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Re: Lights and filter on 10-gal aquarium



Roxanne wrote:

>I'm about to set up a small (10 gallon) tank in order to breed some
>interesting livebearers.  I plan on heavily planting it and wondered
>if others have pondered the following questions for tanks of this
>size:

>1.  Lights:  I have available to me a fixture that holds 4 15watt
>tubes; this would be 6watts/gal; is this too much?  I noticed that
>Amano has up to 10 watts/gal on some of his mini aquaria.  Is
>there a heat buildup problem with lights and tanks of this size?

My 10-gallon aquarium is next to a south-facing window getting full
sun for most of the day.  It can't get much hotter than that.  I haven't
actually tried to measure the temperature with a submersible
thermometer, but the stick-on one on the side of the tank has gone
off scale!  I have 11 zebra danios and 2 otocinclus in the tank, and
they seem none the worse for the warm temperature.  The trees are
starting to leaf out in the yard now, so that may provide some shade.
An interesting observation is that I seem to have very few snails in
this aquarium. I occasionally find one or two, but not dozens.  I
wonder if the higher temperature inhibits their reproduction?

>2.  Filters:  <snip> I was thinking of using a small inside filter (such
>as Fluval or Eheim), though perhaps a Fluval 103 or equivalent
>would be better?  Any thoughts on this which would be better?

I am using a small Duetto submersible filter ($14 mail order).
Because I don't have a hood on this aquarium I didn't want things
hanging on the back of the tank (too ugly).  I really like submersible
filters because they are easily concealed , simple to clean, and
economical.  I think they are popular in Europe, even for larger
tanks.  You also have a certain amount of vesatility concerning the
media (you can remove the carbon cartridge and replace it with
foam).  Most of our power filters use carbon/floss combination
cartridges (not made with the planted tank in mind). A canister filter,
such as the Fluval 103, is certainly more efficient and costs about
$40 mail order.  Although I have never used one, I think it gives you
the advantage of being able to inject CO2 directly into the canister
intake.

Jonathan in sunny Maryland
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