Reddit reviews Marina S10 Power Filter

This one hands down. Customizable with whatever media you want to filter with and you can control the flow.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0032G8TPW?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1

Unless I am mistaken, they are Marina Power S10s.

They are cheap and awesome. LINK

If you consider trying a filter again- I have had great success with this filter, while also using a home-made baffle cut out of a water bottle.

Welcome to Betta keeping! Get ready to be addicted. No tank is too big IMO, you want your guy to have plenty of room. I would go with 8 gallons if you have room for it.

If you go with 8 gallons, this looks good and seems to be well reviewed. The 50-watt version.

Again, if you decide on 8 gallons, I would go with this. It comes with cartridges that don't need to be changed nearly as often as it says on the box. I generally only change my cartridges when they start to get really scummy; they house bacteria that is beneficial to your tank.

Bettas also like caves, hiding places and plants. A floating bunch of anacharis will eat up ammonia and give your fish a place to rest. Java fern also does well in a low-light environment.

You'll need to change the water once a week, and make sure to add water conditioner each time. This is my favorite brand.

Any other questions, feel free to PM me. Happy fish keeping!

I did this and I was scared to death I was going to ruin the tank, but the project went well and I'm really happy with the results.

Pic of tank now: https://imgur.com/DBmerHY - Filter and Light I used.

Bleu has been happily living on my desk in my home office for about 2 weeks, the tank has been setup for about a month. He's currently the only inhabitant and I will likely be adding a few striped khuli loaches or some shrimp in the near future I haven't decied which direction to go yet. I also am trying to track down some floating plants but haven't had any luck at my LFS or Petsmart, I might check Petco in a larger city this weekend that's about an hour away or some LFS in that area.



Equipment:

10 Gallon tank from Petco $1/gallon sale

Aqueon 06105 Pro Heaters Submersible Aquarium Heater, 50-Watt

Marina Stainless Steel Thermometer

Perfecto Manufacturing APF33200 Glass Canopy Aquarium, 20-Inch

Marineland Single Bright LED Lighting System 18-24-Inch

Quantity 2 Marina S10 Power Filter

Penn Plax Hide-Away Stackable Stone Aquarium Ornament

Natural sand substrate

1 Java Fern

1 Wisteria (I think...)

I'm going to move the Java Fern today I read last night you aren't supposed to bury the Rhizome so I need to get it attached to a rock or piece of drift wood. I think a decent size piece of drift wood would help the barren look as well on the right until I can get some additional plants. The tank itself has been doing great the filters are very low current which is perfect for Bleu. I've been using the API freshwater master test kit to keep an eye on things and doing about a 25% water change every two weeks.

• edit: I'm using some filter floss and ceramic in one of the S10 filters with some filter sponge and the original filters in the other plus some filter floss in the output

Do you have a walmart by you? They sell empty 10 gallon tanks for 14.99 regularly priced. You could order from the website to store, too.
https://www.walmart.com/browse/pets/10-gallon-aquariums/5440_202074_8218041

I like these cheap filters I got off of Amazon that have an adjustable flow. They're 13.99 each.
https://www.amazon.com/Marina-A285-S10-Power-Filter/dp/B0032G8TPW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522288540&sr=8-1&keywords=marina+s10+filter

Then you'd only need one more heater, and if you keep the water level low enough in the 10 gallons you shouldn't have any issue with jumping until you can get hoods and lights, and even if you kept the water level really low it'd be way better than what they have now.

They are separate things, at my knowledge:

Low profile filter:

• Marina Slim S10 hang on the back filter. Pros: smallest clearance between wall and tank, self priming after power outage, DIY custom filter media is shown on YouTube. Cons: could vibrate (needs adjusting its position or adding rubber pads), hand to clean bottom of the filter.
  
  
• Canister filter, low flow kind. Pros: only input and output tubes are visible, if they are glass "lily pipes", even better. Cons: more expensive, cheaper kinds have to be next to the tank, not below it; some are hard to open for a cleaning and close and prime (start water running) after closing. Read reviews for each brand.
  
  
• Matten filter looks like thick sponge insert in the tank, at the short end or in the corner. Pros: low maintenance. Cons: more expensive than common filters, could be not suitable for your setup, not readily available, and not a filter, strictly speaking, see the link above.
  
