Filter for 5 gallon
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I had this one in a 25 litre tank a few years ago
www.fishkeeper.co.uk
It has an optional mini spray bar which includes a flow regulator so it can by turned down if the flow is too strong for a 5 gallon tank.
The media is a sponge with a carbon filled hollow. I threw away the carbon and put the media from the old filter into the hollow instead.
The only downside is that the suckers are fixed in and can't be removed so when they get old they can't be replaced. The betta I had when this happened used to sleep on top of the filter which eventually started to fall off the glass and finally refused to stay in place.
So I replaced it with a sponge filter powered by an air pump. This type of filter is also very suitable for a small tank.
I have read about the Dennerle corner filter being good, but I have no personal experience of it
dennerle.com
Aqua Internal Filter
Aqua Range Aqua Internal Filters have a dual action filter cartridge, contained within the filter, consisting of the 3 forms of filtration: mechanical, biological and chemical. The fully open structure filter foam provides optimal mechanical filtration an
The media is a sponge with a carbon filled hollow. I threw away the carbon and put the media from the old filter into the hollow instead.
The only downside is that the suckers are fixed in and can't be removed so when they get old they can't be replaced. The betta I had when this happened used to sleep on top of the filter which eventually started to fall off the glass and finally refused to stay in place.
So I replaced it with a sponge filter powered by an air pump. This type of filter is also very suitable for a small tank.
I have read about the Dennerle corner filter being good, but I have no personal experience of it
Natur erleben - Mit den Dennerle Aquarium Systemen
dennerle.com
tysm for your helpI had this one in a 25 litre tank a few years ago
It has an optional mini spray bar which includes a flow regulator so it can by turned down if the flow is too strong for a 5 gallon tank.Aqua Internal Filter
Aqua Range Aqua Internal Filters have a dual action filter cartridge, contained within the filter, consisting of the 3 forms of filtration: mechanical, biological and chemical. The fully open structure filter foam provides optimal mechanical filtration an
The media is a sponge with a carbon filled hollow. I threw away the carbon and put the media from the old filter into the hollow instead.
The only downside is that the suckers are fixed in and can't be removed so when they get old they can't be replaced. The betta I had when this happened used to sleep on top of the filter which eventually started to fall off the glass and finally refused to stay in place.
So I replaced it with a sponge filter powered by an air pump. This type of filter is also very suitable for a small tank.
I have read about the Dennerle corner filter being good, but I have no personal experience of it
Natur erleben - Mit den Dennerle Aquarium Systemen
which ones would be okay for shrimp and bettas?I had this one in a 25 litre tank a few years ago
It has an optional mini spray bar which includes a flow regulator so it can by turned down if the flow is too strong for a 5 gallon tank.Aqua Internal Filter
Aqua Range Aqua Internal Filters have a dual action filter cartridge, contained within the filter, consisting of the 3 forms of filtration: mechanical, biological and chemical. The fully open structure filter foam provides optimal mechanical filtration an
The media is a sponge with a carbon filled hollow. I threw away the carbon and put the media from the old filter into the hollow instead.
The only downside is that the suckers are fixed in and can't be removed so when they get old they can't be replaced. The betta I had when this happened used to sleep on top of the filter which eventually started to fall off the glass and finally refused to stay in place.
So I replaced it with a sponge filter powered by an air pump. This type of filter is also very suitable for a small tank.
I have read about the Dennerle corner filter being good, but I have no personal experience of it
Natur erleben - Mit den Dennerle Aquarium Systemen
I had that filter with a betta till the suckers went all hard and stopped sticking to the tank wall. I liked the fact that I could alter the speed of the water flow as bettas with big fins can get pushed around if the flow is too fast - it can be lowered to the merest trickle!
I didn't have shrimps with this filter, but it would be fine for them. The filter casing has slits at the bottom for the water to go in and the sponge is pushed tight up gainst the slits so even baby shrimps shouldn't be sucked in. They will crawl over the filter, through, looking for bits of food through the slits where it's been sucked up and stuck on the outside of the sponge.
I didn't have shrimps with this filter, but it would be fine for them. The filter casing has slits at the bottom for the water to go in and the sponge is pushed tight up gainst the slits so even baby shrimps shouldn't be sucked in. They will crawl over the filter, through, looking for bits of food through the slits where it's been sucked up and stuck on the outside of the sponge.
okay cool so the aqua range one?
That's what I had. As I mentioned, the only downside is the suckers. Suckers go hard after a while and stop sticking to the glass. In most cases it's just a question of replacing the suckers but with this filter I couldn't find a way to do that.
If you do get it, don't bother with the carbon in the hollow. I'd replace it with a bit more sponge. When I had the filter it replced another small one (no longer made) when its motor stopped working so I just filled the hole with the sponge from the previous filter.
One thing we haven't discussed - do you have other tanks besides this one? Whatever filter you get will need to be cycled, and that's much easier if you have other tanks as you just need to steal media from them. If this is your first tank, we need to discuss cycling.
If you do get it, don't bother with the carbon in the hollow. I'd replace it with a bit more sponge. When I had the filter it replced another small one (no longer made) when its motor stopped working so I just filled the hole with the sponge from the previous filter.
One thing we haven't discussed - do you have other tanks besides this one? Whatever filter you get will need to be cycled, and that's much easier if you have other tanks as you just need to steal media from them. If this is your first tank, we need to discuss cycling.
it is my first tank, i was going to look into cycling but any knowledge will help
There are two ways to cycle a tank (well, three ways if you include fish-in cycle which is not recommended nowadays).
