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43 Gal Red Sea Reefer

3825 Views 26 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Wendy1B, 
Wendy1B
So, I HAD fallen in love with the artistic elements in the design of the Fluval Edge. I am really excited about the top-down viewing of the plants, as I think this is the most beautiful angle. However, I have since been talked out of the Edge. Now I will be ordering a 28 Gallon Red Sea Reefer: Red Sea REEFER Nano Black 28-Gallon Glass Aquarium Set R42101 @ Fish Tanks Direct There will be many firsts for me in this setup: 1. First tank smaller than 55 gallons. 2. First attempt at keeping freshwater Shrimp. 3. First time using an active substrate. 4. First time I have a decent tank budget with some splurging room for my future box of water. 5. First time purchasing setup components online (I've been out of the hobby a few years). 6. First sump (I'm going to use it as a refugium with the lights on an opposite schedule as the display to maintain stable O2 levels.) 6. First foray into the big, bad world of Co2. As far as the inhabitants go, my #1 dream critter is a colony of Crystal Red Shrimp (CRS). I also want to try Vampire & Bamboo Shrimps. I love me some creepy-crawlies! I also have always been enamored with glowing, flashy shoals of cardinal tetras, but since I want my system to be at 73 degrees F to keep the oxygen levels decent and make the CRS happy, I think I'm going to have to settle on Neon Tetras. Not too bad of a compromise in my book - they still glow. I'd also love to get a nice little shoal of Threadfin Rainbowfish. I saw an established group of them in a store display tank once, and their behavior was captivating. In addition, I'd like to try a group of Ghost Glass Catfish, and I NEED some Kuhli Loaches. I also want an assortment of Nerite Snails, Amano Shrimp and a group of Otocinclus for algae control. As far as the plants go, I pretty much want one of everything. No bueno, dudes. I don't have the tank yet, but have the room to order it in my next paycheck on the 31st. I have contracted collectoritus in a mean way, by looking at Tom Barr's setup here: Dutch something or the other | Page 9 | AquaScaping World Forum I'm telling you, I am CONSUMED with thoughts and schemes of how to possibly achieve such an eye-poppingly colorful aquatic wonderland of a display on the small, very limited scale I've got to work with. I know a few things for sure regarding my plant choices: exciting colors are important to me, and vibrant reds are the most important of all. I'm seriously considering attempting a display only in shades of red! But since I haven't found a nice red carpet plant, I may have to have my carpet provide the green contrast in the display. We shall see.
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Wendy1B
2
First purchase: I've never kept inhabitants which require such splitting of hairs, but since I want to avoid unnecessary Shrimp deaths, I determined a good starting place is testing my tap water. TDS is at 136 ppm. GH is at 8 degrees (140 ppm) and KH is at 7 degrees (120 ppm). No bueno. Now I'm off to educate myself about remineralized RO water. Total cost of setup so far: $30.48.

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Wendy1B
So, while daydreaming about all the millions of plants I want to order from Ebay, I stumbled across seeds. I've never met anyone who raised an aquatic plant from seed. I figured I'd give it a whirl. I found the Eriocaulon ratonagiriuni I have been salivating over in Tom Barr's set up. I'm super excited to try sprouting them! They should arrive in about 12 - 20 days.

I also thought I may try sprouting out some glosso seeds for my carpet. It's not clear to me if I ordered Glossostigma elatinoides (the 'Lg.') and Hemianthus callitrichoides (the 'Sm.'), or if I ordered two varieties of Glosso, a larger-leaved and a smaller leaved variety. I'm excited to see what sprouts!

New running set up subtotal:
Test kits: $30.48
Plants: $17.67
$48.15
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Wendy1B
Picked up some small pieces of wood at my LFS. I was inspired by the Amazon Rainforrest Wood on aquariumplants.com, but not willing to pay $120 for something I was doubtful would fit in my little Edge hole. Here's what I had to work with:

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Wendy1B
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Here's what I came up with so far. It's surprisingly stable and although I know all the different colors and textures are a strange hodge-podge, I am hoping to attach fissidens and pearl moss artistically enough to achieve the look of a gnarly ancient swamp bonsai.

New running subtotal:
Test kits: $30.48
Plants: $17.67
Hardscape: $13.66
Grand Total: $61.81

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Wendy1B
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I got my heater in the mail today. And I added some of my Harry Lauder's Walking Stick twigs to the wood formation. I have the wood soaking now. It's all really light and floaty, so it'll probably have to be submerged for 3 weeks. I got an email that my light shipped today from CA! I have been slowly chipping away at my plants wish list. Today Riccia made the chopping block. I just don't think with all the contortions I'll have to assume in order to trim, that it would be wise to have something that requires such frequent trims...*sigh*...bye-bye Riccia fluitans. One day our paths shall merge...

