# A simple Fluval Edge 12g



## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

My first tank journal! 
I'm a complete newbie so this may not be all that interesting... haha 
But perhaps it can be useful to future newbies. Especially when I start running into a bunch of problems! 

First I want to say a big thanks to everyone on here! It's been so helpful to read about others' experiences and I'm so very grateful for all the advice and answers I've received. Special shout out to jhj0112, jbyoung00008, Fish rookie, Steve, Rockman, nigerian prince, Reckon, effox and 2wheelsx2 for your patience and your wisdom. 

I got a 12g fluval edge from the very kind TigerOscar. I read all the instructions and practiced setting it up on my floor:









I received some conflicting advice regarding cleaning up the rocks (purchased at a pet store). 
At one pet store I was told "Boil them, don't bake them - baking them might make them explode." 
At another pet store I was told " Bake them, don't boil them - boiling them might make them explode."

I'm not in the market for explosions so I tried what I'm going to call the UnderseaGal method: I let them sit in a bucket of really hot water, then changed the water. I repeated this about 6 times. Then I poured boiling water on them and brushed them like my life depended on it. I repeated this about 3 times. By then the water would stay clear after each rinse - I figured I was done.

I have no idea whether this is enough, but I hope so.









Then I put in my substrate, ADA Malaya:









Then the rocks. I tried a fancy iwagumi style layout (thanks to battmanh for the tip!) but keep in mind I'm new at this:









Then it was time to fill part way before planting. I recently attended an ADA seminar and I learned this nifty trick about covering your substrate and rocks in plastic wrap before filling - worked like a charm, no cloudiness at all:









Apparently I can only attach 5 picture per post so stay tuned for the final look in my next post!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

After setting up the rocks and filling part way I planted 3 tiny anubias. That was by far the hardest thing to do. I plan on investing in some of those long tweezer thingies for the next round of planting.

And here is the final result - for now:









This week I'll be doing large, daily water changes to deal with the ADA releasing ammonia.
I've added some filter material from my Eclipse 6 gal tank to the Edge filter and I'm using stability to speed up cycling.

At some point during a big water change I plan on adding more anubias and a few wisterias in the back right corner.

Then at some point in the very distant future once I've exhausted all my patience and the tank is finally cycled it will be time for fish.


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## battmanh (Jan 7, 2014)

Looking great so far! Excited to see what livestock and other plants you put in it. Keep us updated


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

My that's a sharp looking tank!


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Looks awesome great job. The rocks are a perfect fit. Im excited to see your tank in a few months. Good job!

Thanks for listening to all our advice. Everyone has there own way but the basics always stay the same. Regular water changes, grow lots of good bacteria, Test your water, dont over feed. You've asked tons of questions on here. Youre going to have a nice tank (in time )Your well on your way. I wish I had bought Ada. It seems to be the best by far.


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

looks good, very appealing kit
may i request a photo of the tank with the room dark
cheers


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone!
nigerian prince - I will take a photo with a dark room and post it tonight, but I make no promises - I'm a terrible photographer (that much is obvious!).

The tank definitely needs a few more plants, so that's next (but not too many! I want to keep it simple).
I'm getting mixed info about the ADA ammonia situation, so depending on my water parameters, I may add my tiny ember tetras in there at some point. 

The greater plan for down the road is more anubias, some wisterias and maybe some java fern (the one in my 6 gal is making lots and lots of babies).
As for fish: ember tetras, gold barbs, red flame dwarf gouramis, a few amano shrimp, and eventually some crystal red shrimp. I'm going for a red-orange-yellow look. 

Anyone who's read my threads in the past knows that I'm bound to change my mind a million times, though. 

Thanks again!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Alright, here's a photo of my tank in a somewhat darker room (not a great pic, sorry!):








And a bonus photo of my beginner 6 gal:


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

Very nice set up.. Great start on your edge tank!  


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Rockman (May 19, 2013)

Looking good so far. Now all you need are some plants to make the fancy ADA substrate worthwhile. I'd offer to donate some of my extra hygrophila/vallisneria; but I suspect you're a bit far away.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the nice comments, jhj0112 and Rockman!

Rockman - yes, plants needed. Picking up a few more tonight.
Would gladly take you up on your kind offer, but as much as I love the island, it is a bit far away, as you say!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

A little late, but you can't cause your rocks to explode when boiling because water only gets to 100 C +/-. Baking at lower temps are safe too. But yeah, if you go 500 F there may be some rocks that could explode....but not those in your pic. 

