Reddit reviews Aqua Clear, Fish Tank Filter, 40 to 70 Gallons, 110v, A615A1

I would replace the under-gravel filter altogether, with either a hang-on filter or a canister. In my experience they are at least 10 times more effective at filtering than a UGF and waaaaay easier to maintain. You need a good filtration unit for goldfish, because they are a bit messy. I would recommend getting a Hagen AquaClear 70 (or bigger, according to the size of your aquarium)

Equipment: IMO aquaclears are the best HOB filter. Canister filters are a little more expensive and can be a little more difficult than HOBs at first as far as cleaning and setting up. However, they are superior to HOBs in most ways. Eheim and fluval make great canisters, then sunsun have been hit or miss from what I've heard.

I suggest getting two heaters, one on each side of the tank. That way if one fails your fish won't be fried or frozen.

Substrate: pool filter sand is easy and cheap, it can grow plants fine if you use root tabs. You can try the walstad method, which involves putting down a layer of organic potting soil then capping it with sand. It is cheap and very effective for growing plants if done right. The downfall is that it can be messy and its very very hard to rescape. Other options are plant substrates. Eco complete and flourite are two decent substrates for growing plants, moderately priced too. If you have extra money to spend then you can use some type of aquasoil. ADA, Mr. Aqua, ST are all high quality plant substrates, but again pricey.

Lighting: Finnex makes great LEDs for growing plants, a little expensive, but they are very good. For 20" height, the planted+ or original Fugeray should be fine without CO2 and not promote too much algae.

Plants: For plants, you probably won't be able to carpet dwarf baby tears without a strong LED and pressurized CO2. You can do a dwarf hair grass carpet, but it might go slowly without investing in a good light. aquaswap is a great place to buy plants. Butteredscrimp puts out a monthly sale and can help you assemble a plant package. I can vouch for him as being reliable. Just have to give him a price range, some details about your tank such as lighting and size, and some plants you like!

Decorations: Driftwood is a great way to fill space and make your tank feel a little more natural. Spider wood and manzanita are my favorite. Check your LFS to see if they have any pieces you like first. If not, there are several good places you can get driftwood online. Driftwood will release tannins (won't harm fish) into your tank when placed in water and might take a while to sink depending on the piece. I suggest putting it in while your tank is cycling.

You can also go with rocks/stones. They should be scrubbed under hot water before going into the tank. Some rocks can break down and affect your water chemistry. To test if they will you can do the vinegar test. Take the rock and add a few drops of vinegar or a stronger acid. If it fizzles or bubbles then it should not be placed in the tank because it can raise the pH of the water.

Fish: For shrimp amano shrimp are great, they eat hair algae and scavenge leftovers. They won't breed in freshwater though. Red cherry shrimp come in different grades (all very attractive) and are a relatively easy shrimp to keep, they will breed like crazy if provided an adequate environment The babies will be small and can/will be eaten by most fish.

For snails, nerite snails are regarded as some of the best algae eaters, won't reproduce in freshwater, and they are very cool looking. But female snails will leave unattractive, hard to remove, white eggs everywhere. You need a metal blade to scrape them off. u/gastropoid is your go to for snail info.

For a schooling fish you can go big or small. some of my favorite bigger schooling fish include congo tetras and bosemani rainbowfish. There are lots of other good sized rainbowfish if you decide to go that direction. Some popular small schooling fish include harlequin rasboras, neon tetras, cardinal tetras, and rummy nose tetras. Other tetras and rasboras will work too! Some rasboras are tiny though, maxing out at about 1 inch so those are a little less compatible usually. Barbs are another good schooling fish, but they can be nippy and semi-aggressive. Otocinclus are a schooling fish, but they are algae eaters and can be a little sensitive when brought into a new tank.

Fish I would avoid are common plecos, they get massive. And chinese/siamese algae eaters. They are fantastic algae eaters as juveniles, but they become aggressive when they grow up.

final thoughts: if you're going planted, look into EI dosing and root tabs, it will help plants thrive. You said you have experience with freshwater tanks so I assume you know about the nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling. If you don't there is a site under the helpful links tab at the top of the page. Look through the other links there too! great information. Visit plantedtank for more plant info, inspiration, and guides.

Good luck!

