# Fluval Tanks? Anyone using them?



## fflores

Is anyone using Fluval tanks?

I went to a fish store that i had always wanted to go to but just hadn't gone to today. Its called Ocean Aquarium Design. They had a very nice set up, they had all the tanks that they sold, set up with water and fish so that you get a real feel on what you are getting.

They are the only place that i've been to that had the Fluval Tanks set up and really showed off how sleek they are.

They had the Spec










They had the Chi both in 5gal and 6.6gal









They had the Edge









I am debating between getting 6.6gal Chi or the Edge for the living room, and possibly getting the spec to replace my current 1 gallon desktop tank at work


----------



## Malvolti

I personally love the design of Fluval tanks but I find them so expensive compared to a standard rectangular long or bowfront kit. Being a student I don't really have the extra cash to spend on pretty designer tanks.

I've seen them set up and stores and heard a few stories from others who loved them, I've never heard a bad word about Fluval.


----------



## fflores

I thinking of building my own tank as well, making a "open-bottom" tank. I can design it to size at work and have one of my our supply vendors cut the acrylic to size, or possibly find the a lower tank and upper section online somewhere or a store

something like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miAfNiVWjqw&feature=related


----------



## Alex09

Hmm. The only thing I would worry about is that you have to keep the water level so high on those things so there is a possibility of your fish jumping out. Otherwise I would go for it. I personally would choose the 5 gal. Looks the same as a 6 gal just shorter. Bettas (esp males) prefer not having to swim so high for air.


----------



## Creat

The edge I would use for betta's because you fill the water all the way up to the top so they cant get surface air except in that small square in the back. Although they are one of my favorite tanks on the market.


----------



## SmokeNLark

I just bought the edge for my dad for Christmas. It is absolutely stunning. It will be the hardest to clean out of the Fluval tanks, but personally, I think it's worth it. Unfortunately, I wouldn't put a betta in it either, for the same reason as Creat. There's hardly any surface area for a betta to breathe. I'd go with the Chi if you wanted a Fluval.


----------



## ilovebunnies

Fluval tanks are nice, but they can be difficult. Here is my rundown of their tanks:

__________________________________________________________________
The Fluval Edge is an awesome designer tank, my favorite of the fluval series. I love tanks where you don't see cords hanging all over the place. However, due to it only being 6 gallons, you are limited on what you can stock in the tank. I personally wouldn't keep a betta in the tank because the water level is suppose to be kept to the top of the glass. This only leaves a small hole for breathing. You could keep the water level down but I feel it takes away from the design. Also, keeping the water at this level might cause more water turbulence and make it hard for the fish to swim. Another issue with the edge is the lighting. The stock halogen bulbs that come with the tank can cause temperature fluctuations. Some brilliant people have upgraded the lighting to LEDs which don't get hot and even added additional lighting by rewiring different lighting. Another problem with the lighting is it is inadequate to light the tank. You could cluster the plants right under the lighting, but plants outside of the spotlight in the tank won't do well. Also, because of the small opening, this tank is really hard to clean. Not impossible but you have to be really dedicated to keeping this tank clean. They make accessories to make cleaning easier. Keeping fast fish in this tank is also difficult because it's so hard to catch them with the little opening.

Fluval Chi tanks are pretty too but you run into lighting problems if you want to keep live plants. Both size tanks are pretty nice but water level needs to be kept low from preventing fish from jumping. They may make an accessory to prevent jumpers, but I haven't seen it. Fluval also recently came out with lots of fake plant accessories for this tank and spiffy tank backgrounds, so keep an eye out if you are interested. 

Fluval Spec is an awesome little tank for shrimps and snails. It has a very powerful filtration system that is hidden nicely in the back of the tank. With the LED lights, you can probably keep low light plants in the tank. The tank is more of a pico tank than a nano. Swimming room is probably only ~1.5 gallons in this 2 gallon tank, 0.5 gallons is in the area with the filtration. Not really ideal for any fishy to swim in.

Fluval Ebi/Fluval Flora are probably the best of the fluval series to keep bettas in. They are 8 gallon tanks that come with a glass cover to keep jumpers in. Fluval Ebi comes with stuff to prepare the tank for shrimps, shrimp food and other stuff. It comes with the same light as the Fluval Flora, so you can grow plants in the Ebi. Fluval Flora comes with everything you need to make a nice planted tank, good substrate, decent light, and injectable CO2. Both have a fake rock background and pretty much come with everything you need to start a tank.
__________________________________________________________________

Hope this helps


----------



## luvem

*Fluval Chi*

I have the 5 gal. Fluval Chi and am having a problem getting the fountain to work. Have tried the instructions that came with it and still no luck. The sucking noise is driving me nuts! Thanks!


