advice please - filter and cleaning hard water stains

[meg1177]

Hi I'm a

I just got a 50 gallon fish tank for my birthday - it is used one. It has a great custom wood top to it, so I don't really want to modify it to put power filters on the outside of it. I can not afford the canister unit at this time (or probably ever). I found 2 whisper Internal power filters for 10-30 gallon tanks. Can I use two of these to equal a 50 gallon filter?

It is a used tank, so I was going to strip the silicone on it and re-do it before I fill it. I bought aquarium silicone at home depot (this is the right stuff I assume) I noticed that the front of the tank has some limescale/ hard water stains. What can I use to clean it that won't be a real PIA to get out of it? I had thought maybe some type of citrus juice or something? Any thoughts would be great..

Last question - what is the best place online to order supplies/fish from?


Thanks so much!! Glad I found you all!

Meg1177

 

[shellyandsteve]

where are you? have you tried a water filter?
not best ordering fish online better off googling the best shops near you

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

Use vinegar to clean the glass. Wash it off after. Is the tank Freshwater or Saltwater?
Online ordering of fish will be expensive but as long as the fish are acclimated right, they will be fine.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Welcome to AA Happy belated birthday, and congratulations on your new tank in my opinion, those filters would not be enough to provide adequate filtration for a 50g tank. Something you will learn is that most people that have successful tanks will run filters rated for almost twice the size of the tank. For instance, i have a 55g tank with two filters rated for 60g... If money is a concern, check your local craigslist. I found a fluval 305 for $20 that was almost new. That would be an excellent filter for your tank. There are several places that are good for ordering online. Recommending one would be very hard, and is solely an opinion thing. drs foster and smith is a good site (www.drsfostersmith.com) and big als is also a good site (www.bigalsonline.com). Live Aquaria seems to be one of the favorites around here for fish (www.liveaquaria.com), but ive never ordered fish online so i couldnt tell you from experience. I like picking out my fish from the store better, but some fish you cant get at local stores, and sometimes people live too far away from one. You may have some more suggestions on that. One thing i do ask is if you havent already, read through the link in my signature on fishless cycle. That will be a very important thing to do before you even think about buying your first fish. Hope this helps

 

[meg1177]

Thanks everyone!

It's a freshwater tank

I just tried your suggestion AMDphenom - it worked great! Thanks!

I will go ahead and wait and find a bigger filter - darnit! LOL

I also have some live plants a friend wants to get rid of because they've gotten too big for his tank - he said this will help for bringing good bacteria to our tank - he has a very established tank probably 10yrs old. Is this right? Should I put those in when doing that fishless cycle? Or when to put them in?

I will check out those sites tonight!

Any suggestions on good starter fish for it?

Thanks - I'm very excited for my new tank and my new site I found!!

 

[mfdrookie516]

adding the plants would be good for the tank, the only problem would be lighting... depends on what plants and what kind of lighting you have in your tank. If you just have "stock" lighting (ie the light that comes with the tank from the store) then youre going to be limited on what types of plants you can keep. As for fish, it really depends on what route you want to take. You could go with a nice community with several species or you could go for a south/central american or african cichlid tank. Lots of possibilities. A good way to get some ideas is to go through the freshwater photos here and see what types you seem interested in, then we can help you figure out what can go and what gets along with it.