Nice looking tank.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the info, 2wheelsx2! I should have asked a rock expert to start with. 
I hope the rocks will be ok with no boiling and no baking...

Off to plant some more tiny anubias.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Update on the tank, 1 week in:
- Doing daily 50-75% water changes to deal with ADA.
- Tank still sparsely planted right now with just little anubias. Will plant wisterias tomorrow. I don't want crazy plants so that'll be it for a while.
- Ammonia goes from 0.2 to 0.3 depending on the day. It's not the most reliable test kit though but if it spikes I'll see it. 
- No reading on nitrites or nitrates yet. Again, terrible test kit. Will get my water tested at the LFS tomorrow.
- Water is clear most of the time. Sometimes it gets just a little bit cloudy. Goes away with water change.
- I'm being generous with Stability but as per my previous experience it doesn't seem to be doing much. It's certainly not an instant cycle! 

That's the news. Not very exciting, I know!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Just stuff it full of wisteria for now and it will finish your cycle for you. Heavily planted tanks = no available ammonia. Then once you're done cycling pull the extra plants out and sell them or donate them to someone else.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Neat tip!

Only problem is - I'm a terrible planter (even with those long tweezers), and every time I try to stick something in the substrate I make a big mess and break some of the little ADA pebbles, which is bad.

Still worth it to make a big mess to put the wisterias in and again a second time when I pull them out?
If my 6gal is anything to go by, my problem is not to bring the ammonia down - that took almost no time, it's to get the nitrates to kick in.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Just float them. Plant the ones you want permanently and leave the rest floating.

In your 6 gallons, it could have been the low stocking. Remember, no ammonia = no nitrate. Hence the dosing of nitrates and phosphates into heavily planted, high light, CO2 injected tanks.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Ah, yes, floating them, brilliant! Thanks!

You may be right re: low stocking. My ember tetras area really tiny.
Shouldn't be a problem in the fluval edge though if ADA leaches as much ammonia as they say it does.

Thanks again!


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Anuibas is a very slow growing plant, it does very little in helping you to reduce your ammonia. As Gary said just get a bunch of fast growing plants in and they will help a lot.
With your other tank you have too little ammonia to begin with due to little waste and little left over food. It is not a bad thing though as it means you are not overstocking nor overfeeding. I would not worry too much about the ammonia reading in your 6 gallon.
With ADA you need to be a bit more careful because it is not like eco-complete that you have in your 6 gallon; I am worried you may have an algae bloom in your Fluval. When and if it occurs don't panic, as it is normal and it is not the end of the world.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the head's up, Fish rookie.
I figured the algae bloom is a rite of passage. I'm bracing myself for it. 
There is a lot of good information on this forum about how to get rid of it!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Another update - I planted 2 wisterias (on the right), and the one on the left is just sitting there for now for cycling purposes.
I also added two moss balls that I got from effox - they don't sit where I want them to (I don't want them to hide the rock on the left), but I still think they look neat.
Any tips on how I could anchor these in place?









The two wisterias on the right are also not sitting where I want them to - I would rather not have a gap between the two. A few anubias aren't exactly where I want them, either.

But wow planting these is sooo difficult. Everything just floats to the surface because ADA is so light. The tools don't help much either. 
It's nearly impossible to be precise with where they go. Super annoying.

Maybe I'll get better with more practice... But to be honest I dread having to deal with the planting because it's such a pain and I make such a mess in the tank.
It's a learning process...


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I like the modern and simple look. The plant will grow and fill the gaps. With ADA your wisteria will become very bushy in no time. No need to plant them too close.
You are doing a great job. I really like it.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

I think Fish rookie is right on. Once those plants grow it'll look sweet. Also, It's easier in my opinion to plant during a large water change or when the tank has basically no water in it but I'm not sure if that is an option for you


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

your tank is already looking better than my edge tank lol. very nice!!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the advice and the nice comments, Fish rookie, Steve and jhj0112!
I'll be patient with the wisteria, then.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

After another few big water changes and a lot of tweaking, the location of the plants is more or less final. 
Water parameters have been stable for a while now so I've added the gold barbs and Shrimpy.
Will wait a bit more before I add more shrimps - I want to get my water tested at the LFS because my test kits aren't great and I know shrimp are supposed to be sensitive.

