Quote:
Originally posted by Tirian
In my opinion - if you are planning on keeping the usual assortment of freshwater tropical fish, it is worth the time effort and expense to build your aquarium with an under gravel filter system to enhance the "water filter". (they are quit inexpensive and available at all the dept. stores)
The main reason for this setup is that you will have to hand clean things less frequently.
Basically what it is, is a grate that you install below the gravel, which has (for a 10 gallon) two clear tubes extendng up into the water. You install an air pump, and have the bubbles coming up the two tubes. These bubbles cause water to flow down through all the gravel in your tank and travel back up the tubes with the bubbles.
Using the gravel as a second filter in this way keeps the system nice and clean (in fact I have only this system at home, and do not use an external water filter on the back of my tank at all)
Choose a couple of algea eating fish, and a couple of bottom feeders to compliment your other fish, and you'll have setup that requires little care.
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An under gravel filter is total over-kill for a 10 gallon tank. Plus, it's not really a 'filter'. The purpose of an under gravel system is to move the water through a substrate (the gravel) to promote growth of bacteria to keep the ammonia levels (fish piss) down. It will only work if you use a bacteria supporting gravel. You still need a normal filter to remove larger particles and carbon to help keep the water clean.
Sapper suggested using live plants. That's a good idea, but can be very difficult to support. The fish may eat the plants. I'd work on keeping the fish alive, before messing with plants.
The real issue with a 10 gallon tank comes down to territory. Many fish are territorial (particularly fresh water tropicals). As a rule of thumb, a single territorial fish needs about 10 gallons of water. So, in your case, make sure to only buy non-territorial fish. Otherwise, you'll have a bunch of fish killing each other. Ask the fish store to help pick them out.
One last thing, when starting out a new tank, the first batch of fish will almost always die. They are the ginny pigs, plus they'll help to prep the water for the next batch of fish. So don't become too attached to them, and go cheap!
Good Luck!