Increased plant growth after switching to canister filter

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gheitman

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Messages
1,260
Location
Champaign, Illinois
I believe that switching my 30 gallon planted South American community tank from a Penguin BIO-Wheel 330 power filter to a Filstar xp1 canister filter has dramatically increased my plant growth. Since setting up the new filter over three weeks ago I have noticed that almost all of my plants have shown an approximately 50% increase in leaf size. This applies to my Amazon swords, my crypts and my dwarf sags. My tank has one Hagen CO2 system on it and my guess is that the elimination of all of the surface agitation has made the CO2 much more effective. I haven't changed any other elements of the setup including fish stocking levels, fertilizers or lighting (I dose with Flourish, Flourish Iron, Flourish Trace and Flourish Potassium and use Flourite as the only substrate). Has anyone else seen such a dramatic increase in growth?

By the way, I love my Rena Filstar canister filter and the Hydor ETH inline heater that I installed at the same time. I can't recommend this combination highly enough for anyone with a planted tank. My next big purchase will be a pressurized CO2 system.
 

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Sure! I trim once a week on my 20 once I switched but I also switched from DIY Co2 to pressurized. Pics look great!
 
wow, that's one bright green tank :mrgreen: .
i can't think of any other reason than decrease in co2 outgassing contributing to this growth. i'd guess better water quality might contribute to happier plants.
 
I have read before that a bio-wheel may dissipate (injected) CO2 out of the tank. I have an Eclipse 5 gallon hex with a bio-wheel. It's low light (1.4 wpg) and I don't run CO2. Don't you have a 5 gallon hex too?

Those are beautiful pictures! It looks like the addition of the canister filter worked very well for you!
 
The 30 gallon I mentioned above is my largest tank. I have a 5 gallon hex that is my smallest. I am in the process of planting it with dwarf sag and perhaps a dwarf sword as a centerpiece.
 
Gene, out of curiosity, what lighting is over your 30g? I have dwarf sag in 2 tanks: 29g and 20g (long). the 29g has 1x55w pcf and it's sag is doing great. the 20g (long) has 2x20 nof, and the sag does not grow well. Just curious if the PC lighting will make that much difference!
 
Wow, that's some nice lush growth :) I've got a 30G with a 96w CF fixture over it too and it's a great setup. I use Rena Filtars with Hydor heaters on both of my planted tanks and I completely agree with you. No ugly components in the tank and clean, warm water. Perfect for plants :D
 
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