The Fluval Flex 34L is a 9 US gallon rimless nano fresh water tank that comes readily complete with the basic but essential equipment you’ll ever need to jump start an aquarium hobby right out of the box.
The Fluval Flex 34L has a small footprint to easily maintain and to be placed virtually anywhere in the house especially great for a bedroom, dorm room, office room or just simply accent a small living space or any area you like.
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Fluval Flex 34L includes:
- Glass aquarium with cover.
- LED lighting system with remote control.
- Safe, low-voltage transformer.
- Circulation pump with output nozzle.
- Foam filter block with handle.
- Activated carbon insert.
- BIOMAX insert.
- LED remote control.
- Under tank pad.
- (Available in white or black)
Size, Shape and Design
The Fluval Flex 34L is basically the smaller version of Fluval Flex 57L. (Fluval Flex 34L dimension 14″Lx13″Wx13″H / 33x33x35 cm)
At first glance, the 34L aquarium is noticeably very compact for its cube shape and features a unique vertical bowfront glass design facing for better viewing experience with a honeycomb wrap that goes along the front including the sides and back to hide the watermarks.
What surprising about the 34L is that, it is not that too small at all. As far I’m concern and if you will take my word for it. It is just about the right size and shape aquarium for those who are looking for a small but spacious nano tank.
This aquarium kit includes as well a styled lid cover to prevent fast water evaporation and prevent fish from jumping out of the tank.
On the lid cover is where the 7500 LED lamp is attached with a receiver for the light remote. There is also a small feeding hole and a port at the back to neatly slide the cords for the LED light, pump, and optional heater to buy separately.
Not to forget to mention, there is a pre-cut levelling rubber mat that comes readily with the kit to support the bottom of the aquarium when placed on the Fluval stand or in any stand and table.
Fluval Flex 34L Features in a Glance:
- 7500K LED lamp supports plant growth and enhances fish colors.
- Fully adjustable White + RGB LEDs for endless color blends.
- LED remote can also control fun special effects (i.e. fading cloud cover, lightning bolts).
- Powerful 3-stage filtration for superior water quality.
- Oversized mechanical (foam), chemical (carbon) and biological (BIOMAX) media included.
- Multi-directional dual outputs for customized water flow.
- Hidden rear filter compartment.
- Stylish honeycomb wrap conceals water line and sides of rear compartment.
- Easy feed top cover opening.
- Bold curved front design.
- For freshwater use only.
Filtration System
The built-in 3-stage filtration system is placed at the back of every Fluval Flex aquarium that provides an effective filtration and filter capacity.
Filtration starts of with the two inlet grills located on top and bottom of the first filtration chamber to pass the water in the two other chambers of the filtration system.
The first chamber is the entry compartment where you can optionally add extra filter foam or additional media if you want too.
Then second chamber is to place the already included filter foam block for mechanical filtration, ceramic media for biological filtration and carbon for chemical filtration in the aquarium kit.
You can always remove or elect not to use at all the carbon if you will apply aquarium plant fertilizer on a planted tank for it to be effective or when putting medication.
Then the final chamber is now where the pump is to be located and attached to the pump are the two outlet nozzles that are adjustable.
These two outlet nozzles is best adjusted pointing at the top of the water to promote water agitation for more oxygen and gas exchange in the tank.
You can also place a heater in the third chamber along side the pump to better heat the water because of the water movement made by the pump in the third chamber.
The pump by the way that comes with the kit is pretty powerful and impressively quiet in providing a 500 litres per hour maximum flow-rate for good water circulation on such a small aquarium.
Overall, the Fluval Flex 3-stage filtration has a great sump like design for an effective filtration system and gives a clean look on the set up of the aquarium by hiding the equipment compared to a hang on back and other types of internal filters.
LED Light System
The lighting system on this all-in-one aquarium kit is a 7500K fully adjustable and programmable white light plus RGB LED’s controlled by a remote to choose up to 80+ colors and effects.
This LED lighting is good enough to easily grow low to medium light requirement aquarium plants like an anubias, java fern, java moss, amazon sword, dwarf sagittaria, bacopa monneiri and cryptocoryne just to name a few.
