What Filter For 15 Gallon Planted Aquarium?

[Kris85]

Hello all , i presently keep a marine reef tank but have aquired a small 24"x15"x12" with which i would like to do a small planted aquarium. Now i have kept a large planted aquarium before which was a dennerle system and i still have the co2 system which i will use. Now my question is what filter should i look at getting? When i kept planted tanks before the advice was usually a slow filter was good, i would prefer a small external becase of the limited space in the tank, but would that be too overkill? I am going to use ADA aquasoil Amazonia as my substrate would 1 bag be enough for this tank?

Sorry for all the q's there will probably be more .
Regards,
Chris.

 

[aaronnorth]

1 9l bag will be enough for a small layer but to be on the safe side i would also get a small 3l bag, you could send it back if you get it from AE. You can also slope it then up to the back to create depth.

On my 60l, i ue a fluval 205 (660l/ph - 11x turnover) aim for at least 10x turnover so the nutrients & CO2 get puched around.

 

[garuf]

I use a 2224 but I would add that more is better. With a tall tank like your own you might want to consider getting something with a 1000lph+ turnover.

 

[Kris85]

Well, i was thinking of a Fluval 205 that would give me i think around 10x per hour turnover. Would this be sufficient?

Regards,
Chris.

 

[garuf]

Yeah sure but you can get away with a lot more if you're filtration/flow is higher. George uses a 405 on a tank the same size for comparison. Yes you can get away with a 205 but something more potent would be better.

 

[Kris85]

Hi Garuf, can i ask what is the reasoning behind having such large filters on a relatively small tank? Would a larger filter just blow the plants around?

Regards,
Chris.

 

[aaronnorth]

it isnt as much large filters filters, but the turnover that matters. (but this usually comes with larger filters) or the other option is to have a powerhead which can be cheaper *sometimes* (depends on brand) than bying a larger filter.

Only the amount of bacteria needed to convert the ammonia will be produced, you cant have more otherwise some will starve as there isnt enough ammonia produced (if that makes sense)

A high turnover is used to push CO2, nutrients around effectively throughout the plants. It also helps to stop any dead spots occuring which could results to algae. Detrius is also never stopped in one place which also leads to algae.

 

[Kris85]

Ok so should i be looking at ideally getting a fluval 405 then? With regards to the water used, is tapwater ok? Or should i use ro water as i do for my reef tank and use something like ro right?

Regards,
Chris.

 

[garuf]

Water wise it doesn't matter, if you have spare RO you could cut it 50/50 ro and tap water.

Aaron is right that it helps with nutrient delivery and its algae beating ability to no let detritus settle.

A 405 isn't hard and fast get what ever you are happy with, there are many higher turnover filters out there.

 

[Ali1212]

tetratec ex700 , very good filter good price too