I'll take a picture when the lights turn on - I've set them up on a timer, on at 3:30, off at 10:30.

So far so good. Having the gold barbs in there really brings out the ember tetras - before when they were on their own they mostly just chilled behind the plants, but now everyone is all over. Funny how these dynamics change. 

On an unrelated note - I'm dealing with some brown algae in my 6 gal. Not a big deal, and I've read some posts on how to take care of it, and it seems to be working. But holy smokes I'm not looking forward to algae issues in the Fluval Edge... Definitely not easy to get around in that tank.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Another update on the Fluval. No picture because I always forget to take them when the lights are on, but I'll try to remember this weekend. It looks pretty much the same as the last picture except the wisteria is growing like crazy.

Sooooo... It's algae time. I have some brown stuff mainly on the glass (of course it's near the bottom, where I can barely reach out of the tiny opening) and some really bright green dots on the rocks.

I've read up about these and I'm dealing with it for now - brushing it off when I do water changes, and being good about doing water changes.  
Right now it's not super noticeable as I keep on top of it but I know that if I slack off I'm going to have a messy tank real fast.

My cycle is *still* not done. Possibly because I have too many fish in there, possibly because the ADA. Not sure. Again, I keep an eye on it, and I do water changes. Ammonia is not crazy high, but there is still some.

I hope (please advise!) that at some point the algae issue will slow down and the maintenance won't take so long every time I do a water change. Will this happen? How long until it does? I also have brown algae in my fully cycled 6gal (similar to the fluval - not too much, I deal with it when I do water changes).

Right now these aquariums are a lot of work! But I'm happy if the fishies are happy. 

On an unrelated note, I really, really don't like anubias. I mean I love the look of them, but what a hassle trying to keep them down! I don't want to tie them to the rock and ADA is so light it's a huge pain. And since my gold barbs like to root around the bottom a lot almost every week I have to replant 2-3 anubias (did I mention the Fluval Edge only has a tiny opening?). So yeah, didn't think that one through.

The wisteria is awesome, though - well rooted, grows like crazy, and easy to trim.

That's the news! I know it's not very exciting without a picture. Will try to post one very soon.


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## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

If you kept any of those little lead strips that are wrapped around your plants from a store, they are useful to pin down anubias. I bend them into a "U" and ease them over the rhizome and poke them into the substrate. After a month or two, it can be removed. Or I forget and the plant is so grown I can't find it! I have also tied down anubias using black plastic twist ties (like the ones that wrap up electrical cords on a new appliance) gently wrapped around the rhizome. Then I wrap the ends of the twist tie around a screw (I had zinc ones) and poked that into the substrate. Not as tidy but it works until they root. Slowly.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Anubias don't really root well as they have the coarse roots designed to update nutrients from the water column and attach to rocks/wood instead of anchoring to substrate. I use push pins to pin mine to the wood and after a couple of months the roots are on there tight. I also rubber band mine to rocks and skinnier pieces of wood. If you want them on the substrate tie a little stone or weight to the rhizome and let it sit on top of the substrate instead of in it, so you don't get rot in the rhizome.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the tips for anubias, greenfin and 2wheelsx2. I did keep those little lead strips - I may try this first.

And finally, a (crooked, somewhat blurry) picture:


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## Spit1A (Apr 7, 2014)

Looking great! I like the layout


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## pistachoo (Sep 6, 2010)

UnderseaGal said:


> Thanks for the tips for anubias, greenfin and 2wheelsx2. I did keep those little lead strips - I may try this first.
> 
> And finally, a (crooked, somewhat blurry) picture:
> 
> View attachment 54889


Pretty! These tanks are so attractive... (but man that stupid tiny opening at the top is stupidly tiny!)


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the kind words, Spit1A and pistachoo!

But yes... that stupid opening is very tiny. At first I thought I wouldn't fiddle with much aside from the occasional trim so it wouldn't matter... But now that I find myself replanting anubias and having to clean up all the walls and the rock every water change I find it to be a big pain.

That said, the tank looks totally slick.


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

Very nice!! your tank already looks better than mine!!  diatom will go away once tanks are well established.  you can add few ottos if you want


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## pistachoo (Sep 6, 2010)

UnderseaGal said:


> But yes... that stupid opening is very tiny. At first I thought I wouldn't fiddle with much aside from the occasional trim so it wouldn't matter... But now that I find myself replanting anubias and having to clean up all the walls and the rock every water change I find it to be a big pain.


