10 Gallon Planted from the ground up
- Thread starter eugenet
- Start date
As far as plant choices I already have some dwarf hairgrass but its not doing too well in my low light tanks, also some dwarf lily hybrids that are finally sprouting and Id like to have high enough light for them to have the red leaves. All the info Ive seem says HOB filters arent good for a planted tank as the surface agitation will gas off too much of the CO2 so thats why I was looking into a small canister. :read:
Um, ok, did you see the pictures of my tank? It may not be the prettiest tank, but it is packed full of plants. It has a HOB filter, so I can tell you with absolute certainty that it doesn't lose too much CO2 as the plants are flourishing. All my tanks have HOB filters and they all grow plants, with or without CO2 injected. The only ways I could imagine that a HOB filter would agitate the surface too much would be if you kept the water line an inch or more below the return, or if you had a 50g filter on a 10g, essentially creating a wave pool.
You won't need a ton of filtration as it is, since you will have a lot of plants helping to keep it clean. Floating plants will really help in that respect. So do whatever you want, but if it were me, I'd spend the money I'd save by not buying a canister filter on some more plants, or some really cool shrimp, or those ferts that Rex is selling...
You won't need a ton of filtration as it is, since you will have a lot of plants helping to keep it clean. Floating plants will really help in that respect. So do whatever you want, but if it were me, I'd spend the money I'd save by not buying a canister filter on some more plants, or some really cool shrimp, or those ferts that Rex is selling...
If you are injecting CO2 and there is surface agitation then you will lose some CO2, this is because the water will try to form an equilibrium with the air above. If you are not injecting CO2, you are likely to have less CO2 in the water than the air above, so you may actually gain some CO2 with surface agitation.
If you are doing a high light tank and injecting about 30ppm of CO2 then you'll want to reduce the surface agitation as much as possible, this is where a canister filter is ideal.
If you are going for a low light setup or just using some CO2 to improve growth then it doesn't matter whether or not you use a canister or HOB filter.
If you are doing a high light tank and injecting about 30ppm of CO2 then you'll want to reduce the surface agitation as much as possible, this is where a canister filter is ideal.
If you are going for a low light setup or just using some CO2 to improve growth then it doesn't matter whether or not you use a canister or HOB filter.
Sorry if it came across as if I wasn't appreciative of your help geofied, I really do like the look of densely planted tanks like yours. I have plants in my other 2 tanks but they are both low light with only one having any added Co2 and I'm just wanting to do this one right to start with. I had been looking into a Whisper HOB that has a flow control knob, but the store stopped carrying that model and the next bigger size would be overkill if it would even fit behind my hood. Again thanks for all your help everybody I do truly appreciate it.
eugenet, no need to apologize at all, I just want to make sure you are getting balanced info and understand that in this hobby one size truly does not fit all. *cough* ferts *cough*...
I am doing hight lights and injecting fermented CO2, but I also have a full cover of duckweed that filters some of those watts.
I love my aquaclear filters, but if you don't like surface agitation, they can be your mortal enemy, especially as the water level drops a bit. I found that the cheapo whisper 10 that I have in the tank I posted has a near perfect water return that seems to push the water flow along the surface horizontally as opposed to cascading it down vertically or at a sharp angle (even when the water level drops a bit). Probly cause it has a nice lip on it. I'm not as big a fan of the filter media in the whisper, but it's a trade-off.
One little tip I can give you that might be unorthodox, but hey, I seem to be a rebel around here anyway. When my wife was griping about how my aquaclear would annoy her at night since the water return was loud, I would prop a fish net under the flow and it would make it perfectly silent, as well as virtually kill the agitation. Ideally one could use that technique during the day when you don't want agitation, but at night remove it to release some of the CO2 that the plants are now releasing. In a perfect world I would patent such a device and sell it to HOB naysayers, but I'm too busy chatting on forums these days to do anything productive.
Adventitious plants ...er, regards
I am doing hight lights and injecting fermented CO2, but I also have a full cover of duckweed that filters some of those watts.
I love my aquaclear filters, but if you don't like surface agitation, they can be your mortal enemy, especially as the water level drops a bit. I found that the cheapo whisper 10 that I have in the tank I posted has a near perfect water return that seems to push the water flow along the surface horizontally as opposed to cascading it down vertically or at a sharp angle (even when the water level drops a bit). Probly cause it has a nice lip on it. I'm not as big a fan of the filter media in the whisper, but it's a trade-off.
One little tip I can give you that might be unorthodox, but hey, I seem to be a rebel around here anyway. When my wife was griping about how my aquaclear would annoy her at night since the water return was loud, I would prop a fish net under the flow and it would make it perfectly silent, as well as virtually kill the agitation. Ideally one could use that technique during the day when you don't want agitation, but at night remove it to release some of the CO2 that the plants are now releasing. In a perfect world I would patent such a device and sell it to HOB naysayers, but I'm too busy chatting on forums these days to do anything productive.
Adventitious plants ...er, regards
I'm inspired to reconvert my old 10 gal which I turned into a terrarium. But I grew more algae in the terrarium than I ever did in my aquarium!! Who'd have thought that was possible?
:dance: Took your advice geofied and went with a Walmart Special HOB instead of spending the extra on that canister. Current inhabitants are Crowntail male and 1 MTS I found when as I was moving plants from the 29 to the new 10. Very sparsely planted now but hopefully that won't last long. Just has a few crypts, some dwarf hairgrass, 1 hybrid lily, a marimo ball and a tiny piece of java moss. Spidey (the betta) was the only one at the store that looked like he wanted to open up a can even in that little cup he was in. Right now he isnt cooperating with picture time, but his face and half his body is black with a blue and red tail. He wasn't in the tank 5 minutes and was already flaring at nothing and right now he is showing the tank wall he is in charge :devil: : 
My camera is pretty crappy but here is the first pic :bday: I'll try and get some more when the water clears up a little.
My camera is pretty crappy but here is the first pic :bday: I'll try and get some more when the water clears up a little.
Sweet. That betta will love a 10g. If you are looking for good tank mates for your tough-guy, I've had no problems with corydoras, otocinclus, and shrimpys. I'll warn you, I dropped an stressed out female guppy in with my betta and he started flaring and biting her. Got her out immediately.
Get some fast growing stem plants in there ASAP, waiting until those plants grow out is likely going to lead to algae problems.
