Small Fish Tanks: The Fluval Edge Aquarium Review

The Fluval edge nano tank aquarium is a sleek looking modern fish tank. It is available in 2 compact and slightly larger sizes, 23 litres and 46 litres, in either a black or white aquarium design.

The Fluval Edge is an interesting design give the impression that it’s floating about the surface it’s placed on.

With the right additions to the tank, you can keep this modern theme going to create a fantastic looking tank.

This is the type of aquarium that looks great with carefully placed lighting and high-end floors or carpet. You also can opt to restore or deep clean existing floors or carpet for a new look without spending a bundle. Companies like EcoSan can clean and restore carpets much more affordably than you would think.

For the highest impact effect on your decor, you’ll want to plan placement of the aquarium close to electrical outlets so you can add accessories without running a bunch of unattractive power cords all over the room. A call to an electrician takes care of inexpensive additional outlets if you need to add an outlet or two to your space. They can branch off electrical from existing outlets or switches in the room.

The best thing about the Fluval Edge is it gives you a great aquarium setup in a fully standalone form factor. At some point, you may add a heater, filtration system, etc. to go along with any live fish you put in the aquarium. This ease of installation and rollout makes the Fluval Edge  a great beginner’s aquarium; it is a stark contrast to the amount of work required to install a giant dedicated aquarium filling up one whole wall of a large room. It can be done, but these huge aquariums typically require a good deal of infrastructure, including dedicated water heaters, aerators and more.

The 46-liter option gives you a wider choice of design, and its depth means you can create a striking look with a mix of lower swimming fish (like neons or any tetras) and surface swimmers (like guppies).

This gives a vision of fish through the tank and makes the tank come alive with color. Its an excellent tank for brightening up the corner of a room and makes a real statement when planted and stock correctly.

Fluval Edge Aquarium – Pros & Cons

 

Pros

Design that sets it apart from other tanks

All filters and lighting built into the back column so not unsightly wires

Additional heater cables will go through the back section too.

Day night lights give a different look when changed to blue in the evening.

Cons

Opening of the aquarium tank is limited which makes the initial setup tricky.

Has a holed cover and needs regular water adding (1 beaker a week roughly) to stop the running water getting to loud or disturbing the stones.

No timer for the lights mean they have to be switched from day to night manually every day.

Fluval edge review
  • Design
  • Ease of setup
  • Maintance
4.2

Summary

The Fluval edge is a fantastic small aquarium for the modern home or office.

Sending
User Review
4 (2 votes)

Choosing the right aquarium and aquarium size

Obviously the colour choice codes down to you personally, below shows the different options available – click on the image to see the product on Amazon.

The size of the tank depends on the space you have for it with the 46 litre one being much taller than the 23 litre option.

The 23 litre is great as a starter tank or shrimp tank, the larger tank is still fine as a starter or shrimp tank but gives you more options with the design and you can stock more fish.

46 Liter Tank Black or White

Fluval Edge 46 Litre Desktop Aquarium

 

23 Litre Nano Tank Black or White

Fluval Flex Small Aquarium

 

Setting up the Fluval Edge

When you first setup the Fluval edge you need to have a plan for how you want it to look as the initial work is key to a good looking aquarium.

Starting with the gravel or sub-trait colour for the look you’re going for.

The Fluval edge comes in black or white so select the option you require. Both look good with a dark gravel and if you’re having a planted aquarium then you’ll need a decent depth.

The next thing to consider is the setup of stones, plants or ornaments. As mentioned in the cons the hole to put these in is smaller than the dimensions of the tank so you need to make sure you can fit everything through.

With the filter running water in from the back it’s best to not directly block the middle back of the tank so the water flows well.

The tank looks really good with a central feature or one off  set to the left or right – like a cliff face look for example.

This means the fish swim out in the open water and the shrimp will scurry in and out of the feature looking for food.

If possible you can build a nice rock feature over a shrimp house like below then you may get the shrimp to breed.

shrimp house for nano aquarium

This can then have Java moss other plans added around it and in the gaps to create a natural look. Or us this as the base to add the rocks over it for a really natural shrimp home.

I have this setup in one of my tanks where I took this shrimp house and used Jewel conexo  glue to stick on rocks with Java moss on and used bamboo canes with Java moss over the entrance.

My shrimp absolutely love this home and its always covered in small shrimp.

General maintenance of the tank

When it comes to cleaning the Edge is also a bit of a pain – Especially in the 23L version.

There are magnets that you can use for the algae cleaning on the glass but I don’t think these do a fantastic job really.

Its best to do a water change at the same time and get your arm in with a scraper – one like this is cheap and easy to use.

Best Algae Cleaner

 

 

It only takes a few minutes to get clean and sparkling again which is a good thing. The 46L tank is easier to get in and clean as its a good depth, but it’s still not as simple as the Fluval Flex tank

There are some dedicated accessories for this tank that will help with the cleaning – these are designed to make it easier with the small opening.

  • Gravel Cleaner  – This is great for keeping the bottom of the tank clean of you don’t have a plant carpet.

 

  • Replacement filter cartridges – your filter media will need replacing every 6 months to 1 year depending on what you keep in the tank

 

Conclusions

Over all the tank is stunning to look at and there’s  no other tank like it on the market. It does have its challenges in terms of design and upkeep and we’d recommend the 46L version.

You’d struggle to find a more contemporary tank and if thats what you are looking for then this is the absolute best tank for you.

Some example setups*

*Please note these are not our setups, just ones we’ve seen and we try our best to reference the designer where possible.

This one is from You Tube and you can see it live here –

I really like how the clean white sand sets off agains the dark bog wood with just a few plants in for effect. This is a really effective design in the space and keeps the contemporary feel without too much maintenance.

Fluval edge accessories

Fluval make a couple of dedicated accessories for the Edge tank. You can use these to keep the very sharp look of the tank if you prefer a clearer tank.

Zen walled garden 

Fluval Edge Bamboo Wall Ornament

 

This is designed to sit at the back of the tank for the water to flow into. It create a nice zen, calming, feel to the tank and I think it looks nice of thats the look your going for.

Gravel cleaner

Fluval specailist gravel cleaner for the edge tank.

 

Whilst you may not think that this is key, trust us – this is something you’ll need if you’re not having a planted bottom!

This cleaner really helps you with getting into the corners of the tank, due to its small hole this can be a little tricky at times!