# Recommendations



## Christine270 (Oct 13, 2010)

Any recommendations for an amazing filter, a well as sand substrate and any tips on cleaning sand substrate. Annnd growing aquatic plants. Any recommendations / advice on any of those three subjects much appreciated. Filters. Substrate. Plants. Preferably a sand substrate - one you can grow plants in, advice on growing plants and best filter you have ever had!


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## FishMatt (May 12, 2010)

Aqueon or Marineland pumps are betters ones. I have a Aqueon it works very good I had stirred the gravel and the water was nasty looking within five minutes the water was clear!


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I like my aquaclear filters and have them on 3 of my 4 tanks. The 4th tank is pretty small so I use a smaller filter on that one. Make sure you get a filter that is rated for higher than what tank size you have. I have an AC50 on my 20 gallon and an AC20 on my 10 gallon. The 50 is rated for a 50 gallon tank and the 20 for a 20 gallon tank. 

Sand substrate: You can use pool filter sand which is a very good sand to use. It is relatively clean although it still needs to be washed. The grain is a heavier grain so it settles nicely after cleaning and doesn't get sucked up as easy. Also any of the store bought Red Sea sands are good. I have the Tahitian moon sand from there and it is very nice, easy to clean. 

Cleaning the sand: I use a small siphon for it because it gives me the most control. You take the siphon and swirl it around above the sand itself, this disturbs the mulm and allows it to be sucked into the siphon. It is really easy to do. You do it softly, not like major swirls. You will find it's easier than it seems. You can expect that on some level your sand will always be dirty. If you can't handle seeing some mess then sand is not for you.

If you are planning on planting the tank, which is sounds like you are, you might want to consider "Flourish" as your substrate. I don't know a ton about this so the best thing to do is to browse through the plant section. There is tons of information there!

Hope that helps


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Sand substrate can destroy filter impellers. A sponge pre-filter to keep sand out is a good idea. Any filter, like a fluval, that has the impeller in the lid will handle sand better than any filter that has its impeller on the bottom (like a Magnum or most hang-on-backs). A lot of plant enthusiast like e-heims as they are quiet and gentle, but they are near the high end of the price range.


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## Christine270 (Oct 13, 2010)

Thanks guys. I am thinking about switching to a bigger tank . . . I have some cory cats and my substrate currently is kind of chunky. I wanted to either switch to sand, or some smooth / rounded gravel. I feel bad for the little guys. 

I have a 10 gallon with an Aqueon filter. My tank just got done cycling and and my filter is still filtering but the tank is looking dirtier and dirtier as though it isn't sucking up as much. I don't want to change my cartridge because I'll loose all my bacteria. My tank took about a month to cycle and I don't want to go through that all over again, so I am looking into getting a 2nd filter. It'll take up too much room in my 10 gallon to have 2 filters. So I want to get a bigger tank and switch everything over, but with different substrate and 2 filters, the one I currently have and a bigger / better one. 

Also, I had some Aponegeton Bulbs in my tank that just recently started sprouting and are growing pretty quick. But they are just in some regular chunky pet-store gravel. With little sunlight and no CO2 filter. I want to replace the fake plants with real ones. (I hate fake plants). So I just want to figure out a good medium for the fish and for the plants.


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## LilSums (Aug 2, 2010)

I second the Aqueon filters, they're reasonable and AWESOME. Every time I clean my substrate it's cleared up super quick. Be very careful with sand when you clean it, it can get toxic pockets that can nuke your fish & are REALLY not good for humans. Have fun with the new tank!


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## Christine270 (Oct 13, 2010)

Does anyone know the recommended amount of fish for a 10 gallon? 
As well as the recommended amount for a 20 or a 30 gallon?


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

It really all depends on the fish themselves, adult size, aggression, and your filter. If you overfilter a ten gallon tank, you could put more than 10 guppies in it (which is what would probably be recommended by the i inch of fish per gallon rule). 

I personally don't follow that so much as I consider what type of fish I want to get. You think about different swimming levels and even the shape of a fish. I can keep 2 6 inch dojo loaches in a 20 long because they are serpentine and they love snaking around in stuff anyway. Plus, we have a 30 gallon filter on it. 

Somewhere here on the forums there's a topic called something like "Stocking calculator with a difference" that is pretty good at telling you what is good for what size tanks.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Anything made my Marineland.


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## Christine270 (Oct 13, 2010)

Thanks for all the recommendations. Unfortunately, it seems I have some sort of bacterial sickness problem so I need to get that fixed but I bought my fish-tank as a "starter kit" so I have a 10 gallon filter for a 10 gallon tank and the cartridges fill up extremely quickly and stop filtering well, just spewing gunk back out into my water. So I am planning on upgrading to a 20, or a most likely 30 gallon filter. I figure over-filtering is definitely the way to go, it will keep my tank cleaner and I won't have to worry about changing out the stupid cartridges so often.


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