Re: Least Visible Pump for Planted 10gal?

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Jim Miller said:

> I'm about to give up on the little 3 gallon tanks I've
> got. They're the
> System3's and they were just bought on a whim. The
> biggest problem with them
> is that even though there is nominally 2w/gal the light
> is toward the front
> of the tank and the back of the tank is shaded by the
> biofilter assembly.
> 
> The result is that anything planted in the back grows
> poorly while things in
> the front grow quite well. In fact when a few pieces
> break off the feeble
> plants in the back and float to the top in front of the
> biofilter they grow
> like crazy. 

Same problem with the System Six.  The bulb to too far
forward and everything in back leans a-way towards the
front.  It's very difficult to scape.  

Size is difficult too for fish that have any tendency
towards territoriality.  The minimum territory takes up
most of the tank volume.

Part of the problem is that the bulb is place forward of
the ballast.  You could solve that by removing the ballast
and light assembly and replacing it with a 13 watt PC,
keeping the ballast remote.  The filter will still block
light from the higher reaches of the rear of the tank, but
it might still be an improvement on a 3 gallon.

Water is clear, stable and fish seem happy.
> Flourite substrate
> with DIY CO2.

If only the weren't bow-fronts, you could just put the hood
on backwards :-(

Scott H.


> 
> I'm thinking now I should just give up on them and go to
> a normal 10gal with
> a couple of 15W lamps to give me a nicely distributed
> 3w/gal. This time I'll
> go with just something to move water around rather than a
> "filter".
> 
> I hate clunky things in the tank that I have to landscape
> around so what's
> the smallest pump I can get?
>

There's quite of few little hobby pumps around, including
ones for electric train setups -- which is how Eheim got
started in the water pump & filter business, BTW.

I've found the little Rios to be rather durable.  Most
little pumps are expected to be submerged to provide
adequate cooling.   What about a little back filter
(a.k.a., power filter) like a Hagen Clear Mini?  All that
goes in the tank is the siphon tube and that can be very
short, if you want.  You don't have to use any media if
don't want to, but a back filter keeps the pump out of the
tank.

Good Luck,
Scott H.

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