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Re: small biofilters
Roger Miller asks:
>Can anyone suggest a good biofilter to use on a 10-gallon planted tank?
>Other than the plants themselves.
Roger, I've tried several different filters for my small 5.5 and 10 gallon
planted tanks and my favorite so far is the Eheim internal line. I even
use them in bare tank situations with excellent results. The Eheim
internals cost more than other internals (no surprise there), but I've
tried several makes now and the Eheim remains my favorite. I've never
regretted the extra $$$ once. I also like the Duetto filters from Aquarium
Systems as well, but they're not as easy as the Eheims come maintenance
time IME and also seem to require maintenance more often. The drawback to
the internal filters is the fact that they take up room inside the tank and
can be hard to hide.
A key to maintaining the biofiltration capabilities of an internal filter
is to rinse the media in the wastewater following a change. Tap will
devastate the bacteria colony. One advantage of the Duetto line is that
the mechanical and bio filtration chambers are separate, so this is not as
much of a concern for those filters.
I speculate that the best overall filter for a small, planted tank would be
the small Eheim 2211 canister but I've not tried one myself. They've
proven harder to locate than the 2213-2217 models.
Hope it helps and good luck,
Chuck Huffine
Knoxville, Tennessee USA
mailto:grendel at usit_net