Nath_Kelly

I am totally new to the whole fish experience . . . I have just recieved a 29G tank as a gift, with an AquaOne 103F Internal Filter, and an AquaOne 200w heater. (Plus some fake plants, driftwood, gravel, etc) Will this be good enough for a filter for my tank, and a few more questions. . .

A) What type of aeration should I use, this filter has a bit that provides bubbles, but was thinking of maybe a bubble wall or something? (new too this so any help would be great)

B) This filter has two sections that contain sponges however both sections also have room I think for additions such as carbon?? Should I add this or am I wasting my time and money?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

jsalemi

I think an internal filter is too small for a tank that size. You generally want a filter that could do around 10x the number of gallons per hour (GPH), so you should have a filter that does 290gph. The largest internal filter I could find only does around 200gph -- not bad, but not the best. Plus it takes up room inside your tank. I'd suggest looking into a HOB (hang-on-back) filter of the appropriate size. The Hagen AquaClear and Marineland Penguin/Emperor lines are popular around here.

An HOB filter does give some water movement on the surface due to the outflow, so additional aeration isn't absolutely necessary. That said, it depends on the number of live plants you have in the tank, and the type of fish (some prefer still water, others like a bit of current). Plus the bubbles do look nice, and there are some fish that love to play in them (corys come to mind). If you do add aeration, I'd recommend the wand-type, that puts out finer bubbles.

Nath_Kelly

Hey the filter is meant to be good for 1200L per hour, which i think works out to 317ish GPH. If this is the case does that mean I should be right with this one, I don't have any fish or live plants yet. I am still cycling my tank. SO just trying to make sure i am heading in the right direction. Also can I introduce carbon or is this not needed.

Pic of the 103F see - http://www.petshop-online.com.au/category1_1.htm

jsalemi

Yea, that should be alright, then. I haven't seen such powerful internal filters here in the US -- they tend to be on the small size here, for whatever reason.

In any case, carbon is a subject of some controversy. There are those who keep it in all the time, and those who only put it in to remove some specific pollutant from the tank (i.e., medicines once they've done their job). So the call is yours -- do you have any specific pollutants in your water you'd like to reduce? Are you using driftwood that might dump tannins in the water that you want to clear out?

Also, just do a search in this forum area on 'carbon', and you'll come across quite a few discussions of the pros and cons of using it.

Nath_Kelly

Thanks Jsalemi, just been told by people that it helps to make your water really clean, but from what I have read all seems good not to get any!

capekate

Hi Nath
the controversy over the carbon filter is that when used incorrectly it can leach back into the tank everything it is cleaning out. Carbon looses its effect after two weeks. So you would have to be changing it out on a regular basis. Also there are some fish, like the Discus that can actually get sick from its use. Carbon is not really needed in a tank as long as you are doing all the water changes that are required. It can be used to remove medications from the water as well as clearing up any cloudiness that may develop for some reason.

~ kate