heaters, filters, and gravel - oh my

[Hanako]

I'm confused about the most ideal filters and heaters.

What makes submersible heaters better than non-submersible? There sure is a huge price gap on these things...

Right now I'm using a side filter, but it's a little noisy, and I'd like to switch. I'm considering the Elite Stingray Underwater Filter by Hagen... Is it best that they have a replacement cartridge, and a sponge part?? How often do cartridges need changing?
Would it be best to have an undergravel filter??

Would having a heater, filter, gravel, and landscaping be too much for a ten gallon??

lastly, how often should I do gravel cleaning??




any input is appreciated!!!

 

[Squishiebabe]

Lol no, it wouldnt
My avatar is my ten gallon, which is pretty small, but you can make it a good home for a few small fish, and the cave i made is pretty big, I can use it in the future for a bigger tank.

I gravel vac once every 2 weeks, although opinions differ on this.

I've only heard of submersible heaters, so i couldnt help, on that.

Whats wrong with your current filter? Is a a Hang on Back (HOB) type, or something different like a bio-wheel?
How is it noisy? I find mine the water splashing is what really gets me, so i turn it down at night, maybe you have a way around before you blow some cash on a totally new filter?

 

[fishwatcher]

Well, I'm not the foremost experienced person, but this is what I have...
A Whisper hang-on-back filter, and hang-on the back heater, sand substrate and lots of plants. As for the filter, if I ever change I'm going with a fully-submersed kind - not under-the-gravel (I have sand that would clog it). I do believe a cartridge is better than a sponge though in that the sponge doesn't filter as much of the big particles (like from plants). If you go with cartridges, you'll just need to rinse them say once a month or so in old water that you've removed from the tank. If you use tap water the chlorine in it will kill the good bacteria on the cartridge. I vac once a week when I do my water changes. I have a fully stocked tank, though, so if you have a lightly stocked tank you may get by with doing it less.
Hope this helps!! I'm sure others will add their opinions soon too.
Good luck!!!

 

[Boxcar Muzzdogg]

You can have as much filtration as you want in any tank. The only thing you must be aware of in terms of amount of filtration is whether or not the current will be swirling the fish around. With a filter you want a flow rate of at least 6 times the size of the tank oer hour. Ten times is even better and will let you have a good amount of fish with little worry about water quality. The best, and most practical filter to get is one with a biowheel. Try a marineland penguin. They're about the same price as a regular power filter, but they keep the tank much cleaner. When selecting the filter make sure you pay attention to the gallons per hour, not the suggested tank size the pump can service. This is usually useless. Remerber "gallons per hour." So, if you are getting a filter for a ten gallon you will want one that has a flow of about 60-100 gallons per hour.

Under gravel filters are excellent, but only work if you vacuum the gravel regularly. In any tank, regardless of whether or not you have a UGF, the frequency of gravel vac/water changes will be dependent upon the fish you have in the tank.

For goldfish you will want to do more frequent vacuumings than for tropicals. The more fish you have, and the larger the fish are, the more frequently you will want to vacuum.

Lets say you have a 10 gallon tank with a biowheel filter that has a flow rate of 100 gallons per hour. Say yu have 5 zebra danios and 4 platys in this tank. You will want to vacuum the gravel every 3-4 weeks. If you want extra clean water, and extra happy and healthy fish, then you can do it more frequently.

Now, when you are cycling the tank (the initial 4-6 weeks), you will probably need to vacuum the gravel every few days, dependant upon the ampount of toxins in your tank.

As for the heater, it doesn't matter which one you use, so go for the less expensive one. Non submersible heaters work just as well as submersible, always remember that when dealing with businesses, the price has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with being greedy.

I'm sure you'll have many more questions and you've come to an excellent place to learn and share your experiences. I've found this forum very helpful. Good luck with your tank and have fun. Peace.

 

[Sky042]

There is not really a large price difference in them when purchased online.

I personally use these mostly because of having large fish.
http/www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/produc...id1=3231;pcid2=

But almost all are very reasonable.

I prefer the submersible because they're easier to hide and just simpler to operate.

 

[Hanako]

yep my filter hangs on the back, but the water splashy noise can't be helped even with the flow reduced. How often do the filter replacements need changing? Seems mine browns in a couple of weeks...

The submersible heater at Big Al's was $44, whereas the non-submersible was 11.99

I'd better get to gravel cleaning now... Is sand cleaned with the same method?

 

[itZme]

Submersible heaters are much more convenient when it comes to water changes. If you have the heater half-way down on the glass (submersible) you can do a 20-30% water change without unplugging it and without the worry of cracking the heater.

As far as the noise from a HOB filter, you can reduce the noise by keeping the water level very close to the height of the filter outlet so it doesn't fall very far and make the trickling noises. I found that it reduces the current a lot also when you have the water right up the the lip of the filter.

Your filter media ... brown is good... that is the bacteria colonizing on the filter and they are needed. I change the filter media about every 2 months but swish it in the dirty tank water after doing water change/gravel vac. (swish it in the bucket of water to be thrown out)

-- itZme

 

[itZme]

Just noticed this while browsing through the website. Thought I would let you know since you have a 10 gal.

submersible heater

Good luck with your tank and stick around the forums you can learn much more here than anywhere else that I have found.

-- itZme

 

[Sky042]

yep my filter hangs on the back, but the water splashy noise can't be helped even with the flow reduced. How often do the filter replacements need changing? Seems mine browns in a couple of weeks...

The submersible heater at Big Al's was $44, whereas the non-submersible was 11.99

I'd better get to gravel cleaning now... Is sand cleaned with the same method?

Unless you're buying root heating cables there are NO submersible heaters that are $44.

the average price for a good submersible on there is about $20 for 300W