The Puffer Forum

Right now I have a aqua clear hob filter on my 20 gallon long planted tank.

I am looking to upgrade that, mostly because I want to stop the surface movement.

There's a couple ways I want to go:

At petsmart right now a fluval canister is on for 110 dollars
Do you think that kind of money makes any sence top spend on such a small tank?

Also:

A guy a buy a lot of my suplies from have a ehiem skimmer filter, it skims the top of the water to remove debris, and film that goes along the top. And pushes the water back out from a jet underneth
He's asking 50 dollars for it.

With my setup, what do you think is the best option to go with? Any other suggestions are also welcome

If you are going to remove the surface movement, then you're going to need to add an airstone. I'd stick with the AC.

I personally prefer the airstone, I like the look of it,

I was under the understanding that's when you add co2 to a planted tank, you want no surface movement. Or as little as you can get.

A buddy of mine told me, that while injecting co2, putting an airstone is counterproductive

Surface agitation does increase gas exchange but if you are dosing co2 just increase the amount of co2 you are dosing. As long as your monitoring with a good drop checker or ph probe you shouldn't have an issue. Additionally the cost is all relative. I have 500+ already into a 6.5 gallon and not done with the equipment yet.

Without either a HOB filter disturbing the surface of the water or an airstone, my fish are struggling to breathe.

If you are going heavily planted you shouldnt have an issue with oxygen. If you have the appropriate amount of light,ferts, and co2 you should have pearling on your plants. This pearling is oxygen bubbles. This will only occur when the water column is saturated and the excess oxygen is then pearling on the plant leave. Just keep a watch full eye on you fish. They will be your first sign that something is really off. If you see them gasping, shut you co2 off and add surface agitation, and adjust accordingly.

I would get a canister filter every time, if you buy a much oversized one then you will get plenty of flow to keep many types of algae at bay and to distribute plant fertilisers around the tank. If you use the spray bar you can still get surface water movement and you won't need an airstone.

If you don't have any surface movement at all then you risk getting a film that covers the surface of the water.