I also started my first saltwater tank a few weeks ago and I'm 14. Now I went for a nano and it went just fine. First you need to learn about cycling. This is probably the most important thing. Ammonia and nitrite are extremely toxic to fish. There are bacteria colonies that make these into nitrates, the nitrates are only harmful in large quantities. Fish waster produces ammonia, which is transformed into nitrites by bacteria which is transformed into nitrates by bacteria. When you setup your tank, you need to throw a deli shrimp inside to produce ammonia. Then, with testkit you will test the water until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitirites and less then 20 ppm of nitrates. Nitrates are removed through water changes. You will need ocean salt, RO/DI water, a heater, a hydrometer, a test kit, sand, live rock, a powerhead, and a filter. First you clean up the tank. Then you add sand that has been rinsed. Mix your saltwater and fill the tank about halfway. For a 20 gallon, I would purchase around 30 pounds of live rock. Place the rock in the position you like. The live rock is probably the most important thing in the tank. It houses the bacteria that keeps your fish from dying. This should be done within 2 hours. When satisfied with the placement, fill the tank up. Let it run for a day with the heater, filter and powerhead on. Check for leaks. Also, when making saltwater test it with the hydrometer do the specific gravity is between 1.021 and 1.026. Most fish prefer 1.024. The next day drop in the shrimp ad start testing. It will take around 3 weeks until your tank is ready for fish sometimes longer. The cycling process cannot be rushed. Any fish placed in earlier will DIE. Now, you wait. Also pH can be an issue. Use a marine buffer to take care of this. Algae is a bitch in saltwater and you will need a good cleanup crew. Go to reefcleaners.org and look at their recommendations and go from there. What do you plan on stocking? Use aqadvisor.com to see if you will be okay. Don't buy any products that claim to provide bacteria and shorten the cycle. They don't work and result in dead fish. When you get your fish, use the drip acclimation method for 2 hours before placing them in your tank.
Here's some supplies you will need
http://amzn.com/B000260FUW
Inside the filter, remove the carbon and add this,
http://amzn.com/B0002A5VK2
Also, put pieces of live rock inside the filter.
http://amzn.com/B000256EUS
Use saltwater when doing a water change and use reverse osmosis or distilled water to replace water that has evaporated every 2-3 days. Draw a small line at where the water should be so you know how much to add.
http://amzn.com/B00019JOSO
When measuring salinity, hold the hydrometer and tap it a few times to get rid of bubbles which can affect the results. A refractometer is more accurate but more expensive.
http://amzn.com/B0002A5W9M
This is a pretty good buffer.
You will need around 25-30 pounds of Sand which you can get at your local fish store as well as the live rock.
These are some good heaters
http://www.petmountain.com/product/aquarium-heaters/11442-526438/viaaqua-quartz-heaters.html
http://amzn.com/B001VMSK0I

Order a few of these for accurate temp measurement
http://amzn.com/B008SJ1H7A

This is a good high quality fish food and there is a lot of it for a good price
http://amzn.com/B0002E7ITK

For a background I like all black backgrounds so I got this for my tank
http://amzn.com/B002DWVIBI

I wouldn't suggest doing corals because they are pretty hard and sensitive.

As for lighting, this is pretty good http://amzn.com/B008K37X7C
But I don't know your tank dimensions. Someone else could probably offer better advice on lighting and what powerhead to get. Powerheads are also necessary.

Try to get a glass canopy for your tank. They are pretty useful.

Here's some pictures of my tank, I also did a planted 30 gallon last year when I was 13.

http://imgur.com/WTMuqma

http://imgur.com/AhfkVu2

http://imgur.com/8X69aA1

http://imgur.com/meI9XCH

http://imgur.com/UFGoJYU

http://imgur.com/AN3juZa

My freshwater tank

http://imgur.com/Uvw0iM

http://imgur.com/wbWgKPY

http://imgur.com/jIJs0x5

http://imgur.com/HnkVhau

I have the predecessor to this filter on a 55 gallon with African clawed frogs and a goldfish it works really well. Since you have a slightly larger tank it might be a good idea to add either another canister or an aquaclear HOB. Personally I would add an aquaclear 70 or 110

Petsmart is supposedly having a dollar gallon sale, not been in recently to check but that's what others have been saying. Go on amazon, buy a cheap heater and aquaclear. You could go barebottom if you don't want to pay for sand or gravel.

• 10 Dollars for tank
  
• 13 dollars for heater
  
• 20 dollars for filter
  
• 12 dollars for a glass lid
  
  If you cannot afford this then I would skip buying one. This is my cheap set up quick tank list of stuff I buy. Skipping the light and sand because I tend to go for dirted high planted tanks with lights that cost more than all of that.

You can go get them at Petsmart or percolate but I always check Amazon first. I'd go with double the filtration for a 30 gallon, so that'd be a filter for around 60 gallons. Let's see.

This is for a 70 gallon and it comes with all the inserts you need. I have the Aquaclear 50 and I love it. The only issue in had was the lid rattled so I took it off and covered it with Saran Wrap. Quiet as the wind now.

http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-70-Power-Filter-Includes/dp/B000260FUW/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_5

If you're excluding live/dry rock 500$ is enough to get you an okay start into the hobby. Lighting will probably be your most expensive piece of hardware and there are some really good deals on Ebay right now for cheap LED's Like the D120's and Aquamana on Amazon is also a good LED for a cheap price.

