10 Gallon Setup

[A Lo Cubano]

What is the absolute best, and when i mean best i mean cost-effective, low maintenance, LOW NOISE, High quality/ effiecieny, setup for a 10 gallon rectangular tank with small tropical fish, shrimp, and live plants. By setup i mean: hood, filtration, heating, substrate, and anything else. What is the absolute best setup???

[leveldrummer]

that has to be the hardest question anyone has ever asked, nothing is self contained, any thing you do is gonna require work, filtration is up to opinion, and how you want your tank to look, substrate depends on fish, to many options to answer that question.

[DUSTIN323]

I kind of have to agree with leveldrummer on that one, though I'll throw some things out there. Filtration is quite simple for that size of a FW tank. You could get an internal power filter or a Hang-On-Back power filter. That would be your best option there. Your going to need a 50 watt heater for 10g. You could get a submersible or hang-on one, it's your personal opinion. Substrate, is also your opinion, though if you want plants a planted substrate wouldn't be bad, but not nessecary. Like Flourite or something. Or if you were to go with African cichlids(which would have to be dwarf like shell-dwellers since it's a 10g), they've got substrates for that. Other than that you could do normal cheap gravel or sand. As far as hood goes I take it you mean light? Again if you want live plants than it could vary. Indacascent is your WORST option either way. What kind of live plants are you wanting to keep? If low-light plants you could do just a standard single flourescent strip light. Then if wanting medium to high light plants a dual tube flourescent or power compact would be a better option.

[A Lo Cubano]

Anybody else can help me??????

[meyerhaus]

They had it man...hang on power filter (Wal-mart), 15 pounds of gravel, a 50 watt heater (PetSmart has some on clearance) and the light/hood will be the most expensive at $20-$30. You're still looking at $50 minimum. You could always check the newspaper for someone selling a whole setup and try to barter with them.

One thing to keep in mind: if you think "I want to keep this cheap" then you should stick to a goldfish. Once you start into tropical fish, there are never-ending expenses.

[Ramis]

The fish store I go to sell 20g used tanks for $10, but you probably still have to buy the gravel, the plants, teh filter, the heater..so ya..like a $40/50 minimum.

[leveldrummer]

you seem to be looking for the best money can buy, if you want the best equipment, why not get a larger tank? you can get a pre-drilled tank, put a small sump on it, have everything contained under the tank, instead of hanging on the back, get a small power compact light system, and that will grow your plants great.

[meyerhaus]

If you are looking for a great, contained, ready-to-go system, get one of the Eclipse systems. Biowheels are much lower maintenance and it is a hood, filter, light source all in one. You can even do salt or fresh. Add a heater (clearance from Petsmart), Gravel (why not get it from a landscaping store and rinse it in a 10% bleach solution), some plants and some fish and you got yourself an Eco-system!

[A Lo Cubano]

How bout Aquatech or Aquaculture kits? Cheaper? At Walmart? What you think?

[CyberSpike]

I have an Aquatech 10/20 from walmart that I got for around $26 CAD. I love it :P

[goodie]

Originally Posted by A Lo Cubano

How bout Aquatech or Aquaculture kits? Cheaper? At Walmart? What you think?

Thats about the cheapest that your gonna find. Those filters do fine, but like any hang on the tank filter, if you use sand as a substrate don't let it get sucked into the filter. It will turn your quiet filter into a noise maker real quick. I've had the 55gal set up from Walmart for almost 4 years now. I ended up ditching the filter and bought two Whisper 60s for it(African cichlid tank). Heater is going strong.

The best deal that you'll find would be at a garage sale or somthing similar. Just takes a bit more leg work, but I wouldn't think that it would be too hard to find a used 10 gal.

[A Lo Cubano]

Would you reccomend the Aquatech as a cheaper version of an Eclipse? Would it work for what i want it to work for? "a 10 gallon rectangular tank with small tropical fish, shrimp, and live plants."

[kaybee]

I've been happy with my Top Fin 10g set up from Petsmart. The hob filter is silent as long as the water level is up.

Kay

[goodie]

Originally Posted by A Lo Cubano

Would you reccomend the Aquatech as a cheaper version of an Eclipse? Would it work for what i want it to work for? "a 10 gallon rectangular tank with small tropical fish, shrimp, and live plants."

Can't see a problem with it.

[fishn00b]

Originally Posted by A Lo Cubano

Would you reccomend the Aquatech as a cheaper version of an Eclipse? Would it work for what i want it to work for? "a 10 gallon rectangular tank with small tropical fish, shrimp, and live plants."

I have two of their 10 gallon setups and one of their 29 gallon set ups. I find these to be the best for their money. Of course later on down the road if you want to upgrade you can, but for the money and how much you get, I think it's your best bet if you're buying new. I never really caught on to the Eclipse tanks... I just don't like them for some reason, and I feel they are really overpriced.

[meyerhaus]

They are on clearance at Petsmart if you are lucky enough to find one. There is a 24x12 at the one near my house (Western Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio) for $45. That is a double 18W, biowheel filter and hood.

[fishn00b]

I have a Petsmart by me (Jersey S****) and they didn't have any of their kits on clearance. They did have all their fish at 75% off because they were getting new tanks and had to get rid of them. It was ridiculous, I wish I had more space because I woulda bought everything they had it was so cheap.

[meyerhaus]

Sorry to hear that about the Eclipse n00b. Also too bad that you can't snag some of those fish. Did they have any of their high-end fish left? Mine has a couple nice plecos that go for about $40.

[fishn00b]

Well see when they got their new tanks in (about a week or two ago) they started getting new varieties of fish... one of them being the 40 dollar gold nugget pleco, as well as a few other pretty rare ones I've never seen before around here. It was nice seeing new, prettier tanks, with more fish to choose from for my next tank.

While they were on clearance I was able to pick up a few African Cichlids (like a Red Pea**** usually 11 dollars at Petsmart) for just about a buck or two a piece. I also bought some Gold and Blue Mystery snails for 13 cents. I was in heaven.

[meyerhaus]

I love how they block out c-o-c-k in pea****!

I am jealous...I have a 38 that is halfstocked...