I've had my Fluval Edge tank for almost 10 months now. I've owned a 29 gal and 10 gal tank before so I've had decent experience with freshwater tanks (not saltwater). I recently moved and wanted to get a small fish tank (4 gal at most) to add to my room, but my boyfriend talked me into getting the Fluval Edge because I could actually have a decent aquarium. We both liked the modern look of the tank too. I have 2 real wood logs, 2 live plants, 3 glolite tetras, 3 full-grown ghost shrimp (about 3" in length), 2 small suckerfish (they're almost smaller than the ghost shrimp), and about 2" in gravel bottom.
Now that it's been almost 10 months, I still love my tank and think every penny I spent on it was worth it. There are some funny quirks that serious aquarist would rather skip, but none of the quirks have deterred me from my love of the tank.
Pros:
-I love the modern look. I like how my cords and pump are all hidden and out of view. I hate buying those fake aquarium backings to hide everything.
-I like the 360 view. I like being able to look into my tank from the top and clearly see through to the bottom. It helps to keep track of my fish too.
-I like how it's a sturdy glass. Hagen didn't cheap on the glass construction. When you pick it up (it's a little heavy), you know you have a quality glass tank.
-Halogen lights give off a nice heat that actually helps heat the tank. I live in a place that has an average yearly temperature of about 67. So the extra heat from the lights help keep my tank warm.
-Halogen lights make my fish/plants look fine. I've had no "bleaching" issues with the lights. The fish retain their color just fine and I know what they look like when they are bleached (my fish were PALE when I moved).
-Filtration system works like a charm. I can stir up the bottom organic material to get it pretty turbid, but the pump/filters can clear it up in about 15 minutes. I change my filters regularly as is suggested, but you could probably go longer as long as you rinsed them every once in a while.
-I've had no problems with the tank that warrant any complaints. The minor quirks is as bad as it's gotten for me.
Cons/Quirks:
-The Fluval Edge heater (bought separately) only heats the water to about 2 degrees above the ambient temperature. This would be fine if I lived somewhere warm, but I live along the central coast of California and we're lucky if the weather gets hotter than 70 degrees. So sometimes my water gets down to 72 degrees even with the heater on or won't trigger quickly enough because the ambient temperature is within range. Get a different heater.
-The pump seems to be a little strong for my fish. My fish and shrimp swim fine in the tank, but since there's a small opening for food placement, tetras have to catch the food quickly or it gets pushed to the bottom before they can get to it. Not a big issue because the shrimp eat the excess food, I watch my fish to make sure they're eating enough, and I put flakes in at the corner furthest away from the inflow of water to keep the food on the surface longer, but it's still a little annoying. My fish do like to swim underneath the inflow of water and "play" in it, though. Anyway, delicate fish might not be ideal with the pump.
-Halogen lights don't disperse enough light to allow for flowering plants. Not a big issue again because I just replaced my more delicate plant (thinner leaves and flowered) with a plant with broader leaves and the plants are doing great. They're getting really big and my shrimp and suckerfish love the "levels" they can hide on.
-Lights do grow a green algae that can get pretty tough if left sitting long enough. If you've got a good suckerfish, shouldn't be a problem. Mine are pretty whimpy and did well the first few weeks I got them and now are kind of lazy.
-Hard to clean. Not a big issue again, but I bought a magnetic algae cleaner (non-Hagen brand), hand scrubber, and scrubber with handle. The scrubber with the handle works great, but can only be used for the back of the tank. Because of the opening, the handle gets in the way of allowing you to get the top, front of the tank. So the magnetic algae cleaner (really quite great) gets to the areas I can't or I just use the scrubber without the handle. I actually recommend the magnetic algae cleaners. The one I have makes life really easy.
-Had to buy the Fluval Edge fish net. Do NOT buy a NORMAL fish net with this tank! It will be worthless, stress your fish out, and make you want to do something bad to your tank, fish, or net. My boyfriend and I spent easily 1.5 hours trying to catch my fish/shrimp when I was moving and it was a huge frustration. The only way we got the shrimp finally (even with only a quarter of water left) was we put a plastic bag into the tank and herded the shrimp and fish into it. The Fluval Edge fish net, though, is a triangle shape and allows you to get into the corner of the tank with the opening. It's not perfect, but makes life a WHOLE lot easier. Definitely worth the buy to lower your fish and your stress level.