If you want to go HoB filter with maybe a fuge mod this is a popular build and is only 41$

I don't know much about skimmers but they can be pricey, but if you don't overstock the tank I'm not sure if a skimmer will be absolutely necessary.

There are also things to take into account like thermometer and power heads, though you can find good ones online for reasonable prices there are a large amount options and it kinda depends on doing your own research and going with something, those things could run for a total of around 100$.

Well, at a certain size people start recommending a sump/refugium. A sump of 20 gallons is a so much more capacity for filtration than a HOB could ever be. But they are more difficult to setup.

If I were going to use a HOB for a tank that large, I might just use two of these
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000260FUW/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_m8Ovxb3MWMDGV

"But why?" you might ask. Two reasons. First it meets the capacity requirements in excess of 40 gallons and better circulates the tank. Second it provides redundancy in case one filter goes down. Another filter you might look at is sponge filters for power outages. Can be used on a battery operated pump and simple to use
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051XIN78/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_YaPvxbRNYX7J2

You might go the route of canister filter.
This actually doesn't meet the requirements of circulating your total volume ten times in an hour, so be aware of that. A 100 gallon tank might use two of these. Again redundancy is a beautiful thing.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015JMQRNC/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_QdPvxbAH4274M

I live in New Zealand if I buy this and this will they work in my electrical wall sockets?

Here is the mobile version of your link

Were you monitoring the ammonia levels while you did it?

Im not sure why your levels are so wonky either, like others said it doesnt sound over stocked..i have a tank with 2 adult axies and my levels have never gotten that high!

Im not sure how your filter looks, but you should try the HOBs that are 3 parts that can be changed/rinsed independently. One of those parts you can even change to be absorbing excess ammonia (what i do for my axies)

Ammonia piece: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003025AVO/ref=sxl1?qid=1465797788&sr=1&refinements=p_89%3AFluval&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65

The type of filter it fits in: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000260FUW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1465797869&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Fluval+HOB&dpPl=1&dpID=41Rr1kpTVOL&ref=plSrch

My suggestion is an aquaclear filter. I have four and love them. I'd suggest going with the 50 or the 70. If you need to baffle the filter you can use a bit of sponge or a water bottle to slow the current. You can also look into prefilter sponges to keep is tail out of the filter.

If you do a group of 5 loaches and a betta that would put you at roughly 50% stocked, perhaps lower. You can input everything into aquadvisor to get a better idea of water change schedule and all that good stuff.

I recently got an Aquaclear model, seems to work well and can accept alternative media.

This one is rated 40-70 Gal; https://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-70-Power-Filter-Listed/dp/B000260FUW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1506616335&sr=8-3&keywords=aquaclear

Awesome thank you for the help.

Im thinking of switching out my filter and purchasing this one:

http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-70-Power-Filter-Listed/dp/B000260FUW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1457978000&sr=1-1&keywords=aquaclear

It appears as though this one makes it easier to install the 3 different types of filters rather than the current filter I own.

Can I go ahead and make the switch or is there something I should know? Thanks!

https://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-70-Power-Filter-Listed/dp/B000260FUW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=fluval%2Baquaclear&qid=1550971911&s=gateway&sr=8-2&th=1&psc=1


Is this the one you’re talking about?

I did some research on this and found many people have problems with sound and the filter draining and breaking. Have you experienced these issues?

Thank you for the great reply! :) I know already I will feel sorry for the baby fish and the eggs, but nature and its course etc :)

So if one keeps the fry and grows them up... What do you do then? Can someone sell to a store if they're pretty? Not like I'm interested in breeding, just curious.

As for the filter, I was thinking of this one.
What do you think?

Check out the Aquaclear 70 (AC70). In terms of media, I personally use chemipure elite and purigen. I've also seen alot of people mod the AC70 to be refugium.

https://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-70-Power-Filter-Listed/dp/B000260FUW

Hm. After 8 months, a cycle should be established, unless you added a BUNCH of new fish all of a sudden or added new chemicals. What kind of filter do you have? If you have filters with cartridges, those can be responsible for mini cycle crashes after you replace them, because you basically throw a lot of your nitrifying bateria out with them. Ideally you should have a 3 stage filtration filter with bio media (bio media doesn't get replaced or cleaned, it just hosts bacteria.) I highly recomment AquaClear hang-on filters

I recommend some real plants too. They consume the nitrates produced after the bacteria consumes ammonia.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000260FUW/?tag=fishlore-20

https://www.amazon.com/Marineland-Penguin-Power-Filter-50-Gallon/dp/B0009IMDQM/ref=sr_1_4?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1519069282&sr=1-4&keywords=filter&th=1

I was looking at these two so far, but the 2nd one seems off since its half price the others...