Fishless cycling is where ammonia is added to a tank before fish are put in so that the bacteria which deal with ammonia (fish waste) grow ready for the fish. Bottled bacteria products can help speed this up but they don't do it instantly despite what you may read. With fishless cycling it is safe to add almost all the fish as soon as the cycle finishes.
Silent or plant cycling is where fast growing live plants are put in the tank, we wait till there are signs of active growth so we know the plants are not about to die then get fish. With larger tanks fish are added one batch at a time but this is not really practical with 5 gallon tanks.
This is the method for fishless cycling https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
If you want to try a plant cycle we can help with the choice of plants.
Fishless cycling is where ammonia is added to a tank before fish are put in so that the bacteria which deal with ammonia (fish waste) grow ready for the fish. Bottled bacteria products can help speed this up but they don't do it instantly despite what you may read. With fishless cycling it is safe to add almost all the fish as soon as the cycle finishes.
Silent or plant cycling is where fast growing live plants are put in the tank, we wait till there are signs of active growth so we know the plants are not about to die then get fish. With larger tanks fish are added one batch at a time but this is not really practical with 5 gallon tanks.
This is the method for fishless cycling https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
If you want to try a plant cycle we can help with the choice of plants.
i want to do a fishless planted cycle so what would I do with that? ammonia adder? which is a good one?
It's either a fishless cycle done by adding ammonia or a plant cycle. If you want to use ammonia, it is better to add plants after the cycle has finished.
And it depends on which plants as to whether a plant cycle is recommended. For example, a couple of moss balls, or a bit of java fern won't take up much ammonia as they are slow growing plants. But Amazon frogbit floating on the surface will take up a lot of ammonia (that's what's in my 30 cm cube).
To give you an idea, a few months ago I set up my 25 litre quarantine tank. I took some water sprite (floating plant) from my main tank and while I was buying fish I also bought 2 bunches of elodea which I just put in the tank. I bought 12 kuhli loaches which is very overstocked for 25 litres. I tested for ammonia and nitrite for several days and didn't see a trace of either. The plants took up all the ammonia made by the loaches, and plants don't turn it into nitrite.
A thought occurs to me regarding plants. Are you still considering shrimps, or even snails? Plants grown outside the EU are treated with a snail killer which also kills shrimps and can be difficult to get rid of. Plants grown within the EU do not have to be treated. EU plants are more expensive since we've left the EU but they are safer for shrimps and snails.
And it depends on which plants as to whether a plant cycle is recommended. For example, a couple of moss balls, or a bit of java fern won't take up much ammonia as they are slow growing plants. But Amazon frogbit floating on the surface will take up a lot of ammonia (that's what's in my 30 cm cube).
To give you an idea, a few months ago I set up my 25 litre quarantine tank. I took some water sprite (floating plant) from my main tank and while I was buying fish I also bought 2 bunches of elodea which I just put in the tank. I bought 12 kuhli loaches which is very overstocked for 25 litres. I tested for ammonia and nitrite for several days and didn't see a trace of either. The plants took up all the ammonia made by the loaches, and plants don't turn it into nitrite.
A thought occurs to me regarding plants. Are you still considering shrimps, or even snails? Plants grown outside the EU are treated with a snail killer which also kills shrimps and can be difficult to get rid of. Plants grown within the EU do not have to be treated. EU plants are more expensive since we've left the EU but they are safer for shrimps and snails.
I wanted to do a plant cycle. Yeh, I'm getting a betta, snails and shrimp. and the plants I was thinking of using are amazon frogbit, moss balls, java moss, java fern, anubias, Ludwigia and I think that's all from what I can remember. Where would I get plants for England that a good online place?
I would look at ProShrimp https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/ or the Ebay seller k2aqua. I know both of those sell shrimp safe plants.
I think ludwigia is fast growing and I know frogbit is but the others are slow growers. But that sounds a lot for a 30 cm cube. Don't forget java fern and anubias are usually gorwn attached to decor as their rhizomes rot if they are under the substrate so you need space for the decor. Mine has a tall pice of wood covered in java fern, a small piece of wood with anubias bonsai and Schismatoglottis preitoi (see ProShrimp) planted in the substrate. Though my tank just has red cherry shrimps and a nerite snail.
I think ludwigia is fast growing and I know frogbit is but the others are slow growers. But that sounds a lot for a 30 cm cube. Don't forget java fern and anubias are usually gorwn attached to decor as their rhizomes rot if they are under the substrate so you need space for the decor. Mine has a tall pice of wood covered in java fern, a small piece of wood with anubias bonsai and Schismatoglottis preitoi (see ProShrimp) planted in the substrate. Though my tank just has red cherry shrimps and a nerite snail.
what would u say is a good idea of plants then for a planted aquarium for me? and good ones to cycle with (and to stay in there in general)
If you like frogbit, I would definitely have that as floating plants are best at taking up ammonia. Plants need ammonia, light and carbon dioxide and being at the surface they are very near the lights and can get carbon dioxide from the air so they have all three easily available.
For the rest, it's down to personal choice. Don't forget that plants grow so if you get too many the tank will quickly become congested.
The tank lights are a factor to consider. If they are not very bright, those plants which need a lot of light will struggle. But if you have strong light and slow growing plants you may well get algae growing.
I see you have other threads asking about plants - members who know a lot more than me about plants will be able to help better than me
For the rest, it's down to personal choice. Don't forget that plants grow so if you get too many the tank will quickly become congested.
The tank lights are a factor to consider. If they are not very bright, those plants which need a lot of light will struggle. But if you have strong light and slow growing plants you may well get algae growing.
I see you have other threads asking about plants - members who know a lot more than me about plants will be able to help better than me
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