So... how many times have *you* forgotten that your arm has volume, and made teh tank overflow all over the floor from forgetting to drain some out before plunging said arm down to the substrate? 



UnderseaGal said:


> That said, the tank looks totally slick.


It really does! Looks like you got one not long after I did. Here's mine:

  
 

I'm still trying to get the hang of the whole plants-light-waterparameters-fish balancing act, so it's got floaty bits, algae bits, and what not. My current goal is "don't kill anything", and then I'll worry about making it pretty. Yours is definitely tidy and well planned.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the kind words, jhj0112. I don't believe you, though - I'm sure yours looks amazing!

Pistachoo - haha, yes, the whole arm problem. I now only do maintenance when I do water changes (which is often), so I am able to limit the floods.  I've had the Edge for a month and a half now. Still not cycled! 

Your Edge is gorgeous! Love the abundance of plants and the stripey snail. 

So great to share with fellow Edgers!  Thanks for the replies!

Are those galaxy rasboras? I was planning to get those originally! To be fair I changed my mind about a thousand times.


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## pistachoo (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks for the fistbumps!

Yes, galaxy rasboras. I read about them and decided they were adorable and just the ones to get. Then I lucked out when someone who was helping me with led lights said "hey, want fish? I was going to go put them up on bca but you're already here right now so..." he gave me the stripy snail too, as well as a few ottos. That snail is cool except he keeps putting white dots all over the driftwood. I don't mind, I guess, but it's a bit strange. He's like the reverse Pac Man.

I got the plants from someone here who was moving and taking down his tank. I need to stay away from the classified section of the forums: running out of room, haha! Stupid things refused to stay planted and kept floating up every halfhour! I gave up after a few days, hence why there are still random floating strands of green. I have to do a water change and deal with some furry algae on the leaves, but the green stuff on the glass has been dwindling, so that's good.

How come your tank isn't cycled after so much time? Are you sure? I filled mine half-way with water from my other tank (55gal water change = lots to share around, ha) and the rest with tap water. It ran for a while with just the plants and a couple of snails; I was going to wait a bit longer but then came home with the above-mentioned fishy gifts, so in they went. None died except for the stupid rasbora that jumped out when I had the top open, so I guessed my water was cycled. If you have fish in yours and they're alive, isn't that a good sign?


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

So I checked my ammonia yesterday and it was at zero! Woot! Didn't check nitrites/nitrates but it seems the cycle is coming to an end after all. I think it took a long time because I added the barbs too early (was cycling with just the tetras initially) and because ADA leeches some ammonia at the beginning. 

My fish are alive and aside from one instance of gold barb eating a piece of tetra (I think this is what happened - I didn't see it) everyone seems to be doing well.

Sounds like you got lucky with your plants and fish! They look amazing. I love the look of galaxy rasboras but when I read up on them I found out they were quite shy. Since my ember tetras were already quite shy, I wanted fish I was going to see! I'm not disappointed with the gold barbs, let me tell you. 

Now that I've seen your tank I want more plants.  But I'll wait until the anubias grow a bit more - it should change the look a bit.

How often do you do water changes? No issues with brown algae?
I've been thinking about getting either one or two otos or more amano shrimp...


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## pistachoo (Sep 6, 2010)

Yay for a cycled tank! Now the real fun begins, right? 

The galaxy rasboras are shy: they hide behind the plants as soon as they see me approaching the tank. You've no idea how many failed attempts it took to get them in a photo!

I've heard anubias are slow growing. Mine hasn't changed much since dumping it in there; the clover-looking stuff at the front has been the fastest.

I do water changes ...when I remember to. I had green algea all over the glass, got tired of waiting for the snails, ottos and pleco to eat it and scrubbed it off, and it seems to not be growing back faster than they can eat, now. I've noticed some bright blue-green goopy algae on a couple of strands, and some beard-looking darker furry stuff along the outside edges of a few leaves at the back of the tank. Is that brown algae?

I think eventually I'll try my hand at shrimp keeping. They're neat little critters!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Good to know re: galaxy rasboras. 

I had heard that anubias were slow growing too, but I must say mine are definitely getting bigger. Not as fast as the wisterias, of course, but the changes are noticeable. 

