2 setup concerns

[Filter]

Feel rather stupid with questions like this, but I'd rather be safe. Setting up a new 20h .... First time aquarium...... Rinsed the gravel really well in a bucket until water had no debris of any kind..... When I put it in the tank the top has some tiny gravel pieces on the top of the water. I am a little concerned about it and the filter(penguin 150). Second question was how close the heater should go to the filter .... Fluval 200watt. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[jsoong]

You never get rid of all the fine stuff in the gravel ... no matter how much you rinse, so a little bit of suspended particles after setting up is OK. The filter can pull all that out in a day or so. As long as your filter pads are not totally clogged, it should be fine. If your have lots of fines in the water, then checking the filter pads every few hours is a good idea. Once the filter pads are starting to get loaded, take them out & rinse out the debris in a bucket of dechlorinated water, then reuse.

It doesn't matter where you place the heater, as long as it is within the water circulation. Put your hand in the tank and you can find where the water currents are. Placing the heater within the current will ensure even heat distribution in the tank.

 

[cinnamaldehyde]

I put my heater right beside the intake to my filter so that warm water gets sucked up and then flows back into the tank to be distributed all over.

Pretty much the same as previous poster said about putting it in the current. A corner that has little water movement would be a bad spot for a heater.

 

[TraceyB4602]

When you get a thermometer make sure you put it in the opposite six of the tank so that you know what the whole tanks water temp is and not just around the heater. The Little floaters are normal I'd they are big enough just pick them out if not the filter will get them like said before. I pit my heater near my filter and my bubbles.

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