New Tank

[Rhino]

First off hello to all. I just joined this forum after browsing around it for a couple of days. Looks to be a very helpful place. Now on to business. I recently purchased a 36 gallon bowfront tank and stand. I am planning on do a freshwater community tank. I do have a couple of questions though. Filters...This seems to come up a lot on here. I know most of you will recommend aqua clear. As I have browsed these forums one must wonder if aqua clear is paying all the members of this forum for all the support (just playing). I have had an aqueon 20 gallon kit in the past and the filter was just fine. I am currently in a toss up between an aqueon 55/75 hob filter, the marineland penguin 305b, and the aqua clear 50. The aqueon does have a full life-time warranty. However I have found the Marineland for $24.99 online. Thoughts and or suggestions please.

 

[neilanh]

Aquaclear does make a good, reliable HOB. I've also used a marineland penguin 250 that I really liked as well.

Welcome to AA!

 

[carey]

Hello! Welcome to the forum!

I hate to say it, lol, but i would recommend the aquaclear 50 for sure. I've been using these for over ten years and have never ever had a problem with it. It also lets you customize your filter media which alot of other filters dont'.

Anyways, welcome, the people here are great so if you need anything just ask.

 

[FishAngel]

Hello. I'm a newbie, started tank Dec 19' 2010 so it's about 3 1/2 mos established. Have 3 black skirt tetras,4 angelfish, 6 neon tetras, 3 lamp eye tetras, 3 zebra danios, 2 platys, 2 snails and 3 golden rams. Haven't lost any fish in a while and fish seem happy and healthy. Just introduced two live plants, the snails, and the golden rams 2 days ago. My water parameters look good except for pH (7.6), on the high side but within normal. Ammonia (.25) nitrites (0), and nitrates (0)all good. So, my problem? Very cloudy water. Can hardly see the fish and not sure what to do.

 

[Homedog98]

1. Welcome to AA

2. It might be fine this time, but next time, let's not steal the OP's thread, and start our own.

3. Your water is cloudy from bacterial bloom, your tank has started a mini cycle. Check your levels everyday, and whenever ammonia goes above .50 ppm, nitrites above two, and nitrates above 40, do a 50% water change.

4. How big is that tank??? You've got a lot of fish in there that either need bigger schools, or need big tanks.

 

[James_in_MN]

I have a 20g and 10g with Aqueon Quietflows on both of them. They seem to work fine for me. I must admit that I didn't blindly trust the biological filtration capability of the plastic bio-holster and wet-dry grid. What I did was add a Fluval Chi foam pad between the bio-holster and outflow back into the tank to allow for more bacteria growth.

The reason that people are big on the AquaClears are two fold, from what I've seen posted.

First, the AquaClear allows for the most customization of any other HoB filter. There's a very large chamber that, after you add their foam filter pad, will allow you to add just about anything to your filtration. It also, because of that space, is better suited to seeding your aquarium with filter media from an established tank to help speed up the fishless cycle process.

Lastly, the AquaClear has what some on here will suggest is a very quiet and near-bulletproof motor. I've seen people post how other filter motors had failed them where AquaClear continues to run strong. One example I believe I read had to do with filtering a tank with a sand substrate, where sand clogged up other filter motors and not the AC.

Why, after all of that, don't I have AC instead of Quietflow filters? My 10g tank was a kit with a Quietflow (and other tank accessories) included, and I received a rebate for buying a Quietflow for my 20g. I also liked the ease of dealing with the Quietflow filter media vs the AC filter basket.

Will I stick with my Quietflow filters? That's hard to say. I do know that if I switched, I'd likely switch to AC over any other brand.

 

[ejaramillo01]

Also recommend the Aquaclear 50 or bigger if you afford it.
I also have the Marinelad with the bio wheel and worked good, but for a 36G tank I would recommend to go big with the Marineland like a 200 at least

 

[WhiteWidow11]

I have been using a penguin 350 dual bio-wheel on my 55, very pleased. I used single bio wheels( 200 model maybe?) And have great success with those too. My roomate uses a AquaClear on her 10g and its definately also nice, I like how its adjustaable and clear. I would choose between these two manufactures and get the biggest one you can afford, since there's a good chance you might upgrade your tank some day lol. And if not, a little extra flow and filtratrion could only help your tank, and can allow you to add an extra fish or two than normal.

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