Getting back into hobby

[cattail]

Hello!

I have not had a tank since my grade school days (some 50 years ago!!) and needless to say I am overwhelmed with the advances in design especially in the filter area. I was given a corner tank with equipment (about 45 gallon) but the external filter does not work properly (motor problem) and the heater only "indicates" that it is working but I think it's just too small for the job.

So my "job" is figuring out what type/model heater and filter to purchase. The last time I did this I had a 10 gallon tank with guppies/tetra type fish and one of those old plastic inside the tank filters with glass wool and charcoal..... the water was ALWAYS cloudy no matter what I did. I washed and cleaned the sand till I was blue in the face and it never mattered...... always cloudy water. Now that I am an OLD man, I want to be able to enjoy this hobby with crystal clear water.... I have been reading the threads concerning canister filters (which I think are SUPER) but would like to see if anyone out there would mind sharing some experience with a newbie like me. I also need to know what there is in heater technology that would be helpful.

I plan on freshwater fish because of the ease of setup and maintenance.

Thank you in advance for any help you might send my way.

 

[carolinyens]

Welcome back and get ready for all the new stuff thats come out since then. The good thing is that there is WAY more info floating around than there used to be. So you should have no problems that cant be remedied.

 

[clb2196]

Welcome back! If you have specific questions, ask them in the specific forums, you'll get more answers that way.

Welcome back and get ready for all the new stuff thats come out since then. The good thing is that there is WAY more info floating around than there used to be. So you should have no problems that cant be remedied.

Oh, definitely. When we started keeping fish when I was a kid, I remember my dad and I buying a whole bunch of books that had fish profiles and all that. Now it's all on the web.

 

[ChrisK]

:welcome: to ac

 

[dixienut]

:welcome:

 

[Rbishop]

Welcome to AC!

 

[Veloth]

Welcome to AC and back into the money pit.

 

[msjinkzd]

Welcome to AC! I would recommend making a thread in freshwater projeccts/DIY for more focused responses. Be sure to include as many details about your tank as possible. There are tons of opinions out there on filtration. I prefer canisters for their superior filtration and ease of maintenance. For heaters, I prefer teh visitherm stealth as it is black, plasic, fully submersible, and has a specific temperature setting vs. a gradiated dial. One downside is there is no indicator light to know when its running. Best of luck with your new project and welcome to the community!