Not sure what the beard looking stuff is, but at the top of the planted tank section there are a couple of really helpful sticky posts about algae that might answer your question?

I only have one amano shrimp, Sir Shrimpsalot, and he's great to watch - always busy doing something.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Update time!

Here is the tank now. Doesn't look very different aside from the Wisteria growing like crazy. The moss balls never stay where I like them but the shrimp love them so I leave them in. Oh, and I installed some tiny LED lights below the tank (shining down). I like the look of it.









I do weekly water changes. Once in a while I have to give it a good scrape for algae, but not every week. 
I finally got the anubias to stay put thanks to those lead rings (great tip!). My wisteria suffered greatly from the ich treatment a while back so it's overdue for a good trim.

Current occupants are one leftover ember tetra (poor guy, lost all his bros), 5 gold barbs, 4 amano shrimp and one small ancistrus. 
I don't plan on adding anything for a while as I'm in and out in the summer and don't want to risk another ich episode if I'm not around to take care of it.

Once I'm around more consistently I'd love to add those funky looking snails that don't reproduce - the stripey ones and such. Would love suggestions, so long as they are not too pricey... And as long as they are not gold barb food.

Oh, and the one thing that really bothers me - the ADA soil shifts around a lot, and so it's really difficult to have the rocks sit right. So annoying! The little ones I can rejig when I do water changes, but the one big rock in particular is an issue - it sinks at the back, and then the front pops up a bit. And since the tiniest amount of rescaping with ADA leads to massive cloudiness, I don't want to have to re-do this every week... Anyone else dealing with this?

That's the news!
Catching up on all the beautiful tanks posted to journals and gallery... What a joy!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Question: Could I stick a betta in with my current stock?
Would it fight with the gold barbs?
I saw in another post a betta eating amano shrimp, but the ones I have are really big...

Just wondering...
And hoping I can avoid yet another tank...


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## Rockman (May 19, 2013)

Looking good. Glad to see you've got your ich sorted.



UnderseaGal said:


> Once I'm around more consistently I'd love to add those funky looking snails that don't reproduce - the stripey ones and such. Would love suggestions, so long as they are not too pricey... And as long as they are not gold barb food.


You mean zebra nerites? I had a few of those once... they're fun (well... about as much fun as you can have with a snail). They're fantastic algae eaters. Although to clarify they do reproduce... it's just that the eggs don't hatch in freshwater. The eggs are very resiliant and can be hard to remove (you'll have little white things tucked away in corners all over the place.



UnderseaGal said:


> Oh, and the one thing that really bothers me - the ADA soil shifts around a lot, and so it's really difficult to have the rocks sit right. So annoying! The little ones I can rejig when I do water changes, but the one big rock in particular is an issue - it sinks at the back, and then the front pops up a bit. And since the tiniest amount of rescaping with ADA leads to massive cloudiness, I don't want to have to re-do this every week... Anyone else dealing with this?


Generally you want stuff like that sitting on the glass; otherwise it does tend to move. Maybe prop the back up with something (silicone another rock to the bottom maybe?).



UnderseaGal said:


> Question: Could I stick a betta in with my current stock?
> Would it fight with the gold barbs?
> I saw in another post a betta eating amano shrimp, but the ones I have are really big...
> 
> ...


I'm not sure... sometimes it comes down to individual temperament. Bettas don't usually bother small zippy fish like tetras and barbs (they're too fast for them); but you can have problems the other way around sometimes (fin nipping... bettas are huge wimps in that regard. They can't compete with anything). That being said, gold barbs don't have a much of a rep for nipping... but the potential is there (they are barbs after all... it's what they do).

I have no idea about the shimp though... some bettas do well with them. Others not so much.


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

this is the only profile source i could find that refers to bettas and gold barbs
Gold Barb | Puntius sachsii

says use caution as they may nip the bettas fins


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

this guy has a similar set-up and has documented his/her experience with bettas and amanos with some fantastic photos by the way

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/tank-journals-16/beginner-tank-fluval-flora-7-8gal-91865/index4.html


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Rockman said:


> Looking good. Glad to see you've got your ich sorted.


Yup, all sorted. I posted an update in the hospital section but the thread didn't refresh (because I updated the initial post instead of adding to the thread). I'm glad I'm now familiar with this common issue as I'll be able to react faster next time.



