New to having a larger tank.

[Noobfish]

Hello,
I am new to forums in general.
I have used this website for great advice setting up my Betta tank. Now I am setting up a 36 gallon Oranda tank. I’m getting 2 small Oranda and I will upsize when they get bigger. I was wondering about filtration for this tank I’ve seen that canisters are highly recommended. That’s a new ball game for me I have a sponge on my 5 gallon. Any advice would be amazing. Also I saw for substrate people recommend 1.5mm sand or larger pebbles so they don’t eat them. I don’t really want to go no substrate just because I want to plant the tank (I know the Orandas may uproot things). Any help would be awesome. Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this post. Thanks.

 

[Aiken Drum]

We had a bit of discussion on cannister filter recently. Might be some useful insights there about different makes.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=375386


External filter

I would recommend going for a filter rated at double the required size for the tank as goldfish are messy. Also if you are planning a future upgrade you might consider sizing your cannister to the future upgrade so you can simply relocate the filter for an instant cycle. So if you plan on upgrading to 50g then get a cannister rated for 100g, so say a fluval 407. You can turn the water flow rate down while its in your 36g.

 

[Noobfish]

Thanks I will check that out! I appreciate it!

 

[fishwonder]

Found some new information this author has done on canister filters. He now includes some testing of canisters that might be useful. But as always, the media inside the canister is more important than the flow since media will dictate the flow rate. I think most will agree that ribbed hoses are not good and should be replaced with smooth hoses.

I just had a pre filter intake issue that the author was dead right about.

 

[Noobfish]

Thank you guys for the suggestions. Any on substrate? I see a ton of goldfish tanks with no substrate. Is that the best way to go?

 

[fishwonder]

Thank you guys for the suggestions. Any on substrate? I see a ton of goldfish tanks with no substrate. Is that the best way to go?

Sorry, but maybe Mr. Bankston (@charliebankston) is a better source for that information. Advice is to not go with anything over 1/8" as fish food will go down and make it hard for the fish to get at causing decay and cloudy water.