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I have a lightly planted 10 gallon (40 litre) tank which has a sand substrate. The inhabitants are 1 male Betta and a couple of ghost shrimps. It currently has an AquaClear mini that is about 10 years old on it and I think its about time for an upgrade.

I'm thinking of removing the sand as its quite disappointing to have a dirty looking tank a day or two doing a water change because the shrimp poo stands out so well against the white sand.

I'm thinking I might buy a small canister filter and it has been 4 or 5 years since I've own one myself so was wondering what would be the best bet for my tank?

Anyone know any good australian online aquarium shops?

http://www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au/

http://www.thereefshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=index

Here are two that I have used Aquatic in NSW only charged me $9 to send a parcel of liquid ferts to 75klm from Melb.
The Reef shop is in Melb

A good substrate is a 1-3mm natural river gravel plus a few Khuli loaches will keep things very clean.

Keith

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Good idea on the Khuli's Keithgh.

I've found some good prices on Eheim and Fluval canisters. I'm weighing up between the Eheim 2211 or the Fluval 105. I will probably buy the optional spray bar with the Fluval which will reduce water current in the tank because of my lil Betta.

Anyone had any experience with either filter? Was wondering what filter media comes with the eheim? How does it separate the media. I've previously owned a fluval 404 so I know how they run. Just looking for some advice.

I've only had the eheim ecco, not sure if it'd be the same as their other range. The one I had came with carbon, thick and thin floss pads, and ceramic noodles in a bag. I liked that they had the media in a bag so that the noodles didn't go everywhere when you dump them out to clean the baskets. The media baskets themselves locked together so they could all be lifted out at once by the handle on the top one. Had a bit of confusion on how to assemble and start the filter, it was my first canister filter and the directions were all in picture with minimal text. I also liked that it was really quiet when it was running, could hardly even hear it.
Since then I've had a few of the cheap canister filters, they function OK, but don't have the same quality feel to them, and some questionable design aspects so I'd say stick with the brand name ones for sure!

If it was my tank though, I'd probably just switch out the substrate and get another AC.


^_^

If you are looking for something on a low budget, I had a tetra fauna canister (rated for a tank up to 30 gallons) that would be great for a ten gallon. Comes with a spray bar and it costs about 40$USD when I bought one last year. Good for aquarium or amphibians (you'd probably find it in the turtle/frog section of the store as its "FAUNA" but it was great for a ten gallon and even used it for a 50 gallon pond outside for a while.

GOOD LUCK!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

I have a few of the small eheim Classic 2211 cannisters. Quite a good little cannister for a small tank. Unlike some of the other eheim classics, the 2211 doesn't come with double taps, but it will make maintenance easier if you buy yourself a set for each hose. This does push the price of the filter up though, as those taps are not cheap.

The Classic 2211 also doesn't have media baskets, but I haven't found that to be a bother. In a big filter, that would bother me, but not in this small one. From what I recall, eheim don't recommend using media bags in the Classic or the Pro II series. Apparently, in those models, it can cause the media to bunch up & water, which will always find the easiest path of least resistance, can pass through the gaps without fully going through all the media.

Cheers
TW