New to Edge, advice sought on heaters.

Hi everyone, I will hopefully be picking up my new Fluval Edge on the weekend but I would love some advice on a heater for the tank. I have done some research and the reviews I have found for the Fluval 25w heater have been poor so I was hoping that by joining this forum I could get impartial advice from people who are actually running these tanks. My local pet store are selling the Edge at £99 with the Fluval heater thrown in for free, but I would appreciate some advice before I commit to this.

Thanks, Gareth

I've replaced the Fluval heater with a JBL ProTemp S25 (...I think it was around £20) since the Fluval heater didn't seem able to regulate the temp low enough when the halogen bulbs were also on. The JBL heater is slightly longer and bulkier so won't (I assume) fit behind the Fluval Bamboo Wall decoration. I've managed to get the JBL tucked diagonally on the back right corner with it's power lead emerging next to the tank opening.

Some stores are discounting the Edge, possibly because there may be new Edge versions coming out in the Autumn (...search YouTube for Edge 2); there may also be LED versions of their light bulbs available soon (...these were advertised a while back in the Fluval 'Beautiful Nano Aquariums' brochure on page 16; .pdf available from Fluval site).

The Edge is my first tank; I wanted something that was reasonably small and looked good and the Edge fits the bill. It's also not really that difficult to maintain but that's my subjective view; maybe once I have a problem with fish dying etc I'll revise that ;-). I cycled it for about a week then started slowly adding fish over the next 3 or 4 weeks whilst keeping an eye on the Nitrite, Nitrate levels etc. I've now got 5x Galaxy Rasboro + 4 Neon Tetra + 3x Cherry Shrimp doing fine.

Let us know how you get on,

Regards, Rick

PS: I just noticed that your local pet store is throwing in the Fluval heater for free, so maybe that's not a bad deal. But what I'm coming round to realising quickly is that building up a relationship by buying stuff from one or two proper local fish shops (rather than general pet stores) gives you access to their years of knowledge and experience which is much more important than saving a few £s.

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look at the heater you recommended.

The JBL was the one recommended by the lfs I happened to be in at the time. I would imagine there are a number of suitable heaters that would do the job. What I was looking for was one that was a suitable size and had a reputation for reliability and accuracy.

Just for interest, because it includes lots of useful chat on heaters, here's a thread from someone who went to extreme lengths to fit a compact heater in the Edge's filter unit ... http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-nano-tanks/105013-review-25w-nano-heater-will-fit-2.html

Regards, Rick.