I got my 55 gal

[motherspice]

Now its dirty and it came with a underground filter and ewwwww nasty.......think im gonna trow it out and start over,,,even the heater is nasty he has not used the tank in a year so you can picture what it looks like.......now I know I need a filter was thinking the bio wheel 350....I need a heater 200 right? was thinking the underwater heater??? It has a light but of cause the bulb dont work...so have to get another bulb hes missing the top also he said he will look for it I hope he finds it cause a hood for a 55 cost big bucks!
Also it has a white film around the tank near the top what can I use to clean it??....please help.......To be honest im disapointed for 100 bucks you would think the hood would be there and the light in working order.also If it was me I would have cleaned it up some it has dust bunnys in the tank, and im not kidding
any advice welcomed please on how to clean it up..I was hoping to get it up and running in a week now not so sure gonna have to find the $ for what I need

 

[Purrbox]

Vinegar and elbow grease will work wonders.

 

[motherspice]

Vinegar and elbow grease will work wonders.

any kind of vinegar?


oh it came with the AquaClear Powerfilter 300 but its nasty...whats the scoop on this filter? it looks so diffrant from the filter im used to help

 

[motherspice]

here is the heater I just ordered

Aquarium Heaters: Visi-Therm Stealth Heater

 

[Alaris]

For cleaning: use white vinegar. You can find it in the dressing aisle at the grocery store. I put some in a spray bottle and use it like Windex. You have icky-ness so you might consider filling up the tank and soaking it in a vinegar solution or better yet a bleach solution (~20:1) (dechlorinator will later remove any chlorine left on tank).

Also for hardwater stains, scrape with a razor blade and lots of elbow grease!

Fill up the tank outside all the way to make sure it doesn't leak.

Filter: for a 55g you might want to consider a canister filter. HOB's can get humongous on 4 ft tanks.

Heater: instead of one 200W, get 2 x 150W's and place one at either end for even heating.

Lighting: research what kind of light you want. I hastily bought bulbs, twice! and had to replace them both times with something better.

Hood: These look pretty cool: Aquarium Hoods & Canopies: All-Glass Versa-Tops It's just to cover the top of the tank and your light would go above it.

So you got a 55g glass box for $100? Did you at least get a stand?

 

[motherspice]

For cleaning: use white vinegar. You can find it in the dressing aisle at the grocery store. I put some in a spray bottle and use it like Windex. You have icky-ness so you might consider filling up the tank and soaking it in a vinegar solution or better yet a bleach solution (~20:1) (dechlorinator will later remove any chlorine left on tank).

Also for hardwater stains, scrape with a razor blade and lots of elbow grease!

Fill up the tank outside all the way to make sure it doesn't leak.

Filter: for a 55g you might want to consider a canister filter. HOB's can get humongous on 4 ft tanks.

Heater: instead of one 200W, get 2 x 150W's and place one at either end for even heating.

Lighting: research what kind of light you want. I hastily bought bulbs, twice! and had to replace them both times with something better.

Hood: These look pretty cool: Aquarium Hoods & Canopies: All-Glass Versa-Tops It's just to cover the top of the tank and your light would go above it.

So you got a 55g glass box for $100? Did you at least get a stand?

lol yes I got a stand here look... dont look so dirty here this is the pic he sent me

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Ha thats the same tank and stand I have, got mine for free though

You can get glass tops for ~$22 from many vendors, then you can put many types of light on it even that stock one.
Perfecto Glass Aquarium Lighting Canopies

Those are perfecto tops, your aquarium is likely an all glass, which is what mine is. The difference is the all glass lids are a little larger but way more $$$. The perfecto tops worked fine on the All glass frame. Now I have a new top frame as my center brace cracked and its a perfect fit for the perfecto tops(glad I got them, lol)

 

[motherspice]

Ha thats the same tank and stand I have, got mine for free though

You can get glass tops for ~$22 from many vendors, then you can put many types of light on it even that stock one.
Perfecto Glass Aquarium Lighting Canopies

Those are perfecto tops, your aquarium is likely an all glass, which is what mine is. The difference is the all glass lids are a little larger but way more $$$. The perfecto tops worked fine on the All glass frame. Now I have a new top frame as my center race cracked and its a perfect fit for the perfecto tops(glad I got them, lol)

funny I like free better....but hubby is gonna take it outside in a few and fill it up to see if it leaks

 

[Lager]

Sounds like a sound idea.

 

[fearlessfisch]

The Aquaclear is a very good filter. It has a nice place for biological media and allows you to replace just one component of the media at a time (e.g., filter pad, carbon, and bio media) in order to prevent mini-cycles. The size you have is rated for your tank, but most people recommend filtering beyond what the boxes say. I would consider running it in addition to a canister. I run a canister and an AC on my 55, and I like that the AC provides surface agitation beyond the canister.

Since it hasn't been running for about a year, I would just clean the box, throw out the sponge and media that came with it, and pick up some replacements at the LFS. I definitely wouldn't throw it out. Even if you decide not to use it now, it will come in handy for a quarantine tank or when MTS strikes again.