----------



## fflores

i bought the 6.6gal tank today... have to wait til tomorrow to fill it up because i don't think the glass top table that would put it on might not hold the 60 or so pounds. So tomorrow i have to pick up a side table


----------



## ilovebunnies

Can't wait to see pics, it will be eye candy for all!


----------



## weluvbettas

I have the Fluval Roma 90 ! For my community tank. Its great , its 23 us gallons .


----------



## chargers505

I have the Fluval Spec and I absolutely loove love love it. You can't literally hear a thing from it. It is the quietest tank I've ever had in my life. And then on top of that, I'm using Tetra Whisper 10....AHHHH feels so nice to sleep without any interruptions.


----------



## ChicagoPete

I heard many many complaints about the filtration on the Fluval ''no'' Chi I think its mostly because it litterally floats in the water at the top of the tank. But people ive seen with the Fluval Edge seemed to have no problems.


----------



## fflores

I have the tank set up right now... Not a single noise is coming from the filter system. I had adjusted the rocks that comes with the kit to decorate or control the flow of the water refeed.... The tank looks great, I am seeing what kind of temp i get with out a heater. At the moment its too low and i will have to get a heater for the tank soon. It reads 70F or so, and i am not going to raise the temp of the entire house just for the tank.

I will take pics shortly.

I did also take the time to go to a couple different fish stores, the place i got my tank at was really nice, but small. The woman behind the counter had good knowledge, much more then any of the big box stores. I showed her on my phone a pic of the kind of betta i am looking for and she said that its rare for them to get anything like that, but that they might be able to order something for me.

Last night i went to pick out side table for the tank, on my way home from work there is a ikea not too far out of the way, and i always like they simple style, so i headed there after work. In the same parking lot there was a place called "Aquarium Adventure", they had a great set up. I walked around for a bit and came across their betta collection. Each one was in a nice size mini vase, all had clean water, many different styles from VT/CT/DT a couple of Cambodians and a few marbles. I struck up a conversation with manager and his assistant and it was nice to talk with someone that not only cared about fishes but also were betta fans themselves and collected them. I showed them the pics from my cell phone as to what i'm looking for any they quickly knew exactly what the betta was (dragon masked HMPK)... most other places just say "oh a fancy betta".

They did warn me that i shouldn't get my hopes to high on finding something like that at any pet stop or locally for that matter, which i knew, but that maybe they can hook me up with one of their breeders see whats available. I left them my contact info and hopefully i'll get something to my liking soon enough.

So to the workers of Aquarium Adventure (one of them said they browse betta forums sometimes), thanks for your help and it was a pleasure having a conversation with someone that understood what they were talking about.


----------



## fflores

ChicagoPete said:


> I heard many many complaints about the filtration on the Fluval ''no'' Chi I think its mostly because it litterally floats in the water at the top of the tank. But people ive seen with the Fluval Edge seemed to have no problems.



Why would it "float" in the water? 

There is a base to the filter that attaches to the back of the tank, it i secured very nicely. Currently the water line is about 1.5 inches past the bottom of the filter box and about .5 inch from the top of the tank. i will be getting soem acrylic and cutting it to fit some time next week and have a custom top for it.


----------



## fflores

chargers505 said:


> I have the Fluval Spec and I absolutely loove love love it. You can't literally hear a thing from it. It is the quietest tank I've ever had in my life. And then on top of that, I'm using Tetra Whisper 10....AHHHH feels so nice to sleep without any interruptions.


I like the Spec and am considering it to replace my desktop mini tank at work. I just get caught up with the price, it is just as much as the 5gal chi


----------



## fflores




----------



## Grundylady

I really love the look of your Chi tank. I just went ahead and ordered the 6.6 Gallon chi and I am so excited for it to come in.

Are your plants plastic or real? Are you still liking the tank now a week later?

This is going to be my first tank and my first betta....I was hoping to have two female bettas but after some reading on this site I think I may go another route.

Any suggestions for a small community tank would be welcome.


----------



## fflores

Grundylady said:


> I really love the look of your Chi tank. I just went ahead and ordered the 6.6 Gallon chi and I am so excited for it to come in.
> 
> Are your plants plastic or real? Are you still liking the tank now a week later?
> 
> This is going to be my first tank and my first betta....I was hoping to have two female bettas but after some reading on this site I think I may go another route.
> 
> Any suggestions for a small community tank would be welcome.



