Thanks for the replies!
I think I might look into putting a black sponge on the filter intake and raise the tubes higher, black tubes would be a good choice too, thanks for the tip swylie

With regards to the filter.. I am using a 200w heater, yup I know.. a little overkill. I had purchased a smaller nano junior heater which was black and kind of cool. I dont know if it is me, but it didn't seem to increase the water temperature much (maybe broken?) Has anyone had any experience using this type of heater?. Its rated for less than 5g but I thought it would be suitable to raise a temp of 10g of water from 71'F to 74-75'F ..... but it didn't raise it 1 degree...