Rockman said:


> You mean zebra nerites? I had a few of those once... they're fun (well... about as much fun as you can have with a snail). They're fantastic algae eaters. Although to clarify they do reproduce... it's just that the eggs don't hatch in freshwater. The eggs are very resiliant and can be hard to remove (you'll have little white things tucked away in corners all over the place.


A quick google search tells me that yes, zebra nerites is exactly what I had in mind. Thanks!  Now I know the name. Though I'm not super keen on having to scrape the eggs out as the Edge is a bit of a pain to maneuver in.



Rockman said:


> Generally you want stuff like that sitting on the glass; otherwise it does tend to move. Maybe prop the back up with something (silicone another rock to the bottom maybe?).


That makes sense (though the rock wouldn't be nearly as high then). Wish I would have known when I set it up. Next time!

As for bettas - I hear what you're saying. Most people seem to think it's highly dependent on the actual betta.
I'd be happy with a female, if that decreases the likelihood of trouble?

Thanks for all your input Rockman!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the info, nigerian prince! Seeing as my barbs are quite the bullies, I think you're right - I should probably have a back up plan.
Yes I'd seen Spit1A's tank - been following closely, amazing pictures! But sad demise for the one shrimp...


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## Rockman (May 19, 2013)

UnderseaGal said:


> A quick google search tells me that yes, zebra nerites is exactly what I had in mind. Thanks!  Now I know the name. Though I'm not super keen on having to scrape the eggs out as the Edge is a bit of a pain to maneuver in.


It's not terrible leaving the eggs in place. They tend to lay in the dark corners most often... so it's not super obvious. Depends on how much of a neat freak you might be.



UnderseaGal said:


> I'd be happy with a female, if that decreases the likelihood of trouble?


Quite possibly. Females are a bit more chill (although not completely so) and they've got shorter fins so they're not as much of a target. Less showy though (although there are fancier females around...) and the shrimp might still become lunch.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Rockman said:


> It's not terrible leaving the eggs in place. They tend to lay in the dark corners most often... so it's not super obvious. Depends on how much of a neat freak you might be.


I try to be quite a bit of a neat freak, but floating anubias and rocks sitting all wrong on the substrate foil the best laid plans on a regular basis. 



Rockman said:


> Quite possibly. Females are a bit more chill (although not completely so) and they've got shorter fins so they're not as much of a target. Less showy though (although there are fancier females around...) and the shrimp might still become lunch.


Well that might be a good compromise, then. Though I realize my tank would then be quite overstocked. Mmmm...

Thanks for the answers!


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## pistachoo (Sep 6, 2010)

Rockman said:


> You mean zebra nerites? I had a few of those once... they're fun (well... about as much fun as you can have with a snail). They're fantastic algae eaters. Although to clarify they do reproduce... it's just that the eggs don't hatch in freshwater. The eggs are very resiliant and can be hard to remove (you'll have little white things tucked away in corners all over the place.


I have a zebra nerite in my 12gal fluval edge. They are fun: seem to move around a lot more and faster than apple and ramshorn snails (from my very limited observation anyhow). He/she/it only seems to lay white eggs all over the driftwood. Haven't seen any on the glass at all. So, if you don't mind polka-dot driftwood, it's not a problem. 

What does it take for the eggs to hatch? brackish water?


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for sharing, pistachoo! I don't have any driftwood in my fluval... So I'm not sure what would happen!
In any case I've decided to hold off on the snails for now.

No idea what it takes for the eggs to hatch...


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

An update! [Warning: terrible photos below]
Tomorrow is the 6 month anniversary of my Fluval Edge tank. I honestly did not think I would make it this far. Yay for all your excellent advice.

Tank is going well and I'm learning a lot. I recently purchased and then sold a pleco - he was great at cleaning algae but he dug through the ADA and made a mess. Turns out my gold barbs also make a bit of a mess when they root through the substrate, and I'm contemplating switching them up for something else, but nothing's been decided. There's a bit more algae than I'd like on the rocks but nothing a toothbrush can't fix on my next "clean up" water change.

I still do water changes about once per week, though right now I'm doing them a bit more frequently as I just added new fish to the tank (replaced the pleco with 3 otos, and added some amano shrimp, though I can't see them so some of them maybe didn't make it).

My big bushy wisteria is not where I want it - also something I'll fix during my next big water change. Otherwise, here's how the tank looks now:









As an added bonus, here is my spec, home of my betta Poochie and a few others:









Thanks for reading!


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