, 2 on the sides measured around 6"x7" and 1 on the middle 3.5"x7"
Mesh I used is a thermwell plastic gutter guard which again I got from trusty ol bay (around 4 bucks for a 6"x20' roll) since I had a hard time finding em in the hardware stores near my area or even home depot.


I trimmed the Rotala indica and replanted them on the left side, moved the Anubias nana a little to its front.


I pulled out the large Hygrophila corymbosa stricta in the middle and got the smaller shoots and replanted them in the middle.


You can also see my Pre filter sponge on the pic above. Funny as it may sound but these are 3/4" black sponge hair rollers/curlers at a 99 cent store.
They come in different sizes and really cheap. 99 cents for a pack of 12 of the 3/4" size.

I just have the lower end plugged or sewn and it works great on my RCS tank.

The HC has all browned out. During the past few days, I am noticing some small HC leaves coming out from the soil.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the start of growth and hoping that they carpet the whole front. My HC really had a rough start and so does the dwarf hairgrass.

Left side


Right side


I also need some help to ID this plant I got from petco which I put on the right side of the tank.


The Red Cherry Shrimp I got last week are all doing well. A couple have molted and one or two of the three berried ones had laid their eggs already. I have been spotting an awful lot of the little critters. The juveniles from the batch have somehow grown and are actively grazing in the tank.

I'm still awaiting the CO2 cartridges to give the regulator set up I built a try.
It is currently running on a DIY yeast bottle.