  Small:
  
  
• Azoo Mignon 150 or 360, the same is sold under other names: Deep Blue Biomax nano filter, Aquarium Masters mini filter. Pros: small. Cons: small, not much place for filter media, not self priming, hard to clean intake tube.
  
  Low cost:
  
  
• T-shaped sponge filter, fed by air pump. Pros: good as mechanical and bimedia, fish and shrimp are safe. Cons: air pump is louder than water pumps, you have to squeeze it well in old tank water during cleaning.
  
  
• Double corner filter, hidden behind plant or decoration. Pros: more space for any media. Cons: air pump, and the filter is noticeable.
  
  Other:
  
  
• Aqua Clear HOBs are polular.
  
  
• Tidal HOBs are self priming.
  
  Sand as a substrate:
  
  Not play sand (too dirty and too fine), not too fine, not too thick layer, should be inert.
  

Oh yes definitely ditch that horrendous filter/light brick thing that comes with it, what a piece of junk! I replaced it with a hang on marina filter from amazon and its been amazing. I put a bag of purigen in place of one of the carbon cartridges and that seems to work pretty well too. The light is an aquatic nature solar duo-boy 26 watt version

I currently use this for one of my betta tanks. I bought it used and it's been running for over a year. The flow rate is adjustable which is perfect for any betta tanks.

Smaller than i thought. Hard to find hob filters for such a small tank. You can try Penn Plax cascade 20, though i saw its out of stock on amazon.


Also, i think this would be fine as well.

If it ends up being to much of a flow when pouring back into tank, you can just baffle it with a sponge.

Why not use a separate filter and put the lights on the timer?

http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-A285-Marina-Power-Filter/dp/B0032G8TPW/ref=sr_1_10?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1341333987&sr=1-10&keywords=aquarium+filter

Just wanted to point out that while it's true that a 10g setup would cost roughly the same as a 5g, but sometimes space is a factor.

With that in mind, you can expect to spend roughly $40-60 depending on where and how you're shopping. Currently PetSmart has 5.5g and 10g tanks that come with an LED hood for $30, and PetCo has the $1 per gallon sale (10g minimum) if you're looking for a convenient route.

You should decide if you'd like live plants or not. That will determine many factors for your tank, such as what kind of substrate and lighting. Having a planted aquarium doesn't mean it'll be high maintenance or high cost, and going planted is almost always the better choice over artificial. That being said, a betta can live just fine in a tank with fake decorations.

Tank: $10-30 At my LFS, a 5.5g rimless is about $11. At a place like Petco/Petsmart, you're probably looking at $15-25. You should probably check out your local Craigslist while you're at it, too.

Substrate: $5-20 There's a lot of variety here.
Sand. Gravel. Rocks. Out of these three, I prefer sand. Some plants can still grow in it, it looks nice and is easier to keep clean since fish poop doesn't migrate to the bottom of the tank as much as with gravel/rocks.

If you're tight on a budget but would like lots of plants, check out the Walstad Method, which uses potting soil (organic) capped with sand, uses natural lighting and low/no maintenance plants. This method would probably set your back about $10-15 in substrate and plants.
If you've got a little extra money and want plants, you can buy soil made for aquariums (found in actual fish stores, not Petco/Petsmart), CaribSea (~$20 for 10lbs), etc.
Mix aquatic soil and sand or rocks if you'd like a compromise. For my heavily planted 5g, I used 2 liters of Mr. Aqua soil (~$20) and black sand ($3) to give you an idea.

Filter: $10-15 Sponge filters are dirt cheap and fool-proof, but require an air pump and some tubing. Some people prefer a hang-on-the-back filter; I use this one ($12) and stuff the insides with a sponge and ceramic media (I don't buy the refill cartridges). HOBs like this are advantageous because you can customize the filter media.

Heater: $10-15 Hydor 25w, $15 will do just fine for a 5g. There are cheaper ones, but keep in mind that many cheap heaters aren't adjustable and/or don't have light indicators or built in thermostats. If that's okay with you, then by all means.

