HOB Vs Cannister

[Dean1978]

Hi, I'm new to the hobby. I have tropical freshwater fish. I am looking to switch from the powerful cannister pump that sits in the aquarium to a HOB filter which is designed for the size of aquarium I have. My concern is that upon switching over, the water on the surface is very still, I have a air stone but will there still be enough O2 produced? The HOB has a surface skimmer but with the surface remaining so still will the surface be cleaned? I also felt that the cartridge filter was too powerful anyway. I'm a little concerned on the change so anyone that can offer reassurance would be good. Thanks

 

[GIZMOSPAZZ]

The surface of the water should not be still with a HOB filter. I have two tanks. A 10g that does not have an air stone. The surface of the water is always moving. I also have a 55g with 2 AquaClear 70s. This tank has two air stones, although the surface is agitated quite a bit from the filters alone. Depending on how close the water level is to the return from the filter, depends on how agitated the water's surface will be. I have the surface of the water almost touching in both of my tanks. It creates a nice rippling across the surface. I highly recommend the AC70s though. They are very quiet and are great filters. In this pic, you can see the surface of the water where my one AC70 is returning the water. Hope this helps.