10g planted, Flourite / Filter, Need Help

justintoxicated

justintoxicated

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Dec 19, 2005
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I want to do an easy 10 gallon planted tank, I only have a regular Flourescent light right now. I was thinking an aquaclear filter would be the way to go and a large bag of Flourite from petsmart?


Any other recomendations?

Also Could I mix some flourite in from this bag into my other tank? The other tank already has gravel so would probably not want to add too much.

Also I could use some Stocking suggestions, I plan to put some snails and guppies in, maybe some kind of algae eater? Any recomendationa for # of guppies or other small fish I can add would also be appreciated.
 
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For a low light tank any filter will do since you probably won't be injecting CO2.

Flourite is a good plant substrate and is a good choice if you want to grow crypts, one of the few low light plants that needs a good substrate. If you're just planning to keep java moss&fern, anubias, anacharis, or hornwort then the substrate won't matter.

Mixing substrate with less than 50% flourite won't do much to help plants, the more flourite the better.

Otocinclus is a good algae eater for a 10g tank since they remain tiny. They're schooling fishes so get at least 3. 4-6 guppies sound good, and maybe a dwarf honey gourami for a centerpiece fish.
 
I'm thinking about modifying my light fixture for PC bulbs and doing DIY CO2 Injection...Nothing too fancy totaly budget setup..

Aquaclear still a good choice?

I can more than 50% to the other tank as I have a crypt in there, it seems to be doing ok with normal gravel so far, but I dose with flourish excel also. would my best bet be to switch to almost 100% flourite? or can I mix some of my existing gravel? I only have about 1 inch of gravel on the bottem, but Can't go too much higher or the water will spill over the divider for the land side.

Would a 60/40 mix be beneficial? What about in my 10 plant tank? Shoudl I mix the bag of flourite with my blue gravel and distribute it to both tanks or do I really need like 60% flourite for best results?
 
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An aquaclear filter is fine, if there's too much surface agitation you can simply put a sponge in the outlet to reduce it.

About mixing gravel and plant substrate, obviously a flourite only substrate is best for heavy root feeders but you can go with a 50/50 mix. Its not an exact science so you can go 60/40 if you want but the more plant substrate the better. I spend more money on my plants than I do fish so I usually go all out on the substrate.
 
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Justin, my experience with submersible filters has not been very good. They're cheap, they're enticing, but they may be more trouble than they're worth.

My worst experience was with an Aquarium Systems Duetto submersible filter for a 10gal. The Duetto is dark, flat and easy to hide, but it is ridiculously difficult to open and clean. I gave up cleaning it long ago and now use it as a very large but very weak powerhead. All it's doing is circulating the water. The tank actually does quite well without any mechanical filtration at all.

With my other 10gal I decided to give someone else a try and purchased an Elite Stingray filter. It's more visible than the Duetto and is difficult to hide. It has an unusual shape and maintenance is still a bit of a chore but at least it comes apart easily enough. My main gripe is that the flow rate is quite powerful and you can't dial it down. Since the powerhead sits very high in the water column you either have to keep your tank topped off at all times or mount the filter horizontally so that the powerhead is well below the surface.

When it came to planting my 20gal I contemplated a canister filter but decided upon the Eheim Aquaball instead. It looked like it had all the versatility of a canister but for $30 bucks less. And it's true.. it is by far the best submersible filter I've owned. It is versatile, easy to clean, easy to maintain. But it is also HUGE... ungodly HUGE! It doesn't look like it in the photos but that ball is about 4 inches in diameter. It doesn't sit flat up against the glass like all the other filters. It sticks out more than four inches the middle of your aquarium. It gets in the way of plants, it cannot be hidden at all, and its unnatural green color ensures that it is the first thing that is noticed from all angles. I loved it! I hated it! I have since removed it in favor of a Fluval 204 canister filter.

Honestly in my experience I say forget about mechanical filtration in a 10gal and go with a small submersible pump for circulation. A weekly siphon should be all you'll ever need as far as mechanical filtration is concerned, and you're going to have to do that anyway, so why bother yourself with a needless chore like cleaning a tiny filter that probably loses its effectiveness after a day or two? That's my take on it.
 
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