I haven't had an aquarium since I was a teenager...


I purchased a 20L that will be planted with small schooling fish...

Back in the day I had an aquaclear on my old 20L


I want good filtration but not too powerful a filter for smaller fish and plants...

Fluval C Series or Marineland Penguin or Emp?

Also which Fluval C Series model or Marineland model for my tank size and needs.


Thanks in advance..

is that 20 litres or 20gallon long? you'll need a filter thats 6 times the gph that your tank is.

It is a 20 Gallon Long...

I will be looking to grow a few easy plants and have maybe some small schooling fish and ghost shrimp...

Can anyone recomment what HOB Filter, Lighting system, hopefully not too expensive and a tank heater?

Thanks

Jager Eheim heaters are highly recommended by many - myself included. I would advise looking at one of these. Any filter with over 100-125 GPH rating will do fine. I have been researching cannisters lately so I am not up on my HOB brands these days - sorry. For lighting, I think that Marineland makes a nice LED hood for 20G longs if you are interested in trying LEDs out, and you could of course make a DIY one for cheap if you are interested, have the time, and have basic soldering skills etc.

I had a 20g long with similar fish I ran for 3-4 years using the methods in my signature.

You might want to take a look.

may you have the best tank ever.

even with my .02

I run an Aquaclear 50 on my 20 long. It does have an area of high current directly under the outflow, but the fish can choose to swim through it or around it, lol. In tanks where I want a lot of volume for filter media but lower flow, I put an intake filter and that slows things down a bit.

Not sure what others' thoughts on this are so perhaps someone else will weigh in, but I have read some compelling articles calling into question whether gph of filtration are as important as surface area of filter media. The theory goes that a slower rate of flow gives water more time to be in contact with bacteria in the filter media. Conversely, it would seem that a high flow would allow MORE water to come into contact with the bacteria, so IDK. In either case it seems that increased volume, and thus, increased surface area is going to result in more exchange, so I tend to run oversized or multiple filters and dial the flow down as needed, either by adjusting the flow (Aquaclears are adjustable) or by the addition of an intake filter, or both.

As for lighting, that's better answered by someone who buys lights new, vs whatever I can find on Craig's List, LOL. Have fun with your new tank!!

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10 g community, 10 gallon danio/RCS tank, 10 g ghost shrimp tank, 10 g blue pearl shrimp tank, 20 long salvini cichlid tank, 55 in the works (for salvini to move up to) all planted.