filter for 30 gallon planted tank

[bradl]

Can someone suggest some filters for my new tank that i am going to be setting up the in the next couple weeks..................So far i know that i am going to have a aqualight 96watt cf light,shultz aquatic soil for substrate. This tank is going to be heavily planted, and i dont want something that is going to cause too much current so i was considering a cansiter filter. Any ideas are welcome.

[CHINABOY1021]

for canister, ehiem is the way to go. but it's hell expensive.

i think the HOT magnum is pretty good. it's basically a canister. but it has a small media compartment. but cheap, plus with plants, you dont need much mechanical filteration. also im assuming you're not going to keep messy fish since it's a planted tank

[TwoTankAmin]

China you have that backwards. Planted tanks need little bio filtration but will need mech filtration.

With that much light you must run co2 or you will have great algae.

With co2 you need you minimized surface agitation. If you go with a small canister or a Hot Magnum, jury rig a spraybar if one does not come with it. You can add holes to reduce the currents if you need to.

[AMiR UNC]

I have a HOT magnum on a 38gallon planted tank. Like the previous poster said, I also suggest a spraybar. The output tube that comes with the HOT magnum produces a lot of surface movement and therefore CO2 loss...you can prevent this by keeping the water level high at all times and pointing the output down.

However, what I did was get an extra intake tube for the hot magnum, stop up one end of it and make holes so you have a spraybar.

[anonapersona]

I hear good reports on the Filstar XP line, XP1 is $66 and up to 45 gallons 165gph, XP2 is $86 and up to 75 gallon tank 230gph. (DrsFosterSmith.com)

[anonapersona]

I find that the Schultz Aquatic soil is pretty light, I used it in my pond plants and the goldfish dug it all up immediately. You might do some investigating on this before you invest in a lot of it.

[somefinnfishy]

did you get that aqualight with the 6700K bulbs.
I just found out they come in fresh and salt
I thought I had to buy the salt fixture and replace the new bulbs.

[125gJoe]

I like the Filstar XP canister filters. There are several options on setting it up too. I like how the "spray bar" can be configured. It's not really a "spray bar" since it's under the surface. You can vary the flow rate too. A simple design that's real nice is the handles on the filter (unlike Fluval) that make it easy to carry when cleaning. I also have a Fluval 404, and found my Filstar XP-3 to filter out more debris than the Fluval. HTH

Rena Filstar (http://www.rena.net/cgi-bin/trans.pl/en/products/rena_range/rena_filstar_xp.shtml)

[Hebdizzle]

I have a fluval 204 on mine (not planted though) :D