Heater or Filter? Which is more important?
 

My parents have finally let me get another tank! I'm going to do them a favor of not using everything necessary. I was thinking since my room stays at 72-76, I might not need a heater. Been checking for 2 weeks already. Even if it goes under 70, that's usually when the AC goes on. I might go with a heater and ditch the filter, if I fill the tank up with practically all hornwort. What would you guys say is more important? CRS is what I'm going to try to keep. The one in my 29G is still alive, been alive for almost 2months. XD

Heater or Filter? Which is more important?
 

Filter. Never need a heater for crs out here in southern Cali.


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Seems like you always have issues with your tanks, might be better to focus on keeping current tanks happy and functional instead of constantly expanding. But as for your question, given your ambient temperature, a filter sounds like the way to go. Sponge filters are cheap.

That's pretty true, but I'm getting this tank just for CRS, so the majority of the problems are gone. And this time, I'm getting ADA! I've never used sponge filters before, do you just need an air pump + something like the dual sponge filter thing from amazon?
http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Bioch...+sponge+filter
or
http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-A902-Dou...+sponge+filter
All you need for these filters are airlines/air pump/ then attach the airline into any of the sponges and it will work? I'm such a newbie.

yes all you need is an air pump and airline tubing. Also if you check on ebay, you can find those sponge filteres you linked for cheaper. i got 4 for 10 bucks. i split it with my friend though and i am running 2 in my crs tank. And i also live in anaheim and I don't heat my tank.

you need FILTER not heater. clean water is always more important plus if it does drop below 50 in the tank just keep the light on that will keep the temp up

Filter definitely

I would get that, but I don't got Paypal. Do you have on that you don't use? I rather buy one from you than wait 2 weeks to get it.

dont need ebay make your own sponge filter i do look it up on youtube lots of vids for diy sponge filter

In fact you'll probably run into more trouble using a heater. Warm temps = more bacterial infections for harder shrimp. Shrimp can tolerate cold temps so no worries.

Definitely invest in the best filtration you can. I don't run a heater in my shrimp tank, and haven't had any issues related to temperature. I would set the tank up specific to the shrimp you plan to keep. ADA will help lower the Ph for the CRS, and I would run a sponge filter along with a canister or HOB w/ a sponge prefilter over the intake. How big is the tank? You could also do an undergravel filter connected to a canister. There is a great walkthrough by a shrimp keeper here on TPT, can't remember where I saw it at. Remember, Research, Research, Research. Plan everything and set it up right from the start. Good luck with the new tank.

+1 for filtration