What to Like and Not to Like about the Fluval Flex 34L
Weighing on the pros and cons of this aquarium kit.
It is still impressive overall and the drawback are given upfront when receiving, opening and setting up the tank. The filtration will take some of the space, and the lighting system coming with the kit will be just decent but not the type to grow high tech aquarium plants.
Now when it comes to fish, adding 5 to 10 2-3 inch small fish is maximum best for this small nano tank. More than that number will be already overcrowding the tank.
You might already want to consider the Fluval 57L 15 gallons or the Fluval 123L 32.5 gallons if you plan to put in schooling fish or simply a community tank with more variety of nano fish.
Pros:
- Filtration and lighting system is way better than many other all-in-one aquarium kit.
- Great value for the small price to pay for this aquarium kit.
- Pump is quiet.
- Highly customizable with many custom parts upgrade and original replacement parts available.
- Compact aesthetic clean design.
- Recommended 1st aquarium for beginners on the hobby.
Cons:
- The built-in 3-stage filtration system eats up at least 2 to 3 gallons of swimming and aquascaping space.
- Impossible to upgrade the lighting system without removing permanently the lid.
- Filter system inlet grills spacing are big for fries and shrimps to pass through.
- Water heater is not included in the kit like other AIO aquarium kit.
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Best Aquarium Fishes for Small Aquarium
Despite the Fluval Flex 34L is only a small 34 litre or 9 gallon tank compared to its bredren the Fluval Flex 57L and 123L. It is still suitable for a wide variety of species of small fish, schooling fish and shrimp in the hobby. Like the different types of betta fish, platy, danios, tetras, rasboras, corydoras, neocaridina and caridina shrimps, and more.
Just always remember to nitrogen cycle a brand new tank by growing beneficial bacteria. Also do not over stock a small tank with lots of fish and never overfeed the fish because it can cause an ammonia spike.
Aquascaping Plants and Hardscapes
The fishes, shrimps and snails you will be taking care of and living in the aquarium will be a lot happier if you build a thriving ecosystem by also adding live aquatic plants and some hardscapes in the aquarium.
Some of the nicest aquarium plants you can begin aquascaping with are ephiphyte plants, some stem plants and floating plants with low to medium light requirements and can grow by adding only aquarium fertilizer and even without CO2 injection. These low tech aqaurium plants are the java fern, anubias, water sprite, cryptocoryne, ludwiga, bacopa, rotala, cabomba, hornwort, frogbit, water lettuce, and guppy grass.
While for hardscaping to create unique layout and textures, there are so many choices for rocks, small to large driftwood and different types of substrates like sand, gravel, small pebble stones and aqua soil. Popular rocks used in hardscaping an aquarium are the pebbles, lava rocks, dragon stone and seiryu stone.
Tips on How Often Do You Need to Water Change a Small Nano Aquarium
A good rule of thumb to follow is to perform a weekly water change for your small aquarium tank. The reason for that is simply because a smaller nano aquarium has lesser volume of water which makes it less stable when compared to a larger tank setup with more water.
Personally I water change my small Fluval Flex 34L 9 gallon aquarium 2 times in a week during Thursday and Sunday. 20% of water on Thursday and 20% of water on Sunday. With a total of 40% water volume is changed in a week.
I find it a lot easier, faster for me and safer for the fish to change water twice a week to avoid sudden changes in water parameters and sudden drop in temperature that can harm and worst come for worst kill the fish after water change.
Products you will need to water change an aquarium are the siphon hose and a pale to remove the water out of the tank. Water conditioner to neutralize or remove the chlorine, chloramine and other harmful metals present in the tap water that can kill the fish and beneficial bacteria living on the tank.
Final Take
In overall, starting from the aquarium, filtration, lighting and regarding how is much the price. We can conclude that the Fluval Flex 34L aquarium is one of the best if not the very best nano aquarium kit available on the market today. Together with the Fluval Flex 57L and Fluval Flex 123L to choose from in the series. You have all the option for size that you prefer on a tank and have all the equipment you’ll need to start right away the hobby.