-Small concern about the glass tank hanging over the base. I live in California where there are earthquakes. It'd have to be an earthquake of the century for it to shake the tank off the base (it's kind of "hooked on" by the lid/pump to the base) thanks to how heavy it is with the water and glass tank, but it does kind of run through my head. It has survived perfectly fine through a few high 3's and a low 4, though.
As I said, the cons aren't really cons, but more quirks. You have to be willing to put up with the small quirks, but it hasn't affected anything for me.
A few comments on other reviews:
-I agree that if you had dual breathing fish this tank wouldn't be the best for you.
-My halogen lights have had no problems whatsoever. I haven't had to replace them or clean them. They look a little dirty, but nothing bad enough that requires me to clean them. They do heat up the metal grating at the top of the lid, but not enough to burn me, melt the cover, or allow for rusting to occur (I suspect the rusting occurred because it was a saltwater tank and less because of the lights). It's kind of a nice warmth you can rest your hand on and it's fine. Plus, as I said earlier, the heat helps heat my tank. The sockets of the lights have been fine too.
-The halogen lights wouldn't be ideal for jumping fish. I wouldn't be surprised if the fish got hurt if they jumped at a light.
-The button at the top and the cover, for me, have also been fine. The button turns and you can remove the cover if you want, but I leave mine on for added protection. No issues there.
-Bottom intake water pipe-thing is pretty open for anyone who wants to breed fish/shrimp and/or have smaller fish. I'd buy the extra thing to put over it to make sure your fish don't get sucked up into the filter. For me, I don't need it, but it would be needed for smaller fish (as in anything baby size).
Anyway, when it's all said and done...if you want a nice looking tank and don't mind putting in heartier fish/shrimp/plants into your tank, this tank will work just fine for you. The quirks I've had with it are manageable and don't require that much extra work, money, or time. If you don't want to mess with the fuss and the look doesn't grab you, don't buy it. If you like the look as I do and don't mind the quirks, I'd say go for it. I'd recommend the tank to anyone based off of my current review. The quirks aren't bad enough for me to not recommend it and the pros outweigh the quirks. I only give it a 4/5 because of the quirks. It's not perfect so shouldn't deserve a perfect rating.
======== UPDATE ==========
12/16/10 - It has been almost 11 months to the day I bought my Fluval Edge and ONE of the halogen lights finally died on me. Easy replacement (pull out the old one, put in the new one). I'm wondering when the 2nd one will die now.
I also mentioned in my review not to buy a normal fish net. I'm going to suggest to buy both. Buy a small regular rectangle net and buy the Fluval Edge net. At minimum, just do the Fluval Edge net and forget the regular one. I find, for whatever reason, I use the regular fish net for day-to-day things (smoothing gravel, moving things, catching the easy fish, etc) and will use the Fluval Edge one more for removing air bubbles and catching my hard-to-catch fish and shrimp.
One thing I did not mention earlier is a trick to remove air bubbles if your tank isn't level: Use your Fluval Edge net and simply shove it near the air bubbles at the top and "move" or "pull" the air bubbles out to the opening. Takes a few back-and-forth motions, but gets them out EVERY time with no other fuss. My tank is always 100% full without air bubbles. It always impresses people when they see the tank is 100% full too.
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08/10/11 - I wanted to do another update now that it's been over 1.5 years of having the tank. It's been through 3 moves (pretty much the same fish, except I now have 3 neon tetras, lost a glolite tetra (from age, it was always my biggest one from the start), and 2 of my shrimp died (presumably from age too)) and I just wanted to warn people who decide to move their tanks. My first two moves I pretty much packed the tank (base, cover, and glass tank) as it would be set-up in a box and stuffed it so it doesn't shift. It was fine after both moves. This last and most recent move, I was a little less careful because the box I had would only fit the tank and nothing else and I was in a rush. Well...Everything did okay except the cover.
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