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Fluval Spec II, III, V Owners Thread

196K views 750 replies 148 participants last post by  fernielou 
#1 ·
I'm loving my new Fluval Spec III. Just wanted a place for Spec owners to show off, share their problems, mods, thoughts, and experience with these amazing little all in one tanks. Calling out all Spec owners, where you at?!?!!! :-D
 

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#239 ·
I just bought a Spec III and love it; however I have noticed something. After the LED light has been on for say 30 - 45 mins, the power adapter is absolutely BURNING hot. Can someone else with a Spec tank check your adapter (after the light has been on for a while) and see if it's hot to the touch on the sides, and on the backside facing the outlet? I thought LEDs were supposed to use less power, perhaps I should return my tank?

Normally, I would overlook something like this but the level of heat is alarming. If you have not noticed this, you should check it too.
 
#241 ·
Thank you for checking this. When I unplugged it from the wall, you could really feel it on the side of the adapter facing the plug in. I will call Fluval and see what they say. Even when I turned the light off but left it plugged in, it was still warm, hence the reason I think it could meltdown or burn my house down
 
#248 ·
This is my Spec.

Before:



After:



Kinda preferred the Before tank though :eek:
Anyway, all those plants in there thrive and are a nice green colour, as you can see. (Except for the Red Flame Sword, but that's normal xD)

Really disliking the Cabomba though.
 
#250 ·
Hope this doesn't count as resurrecting a dead thread, but I just bought a Spec III. The fish should arrive in three or four days. I've conditioned the water and added some API Quick Start. I think the cloudiness might be due to the Quick Start having accelerated the cycling, and should be gone soon.

I'll be moving to college on the 16th, but I don't trust the college mailroom to notify me when my fish arrives by mail, so I'll be acclimating him in this tank, then packing up the water, sticking him in a fish bag, and driving him up to Oregon. I hope it's not too uncomfortable for him!
 

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#256 ·
Hello everyone!! Just found this site, and its great!! I've been out of the hobby for years, but happened across the Spec V for $63 at Petco, and said what the heck!! Anyhoo, got the tank home, got it set up, and cycled it for 2 days before adding a twin tail betta.

The pumps set on low, and was still pushing the little fella around. So I cut the bottom off a water bottle and trimmed it to look like a small "e". The open end acts as a hook for hanging it in the pump well, and it calms the water flow nicely. But my betta seems to enjoy the water flow and just swims back and forth in it. Guess he just likes flow....
 

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#260 · (Edited)
cycled it for 2 days before adding a twin tail betta.
Two days? So you are doing a "fish in" cycle. And those are not live plants?

Did you buy a test kit so you will know your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?

If not, I would recommend that.....

Spec V (I have two of them.... Each has a male betta and a Nerite snail in it) are really to small for anything but Pygmy cory cats, and they prefer groups of 6-10 to be happy. I tried putting some in my first Spec V. The store originally sold 6 of them to me to go in with one of my betas, when I was first starting out. Bad advice from them. Less than a minute in the tank after quarantine and the betta attacked them, mortally injuring two, taking the tail off the third, which, somehow it has survived nearly a year now without a tail. :shock: I hurried and took the betta out, got the cories back into the quarantine tank. That was when I bought my 15 and set it up for nano fish. Had the remaining 4 Cory for many months in that 15 waiting for the store to get more, and they hid all the time. I rarely saw them. The store never got any more in when i was there. Finally a couple weeks ago, I mail ordered in 7 young Pygmy Cory to put with them, and what a difference. Now they are swimming all over, like proper Cory cats.

I have a Nerite snail in with each of my bettas in their Spec Vs. A few pond snails hitchhike in there with plants from my bigger tank, but that is it. I don't have any issue keeping it clean with just a male betta and a Nerite, proper filter care, live plants, and water changes. Of course, it was properly cycled to start with, and I am careful how much I feed the betta and the snail. I don't have much algae so I feed the snail a little so it stays healthy.
 
#261 ·
I have 3 panda cory cats and they're fine, but my betta is too aggressive to have in a community tank. I would stay away from pleckos as well because the ones that will stay small enough to stay in a tank that size get very aggressive towards long finned fish like bettas. You could try Otto cats, but they're very fragile fish so I would not suggest them in a tank that does not have a stable nitrogen cycle. I also did in fish cycling in my spec v, bettas are very hardy and as long as you pay attention to your chemical levels, your betta won't suffer.
If you're hell bent on having fish in with your betta, you could try African dwarf frogs. Two would be about all you could have, though. Bettas are really territorial and solitary. Other fish are more likely to stress your betta out rather than soothe him. There are exceptions to every rule though, I have seen a few bettas who did just fine in a community tank.

Let's talk about your plants. They look lovely but I would suggest as you get used to caring for your tank and fish, replace your plastic plants with live pants over time. Look for plants that do well in low light (the LEDs in the spec v aren't strong enough to keep the fussier plants going). My suggestions are marimo moss balls, java fern and amazon sword. They're hardy plants and the perks are that they'll help with the nitrates and because they'll be sucking up all the plant nutrients, you should not have much algae. Plus, your betta can chill in a natural plant with no worry of slicing his fins and tail on the sharp edges of the plastic leaves. You need to watch for fin rot as well.
Are you using a water conditioner? If you're using nutrafin chemicals and bottled bacteria, you'd be better off tossing them and buying Prime by seachem. A drop when you do a water change will do wonders.
 
#263 ·
Thanks for the advice guys!! I've got the test kits, and doing checks twice a day...so far, so good. Between the Fluval moss ball, filter and the ammonia remover bag, everything is being kept in check. I picked up Prime when I got the tank from reading around. Over time I plan on getting some low light plants. And now that I think about it, I may just get a few shrimp once I start putting real plants.
 
#264 ·
Sounds like everything's going really well :D you're going to need to go for a larger breed of shrimp if you want to keep them with a betta. I tried cherries recently and they were devoured. Amano or ghost shrimp Would have a better chance. Just don't get any long armed shrimp because they have a nasty habit of tearing up flowing fins with their claws. Shrimp are also incredibly sensitive to water parameters, so I would wait at least a month. They're great little creatures though and will keep your tank very clean
 
#265 ·
Yeah, ghost shrimp seem to be the ones to go with. The tank was a little cloudy last night after 2 days, but its clearing up today. And I must say, this little fella is the most curious betta I've ever had. Most in the past have just swam around the top, and flair up once in awhile. But this guy is just starting to get comfortable with the place after being in a cup most of his life. He's all over exploring, and even cleaning up the gravel!! :) I'd forgotten how entertaining they can be.
 
#266 ·
A few pics of my Fluval Spec III that I've had for three or so weeks now. He loves it so far. If you see his top fin, yeah, it looks like most of it fell off or was ripped off somehow when he was still in his old tank, the rest of his fins look ok, and I've been doing water changes and adding stress coat to try to get him to heal up, but nothing so far. He seems ok otherwise.

Anyway, this is an awesome tank and the filter keeps the water crystal clear.
 

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