Thanks for asking, i was actually going to post about the tank so for.

So i have had it up and running for a few days now....

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=58918

here are my thoughts on the tank so far.

1. I have had to top off the tank nearly every other day since filling it as the evaporation is kind of a problem. I hope i can control that a little better once i make a top for the tank.

2. Though the lighting is dramatic, especially when everything else in the room is turned off, as a light for fishes, it just quite doesn't do the job. It is a design/position. Since the light in at the bottom the of the filter and the filter is partly submerged into the water. I would approx about 30% of the tank (top portion and some of the side) isn't lit well enough... If the fishes hover in the top 30% of the tank, you basically do not get to see them.

3. I do like when i turn off the light and have all the other lights in the room off also, there is a single led that shines up thru the fountain section and glimmers on the celling. Kind of cool.

Overall, the Chi is a nicely built tank, but it would probably be better suited to be a shrimp tank or a guppies as they are much more active. Its seems like its more of a tank to show of the style of the tank rather then the fish. Which is fine, i would consider using 2 of them as home decor pieces rather then focusing them as fish tanks. I'm glad i didn't buy another one and when with a standard 20 long tank for the next set up.

Hope this helps anyone that is thinking of using this tank.


----------



## Jupiter

I just love Fluval tanks, especially the Fluval Ebi. I see it at some Petstores with a NPT shrimp setup, and it's stunning. If I had the money, I would definitely got one...but they're just too expensive! I can barely afford regular tanks, lol.


----------



## Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

I have a Fluval EDGE stick-on thermometer on my 5 gallon Tetra tank, lol. It was the cheapest, and it works fine. 

My boyfriend was drooling over the Fluval tank set ups, but it wasn't what I was looking for - cheap, easy to clean, and parts that would be standard. I stayed away from the Aqueon 5.5 gallon set up because I wasn't enthused about it being non-standard, and not being able to interchange standard parts. Although I must day the Aqueon set up I have seen look very nice...

I like the looks of the Spec but did not realize it was so tiny! Maybe some tiny tetras might do well in it...

Cheryl


----------



## FishyFriend1

nice tank!


----------



## pecktec

Hello Im a little late but speaking of Fluvals, I love my Flora! I have a video about it here.
http://www.youtube.com/user/pecktec?feature=mhum#p/u/3/Ircj_0Y3Y10


----------



## ilovebunnies

Nice view review of the fluval flora Pecktec. 

I thought about getting the Fluval 80 CO2 kit for my plants and replacing the diffuser that comes with it with a glass diffuser. How do you like the CO2 kit that came with the kit? How long does the CO2 tank last you for? Oh, and does it run constantly or do you turn it off at night?


----------



## pecktec

ilovebunnies said:


> Nice view review of the fluval flora Pecktec.
> 
> I thought about getting the Fluval 80 CO2 kit for my plants and replacing the diffuser that comes with it with a glass diffuser. How do you like the CO2 kit that came with the kit? How long does the CO2 tank last you for? Oh, and does it run constantly or do you turn it off at night?


I like it ok. It's a little big though. I actualy pulled it apart and I'm just using half of it for now. You fill up a bubble of co2 in it once a day and just let it desolve in there. So it doesnt run all the time.


----------



## Pekemom

Beautiful tank, Sean. Great job...I really would love to start up a planted tank. I'm on bonsai lover and would love to create an interesting planted environment. Maybe someday!!

I've got the Fluval 5 gal for my betta and I'm very happy with the tank. BTW. do you spend quite a bit of time caring for the plants and/or trimming?


----------



## pecktec

Pekemom said:


> Beautiful tank, Sean. Great job...I really would love to start up a planted tank. I'm on bonsai lover and would love to create an interesting planted environment. Maybe someday!!
> 
> I've got the Fluval 5 gal for my betta and I'm very happy with the tank. BTW. do you spend quite a bit of time caring for the plants and/or trimming?


Not on the Fluval the plants are just starting to take off. I like a lot of slow growing plants like Anubis. I do have this grass stuff in my 55 that wants to take over and java moss that's always on the move. But actual care for the tank is about 30 min a work week. Now it took a month for the nutrients to calm down and at first I was picking BBA off the plants twice a week. The guppy started eating it and soon it was gone as well.


----------

