Filter for plants.

[Marconis]

I've been convinced to go into planted, and am going to start gathering all the necessities up soon. I currently have an Aquaclear 30 HOB on the 20 gallon I'll be using for the plants. Would you recommend a better filter for plants, or could this do the job?

[Zagz]

It will be fine for the plants, since you are already using it on your 20 gal. I personally prefer more filtration but that is based on the fish not the plants.

[greenfish]

If you are going to do CO2 then you probably want to move away from HOB filters. If not then it is fine.

[Alshain]

The only filter that is an absolute NO for planted tanks is undergravel filters. The roots get caught up in them and clog them up.

[7Enigma]

HOB are fine as long as you keep the water level high enough so that there is little/no waterfall effect. Canister is definately the best in terms of keeping CO2 dissolved, but HOB is fine.

[neilanh]

Exactly what 7enigma said. I run a canister on one tank and a HOB on the other. I do have to "crank" the CO2 rate a little bit to overcome the offgassing from the HOB, but it's not really a big deal.

[rkilling1]

FWIW, when you move into higher light tanks, mechanical filtration becomes more valuable then biological due to the plants consuming the fish waste faster. Also, the more plants you have in the tank, the more leaves and what not will have to be cleaned up. (ie organic matter)

IMO most filters run around 50/50 bio vs mechanical, but in higher light planted tank, I would go with more of a 25/75 bio vs mechanical setup.

[gheitman]

I went from using a HOB to a canister filter on my 30g planted tank two years ago. I noticed an almost doubling of the growth rate of plants due to the higher efficiency of the CO2 injection.