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I'm going to be planting my 10 gallon soon, I will be using a CO2 system, fluorite and 2 x 20 watt compact fluorescent 6400K bulbs. The current filter on the tank is a whisper 10 that came in a kit. I believe this will be too much surface agitation for the CO2. What are some good filters that I could look into?

I would say an internal filter would work. I don't think they cause much surface agitation.

if it is an internal whisper it should be fine... the surface agitation can be changed via adjusting the water level (ie the distance between the water surface and the outgoing...)

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What ever filter you decide on it must have as little as possible water disturbance to get the benefit of the Co2

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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Hi,
Personally, I would not use an injected CO2 system on so
small a tank. Just the tiniest bit would take the CO2
saturation to dangerous levels.

Injection of CO2 gas also depends upon maintaining the
surface tension of the water. If you rile it the gas will
escape into the atmosphere. Normal CO2 saturation is
about 5mg/l, for plant growth you want to bring that
saturation up to about 30mg/l or more. Riling the surface
tension allows the water to degas. The only way to beat
that is to use a bottled system and "turn it up" enough to
compensate for the surface losses.

In a tank that small, the only really practical way to
give the plants the carbon that they will need with
that high a light level is chemically with a product such
as Sea-Chem's Excel. It's not a gas, and it doesn't matter
if you run an air stone or not.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

The regular whisper has very low surface agitation, as long as the waterline is up to an inch of the waterfall. However, with heavy stocking, it is kinda low in filtration terms. Very low water GPH. I would reccomend an ehiem ?aquaball? as they are really neat looking. Although, they mioght have too high of GPH for CO2ed tank. A good fluval is also acceptable!

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I do already have some flourish and flourish excel. I think I'll try using the filter I have now along with the fluorite and the flourish and excel and the lights I said earlier. I have tried these ferts on my 38 gallon with no noticeable difference but I must say I don't keep to a schedule like I should.

The plants that I plan to use include a couple different kinds of crypts and I think I'll try some red ludwigia and some micro sword. I have a sword in my 38 gallon thats not doing very well that I could swap over but I've heard they'll overtake the rest of a small tank.

Hi,
That choice of plants should be good in the ten.
I'd forget about the amazon sword. They do grow huge and
can take over all but the largest of tanks. Swords are
heavy root feeders. That is they develop huge root systems
through which they draw most of their nutrients. A couple
of plant sticks or plant tablets placed at the compass rose
about two inches out from the plant will help the sword
begin to grow.

You will wind up prunning the Red Ludwiga as it grows to
keep it in its place in a 10G tank rather frequently.
Put the cuttings in the other tanks.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks for the advice frank, I think I might start up a log for this tank whenever I start tearing down the current version. Any advice on how to convert it over, like should I remove 1/2 the water and put the fish in that while I mess around in there? Or should I just try to do everything with the fish still in the tank?

Hi,
I would definitely remove the fish during the overhaul.
That will save them allot of stress.
I would empty the tank rinse/clean it out with a
clean cloth then add the fluorite to a dry tank.
Be sure to wash the Flourite about three times then put
it in the tank. Set a plate on top of the substrate and
pour the fresh water/old water slowly onto the plate till
the tank is filled to the point where you want to plant it.

If you dump the Flourite into a half filled tank, or you
directly pour the water into the Flourite, you will have
a dark brown cloudy mess that will take weeks to clear up
using an ordinary filter. A Diatom filter such as the
Vortex will clear the tank in a matter of minutes.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--