Light: $0+ If you're not doing plants, no light is necessary. If you're doing the Walstad method or just have low light plants, you just need natural light or a lamp. If you're growing plants (other than moss/anubia/java), you can use a desk lamp but you'll want to look into getting some daylight (like 6500k) compact fluorescent ($5?) or LEDs. There are special lights that sit or clip on your tank made for growing plants, but they're more expensive at around $40+.


Thermometer: $1-3 Anything more than that's probably a waste.

Decoration/Plants: $5+ Just make sure no decorations have rough or sharp edges. It would be nice to give him a hiding spot, some people just use a small clay pot for plants. If you're going planted, you should check out anubias and java moss/ferns, as they don't require substrate or much lighting to thrive, and can be found anywhere.

Check out /r/AquaSwap and you'll find people selling plants, and you'll often find kind members who will just give you trimmings you can propogate yourself for free if you cover shipping ($5-7, usually), all you need to do is ask. It probably wouldn't be hard to find someone who could sell you equipment and accessories (new or established sponge filters, regular filters, heaters, etc) for a decent price.

I use the Marina S10 in mine that came with a kit, and it works really well. It's super quiet and has adjustable flow, so with it turned all the way down there's very little current and surface agitation.

I'm not 100% sure but as far as I know that would just aerate the water rather than filter it. Bettas breathe oxygen at the surface of their water so extra aeration is unnecessary. There's also sponge filters that use bubblers with tubing and those are supposed to be great but can take up a lot of space.

I have only used hang-on-back filters because they don't take up space inside the tank. This is a well-reviewed HOB filter that would be hella dope for your tank and totally budget-friendly. It has an adjustable flow but if it's still too much for your betta just look up "DIY filter baffle" and you can baffle it up so it'll be nice and gentle.

NINJA EDIT - Also since you don't have a cycled filter yet make sure to do lots and lots of water changes. If you can test the ammonia, do it frequently. Your buddy can survive a cycle if you are consistent with water changes. Like a gallon every 2 days or so. Take out a gallon, treat a fresh gallon of water from your tap with conditioner, put it back in. Buy a $2 bucket from Walmart, don't use an old one because CONTAMINATION!

I've got a Marina Slim filter with 3 cartridges you are supposed to replace . I usually replace one every week. Should I just be rinsing it? It's not cheap.

This is the sponge filter I currently have - SPonge

This is what I was looking to get (not at all sure) - FIlter

I forgot the exact name of the catfish but I believe they are Panda Catfish - or look very similar. This is 1 https://imgur.com/OkgmIJj the other one look exactly the same but about half again as big.

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I hve 2 air pumps. 1 came with the 3 gallon tank set up I got on Amazon - see Here (just realized its a 3 gallon not a 5)

And then I purchased an air pump - Pump

And maybe I got the name wrong for the glofish, the pet store I could swore said neon tetra on the tank but I have those and definitely not that - https://imgur.com/8xNmjPi .EDIT- You can see them better in the OP picture if you click on it. Reason I ask is because my Betta was going after them the first day and they seemed SUPER chill. I haven't seen them try to nip at anything so far. Although its been 3 days. Also the catfish was in the tank w them so I figured they would get a long.

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OK so the guy in the petstore told me i can have up to 20 fish in the 10 gallon. It's a private store not petco or petsmart/petland etc. Is that not the case then? I don't want to crowd my tank I was just planning on getting 2 more colors of the "Glofish" and that was probably going to be it.

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Thanks!!

I have this filter https://www.amazon.com/Marina-A285-S10-Power-Filter/dp/B0032G8TPW

I have one plant in there, I can't remember what it is I think it's an Amazon sword or something, I remember getting the recommend kind for my type of tank. I have no idea how many I need or what to do for them though.

Ha! I actually already ordered that exact light a few days ago. I've been debating what filter to get, I was thinking something like this.

I actually haven't set it up but I plan to do weekly water changes. That's why I am getting something bigger than a bowl because I'm not fond of water changes more than once a week.
Also planning on buying [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-A285-Marina-Power-Filter/dp/B0032G8TPW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=N2PIHFMKCDG0&coliid=I1JO6GJG9JQU9I) for the tank. Again, not fond of every other day water changes.