Reddit reviews AquaClear 110 Aquarium Power Filter - for 60 to 110 Gallon

No no no, don't add a pleco. They are bad for goldfish as they find their slime coat quite tasty. Plus, goldies are cold water and basically every other fish type is warm water. With the shrimp and crayfish you are just going to be throwing your money away, they will die pretty quickly in a goldfish tank. It's a common misconception that fish like Cory's or Pleco's eat poop, but Cory's eat what the other fish miss that floats to the bottom and Pleco's eat algae and plants. You WILL get an algae bloom eventually, don't go buy a pleco, just work on scrubbing it off and taking care with water changes because pleco's are hard to take care of properly and don't belong with goldfish.

Add your second filter right now, and if you can, get some cycled filter media out of your current one to put into the new one, to help get the bacteria growing properly. That EX70 is definitely not big enough. You are going to need to be cycling 300+ gallons an hour, so you are probably going to need to get a third one or just invest in something in the 110 size or larger. Seriously, goldfish are a mess in small tanks. You might get something like the Quick Vac to help get the poop out in between water changes. I love my cleaner, it really helps (I do have a pleco, he's such a poop machine, I have to clean out his home a few times a week.)

I’m sorry to say the above comments are right. Common goldfish get over 1 foot in length and are incredibly messy fish. They really belong in a pond, but you could theoretically keep one in 75 gallon (but a 90 gallon is the same footprint with a little more height, offering more water and therefore easier to keep clean). Really, they should have a tank that is at least 6 foot long and 18 inches wide, but a 75 (4 feet and 18 inches wide) would be the bare minimum. Anything narrower and the fish will have trouble turning around as goldfish get over 12-14 inches long if they are healthy. They will stay smaller if their growth is stunted, but this is extremely unhealthy for them and results in a much shorter lifespan. With a 75 or 90 gallon, be prepared to do 30-50% waterchanges every week (which should be pretty easy with a system like the python. You won’t need a heater, but you will need a great filter. I recommend a canister filter, but if that is out of your price range two of these or better yet two of these will work well. Goldfish are plant eaters so you won’t have to worry about plants, so you can get whatever light you like/what’s cheapest. Big tanks are expensive, but you can often find them used along with the stands (which saves a ton of money). You can also get a 75 gallon half off from Petco during the dollar-per-gallon sale, and then build your own stand (tons of plans online). For substrate, I would buy pool filter sand (very cheap and great for goldfish, it can’t get stuck in their mouths like gravel and it looks awesome, it’s easy to keep clean too). There are a lot of ways to cut costs, especially with a goldfish tank that doesn’t need a filter or fancy light. Feel free to ask any questions, and please do some research on the nitrogen cycle (introduction ) it’s the most important thing you can possibly learn as a new fishkeeper! You will need a test kit too, to test your water. Don’t bother with test strips as they are very inaccurate, go ahead and get this. If you want to cycle the tank quickly and without a hassle, this is the only one that really works. Welcome to the wonderful world of fishkeeping! Best of luck with your pet! Goldfish are lots of fun.


Edit: petsmart has a 75 gallon tank with stand, lid, and light for half off today for Black Friday (at $249 a screaming deal for a brand new tank!!) if you are interested.

If you don't want to go the canister filter method (which I highly recommend) I would go with an aquaclear. They're much better than these, and you can put whatever media you want in there so it's much more versatile than these. I had the penguin 350 and it's ok, but an aquaclear 110 would be your best bet. It's more expensive than these but far far far far better.

http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-110-Aquarium-Power-Filter/dp/B000260FV6

However, like I said, canister is the way to go. I use one of these on my tank and it's amazing. I used to use ehiems, but these are much cheaper and work just as well http://www.amazon.com/SunSun-HW-302-3-Stage-External-Canister/dp/B00892EN22/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1426534978&sr=1-3&keywords=sunsun+canister+filter

If you go H.O.B. I'd go for an aquaclear 110.

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

I don't care for Marinelands and would suggest Aquaclears instead. All five of our tanks (plus our quarantine) have Aquaclears and all have been going strong for at least 3 years (a couple are going on five years). Our 125 gallon was purchased from Craigslist and came with Marineland Penguins like those above. IMO, the little biowheel isn't really big enough to make a difference, they're noisier than our Aquaclears and our Aquaclear 110 seemed to move a lot more water than the Penguin. Just my experience but I'd skip it and go for this (check out the gallon per hour rating to find the appropriate size for your tank).

Thank you so much! Was looking at African but I've now shifted to wanting an Amazon biotope :P.

Already have a list of fish/driftwood/etc, now it's just a matter of slowly buying things in order of importance - although I still need to learn more about 'cycling,' ph, different foods, how much I need to feed them, how/when to do water changes, all that.

The two filter thing is a really good idea. I'll probably go with two of the 50 gal aquaclears. On sale for 30 bucks with free shipping http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-110-Aquarium-Power-Filter/dp/B000260FV6

>I love having redundancy in case something terrible happens

Considering how much of my teenager part-time-job paycheck this whole thing is looking to eat up I don't blame you for the thought.

edit: hoping this is reliable for lighting: http://www.hallman.org/plant/lights.html

we have a 24 hour timer somewhere in the house that I've used before to culture algae

AquaClear 110 Hang on back filter issue: Water outlet pressure continually decreases

I've noticed a recent issue with my Fluval HOB filter I've had running for a little over a year. The water outlet pressure is good for a couple days then slows down to a trickle. I have a prefilter that I clean every time I notice it slow down but the frequency I have to clean it is abnormal. I've taken the filter apart, made sure the impeller is clean (it was slick with algae), and double checked the well cover is set properly - the flow rate is still decreasing. This is a sanity check - help.

LINK for filter

LINK for help forum I read

Thank you

Okay, so Amazon has this Aquaclear 110. From reading the description, do I really need to replace all 3 media that often? (Carbon every month, foam filter every 2 months, biomax every 3 months) Or like /u/CFHQYH says and I can get away with just rinsing them?

And is there a specific sponge that fits over the intake?