mb3k

Yup, see page 1 of the thread. I'll take some more pics today and post up progress pics (or lack thereof). I've been trying to do things by the book, but I haven't gotten the success others have had.

I'm having a frustrating time with my Edge right now... I had CO2 running but everyday the Milwaukee regulator bubbles at a different rate. The CO2 was bubbling so fast one day that it killed off the rainbow fish and severly melted my Crypt! It didn't look like the CO2 was working because none of the plants responded to it positively so I pulled it off and trying to figure out what the problem is with my ferts or light? Twice a week I'm dosing Seachem Iron, Nitrogen, Potassium, Trace and doing 50% w/c with conditioned with Prime. This is for my val, dwarf hairgrass, crypt, and downoi... all growing VERY VERY slowly. I've even moved the tank to the mainfloor where it gets sunlight as well as the LEDs and 10W CFL for 8hours/day. None of the plants seem to be pure healthy green, the val is always a slight pale yellow and sometimes thins out, the dwarf grass is sprouting new shoots (I want it to carpet, but I only see about 10 new sprouts in the last 3 weeks). Anyways, I think this should be in a different thread but there's my update on mine. Edit: Do you guys gravel vac? I don't do it b/c I can't reach everywhere in my tank with the driftwood in the way.

Very nice, pearling! I'm not too big of a fan of the size of the Fluorite substrate, I think my next tank will be with something finer like yours Influence... you can say you've influenced me Seems like things haven't taken off in my tank yet after 2 months, but hopefully the CO2 will speed things up plant-wise... I'm getting a bit of a diatom outbreak right now.

Wow, a 10 pounder for the Edge! I didn't expect the 5 pound tank to be so large. Did you buy your diffuser online? I can't find anything in Calgary except the huge spiral type diffusers. This morning I relocated the airstone right underneath the filter suction so the bubbles will get sucked right into the filter intake and hopefully through the motor impeller (probably not the best for the motor, but it's temporary). Hopefully it's bubbling away at around 1 bubble per 15 seconds or somewhere there. I noticed that when the solenoid turns on, the bubble count is really high then settles down.

Yeah, it's for the Edge. I don't want to have to upgrade later when I get another tank - I'll just split the line

Jewels, do you have an edge? We need some more photos to drool over! Here's what I picked up today at The Recharge Centre and BigAl's: A good ole 5 pounder! It should last a year or more! I got an Ebay nano diffuser on order right now, so I'm just using an airstone for the time being. Do you think it's wise to let the CO2 bubbles be trapped under the top glass? Or should I just put the airstone directly underneath the top opening so the bubbles just go straight up? I'm thinking the latter... I gotta change it before I go to work tomorrow!

Well you've seen mine, but I'll add it here for the record. An outsider's perspective: My lights: 2x MR11 LEDs, 1x 10W CoraLife 6" Mini Compact Flourescent (I've only found them at BigAls) I have 2 extra MR16 LED bulbs that I want to get a light fixture for - maybe Ikea sells some cheap ones.

Oh wow! Great Edge's, it makes mine seem so un-planted. How long have you guys had your tanks?

Yahoo! Thanks guys, the tank has been running for a month and a half now. I may have buried the rhizome, but it was hard to tell because I didn't take off all the rock wool so that may have caused it to rot from the bottom up. Sometime in the future I will try my hand again at an anubias and maybe just tie it down to the right part of the wood. As you can see I've also left a lot of the rock wool attached to the helferi because the roots were so tiny and stuck to the wool - looks really ugly with the yellow sticking out but I think I might wait for the plant to beef up a bit before touching it again. Do you have photos of yours? I haven't seen them around

I grabbed some rocks along the river in Cochrane and they've gone through the boiling process (x8 times) and a vinegar test. No ill effects from what I've seen in my tank after 1.5 months. It beats paying $3 for a rock

Hey hey, This is my first attempt at a planted tank and I've decided on the Fluval Edge as a starter tank. Plants include: Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Vallisneria Spiralis, Pogostemon Helferi, and an Anubias Barteri. The anubias totally melted (leaf stem bottoms were soft and fell off), and initially the downoi melted a bunch but is now stable. The crypt melted a tiny bit but is the strongest plant in the tank, while the val is dying off but has shooted a few new runners. I guess patience is a virtue. Livestock include: Furcata Rainbow x2 (male & female), Silvertip Tetra (x2), and one Black Neon I believe (he was labelled as mixed tetra). Plus 3 red cherry shrimp, and 1 black algae eating shrimp.