Another newbie here a couple of questions pls help!

Hi everyone, just recieved my fluval edge in pewter from santa/wife unfortunatly the top of the tank was badly cracked but seapets are sending a replacement tank and have asked me to dispose of the cracked one. I believe the top will come off quite easily so i guess il kinda have a spare tank to do what with im not sure yet. Gonna do a fishless cycle 1st. Anyway my questions are as follows. 1. Can u mix a sand and grave substrate? ie gravel either side of the tank and sand in the middle of the edge below the lighting area for a couple of live plants? Does anyone have a small airpump working in their edge, is it pratical or needed?

Hi pichur,

I'd be wary about using the cracked edge with the top removed - these are not built as braceless tanks and the top glass acts as support.

There is nothing that says you can't mix the sand and the gravel, but be careful not to have the sand layer too deep, say 2.5-3cm max.

In my 23l edge I had an airstone going, but they're not needed as the HOB filter does an excellent job of oxygenating the water in the tank.

Look forward to seeing your edge!

Thanks for the helpful information. just wondering about the sand as ive been told live plants need sand to take to but I do prefer the look of gravel! hopefully put some pics up soon replacement tank should be waiting for me at home. may look to see if i can get a replacement glass cut for broken, one seems a shame to throw it away. have you got any pics on here? cheers for your help!

I have pics of both my old 23l and my new 46l - you can check out my other posts

If you have a finer substrate, the plants will take easier, especially if you're going to be splitting the plant bundles into the individual plantlets. You might want to consider only having a topping of gravel/sand and use a planting substrate such as Fluval Stratum (or any similar aquasoil) underneath to promote root growth and give a better anchoring material.

Magister

I had exactly the same problem with the edge I bought my wife for xmas, the packaging was totally intact when it was delivered, so it didn't occur to me open it to check inside, but when we came to set it up just after christmas the top of the tank was smashed to bits.
Unfortunately because this was one of the old style, our supplier didn't have any more so refunded my money.
I've since bought one of the new model from a local shop so I could ensure I didn't have the same problem.
Now my wife's decided where we're going to put it we can get it filled and cycled.