Updated subtotal:
Test kits: $30.48
Plants: $17.67
Hardscape: $13.66
Heater $40.71
Grand Total: $102.52

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Pattern8
Have you considered green neon tetras? I believe they fall in the lower end of the temperature range. Also they give the same effect as neon or cardinal but grow to a full length much smaller. I only know this because I accidentally (I'm assuming) received one in a small school of cardinal tetras that I purchased to stock a 12 gallon Fluval Edge. I highly recommend Rachel O'leary's 101 best Nano fish book. It's provided me with a wealth of information on things Nano (purchased, unfortunately, after I stocked). She also sells livestock. Would definitely check her out before you buy
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Wendy1B
Pattern8 said:
Have you considered green neon tetras? I believe they fall in the lower end of the temperature range. Also they give the same effect as neon or cardinal but grow to a full length much smaller. I only know this because I accidentally (I'm assuming) received one in a small school of cardinal tetras that I purchased to stock a 12 gallon Fluval Edge. I highly recommend Rachel O'leary's 101 best Nano fish book. It's provided me with a wealth of information on things Nano (purchased, unfortunately, after I stocked). She also sells livestock. Would definitely check her out before you buy
Click to expand...
cool, I will be looking into it. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Wendy1B
Look, a thermometer is what Brown could do for me yesterday.

I decided against green neon tetras, because I watched a video that showed how washed out they become under bright lighting. I have purchased an upgraded fixture from Ultrabrite, and according to another hobbyist, their upgrade is very bright.

Updated subtotal:
Test kits: $30.48
Plants: $17.67
Hardscape: $13.66
Heater $40.71
Thermometer $5.29
Grand Total: $107.81

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Wendy1B
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Today my Shrimp foods and ferts arrived. I bought them at discobee.com. Still waiting on my substrate. I'm excited to see it in person because narrowing down my choice was harrowing!

I joined another online forum and those folks have me doubting in my choice of the Edge. The argument against the design that has me scared is the surface area of the tank opening possibly making the use of Co2 a potential danger. I may have to shop around for a rimless tank instead, and poke and prod at other aquarists with Edges.

Updated subtotal:
Test kits: $30.48
Plants: $17.67
Hardscape: $13.66
Heater $40.71
Thermometer $5.29
Food: $32.97
Fertilizers $40
Beneficial Bacteria Additive $13.99
Grand Total: $194.77

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Tvadna
Don't be afraid to go green with the plants. They actually make the red ones pop more. Orange, pink, red and burgundy tend to wash each other out. I don't think you'll get what you paid for with the carpeting seeds. I've read threads on here about them being fakes from Japan. The word on them is that they look great initially but they turn into a mess soon after. You may have luck with the Erio though as some do produce viable seeds.
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Wendy1B
Tvadna said:
Don't be afraid to go green with the plants. They actually make the red ones pop more. Orange, pink, red and burgundy tend to wash each other out. I don't think you'll get what you paid for with the carpeting seeds. I've read threads on here about them being fakes from Japan. The word on them is that they look great initially but they turn into a mess soon after. You may have luck with the Erio though as some do produce viable seeds.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I keep trying to come up with plant combos without green, and none of them appeal to me without the pop of green breaking things up. So I think it was a silly idea to go all reds, oranges, pinks. I have been warned off using Co2 in a Fluval Edge. The people who have warned me feel the very small air/water surface area in the little opening on the top is not enough to make Co2 use safe. So now I am looking into other tanks with similar footprints because I definitely want to go high-tech this time. Thanks for the warning on the carpet seeds. It was so cheap, I thought I'd try it and see.
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Tvadna
I'm almost positive that there are numerous people using CO2 with the edge. They even have a group journal on here. It is worth looking up if you still want to go that route. Because it is dedicated to the edge, they share success and what works and what doesn't as far as equipment, live stock, lighting and modifications. I would check it out before you make your decision.
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Wendy1B
World's best mock tank making buddy:

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Wendy1B
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World's most ghetto mock tank:

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Wendy1B
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My path is disappointing. I am not altogether certain I want any of the wood on the right side. I don't think this allows me much room for plants. I know the wood colors and textures being so different looks odd, but I'm going to use the yogurt/fissidens/blender method to paint the trunk & roots and I'll be painting pearl moss onto the twisty, gnarly branches. So all I care about with the wood combo is a solid, interestingly shaped structure.

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Wendy1B
So, I can't figure out how to change the title of my post again, but the size of my setup has grown another time. I ordered the 43 gallon Red Sea Reefer, and it should arrive tomorrow! WOOT! Dimensions are 24" L x 20" W x by 20" H.
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danbayne
Great looking tree(s)!
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Wendy1B
4
Thank you, danbayne. This weekend was leak test time. My little Evelyn was reading the instructions to make sure Mama did everything properly.

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Wendy1B
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Sump unpacked, then filled. Evelyn shares her Mama's enthusiasm for finally filling the tank. I do, however, resist the urge to teethe on it. :). This old reef tank light is far too blue. The wood is weighted and floating. Everything passed the leak test! The next 24 hours is the heater test.

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