I am the newbie - my son is starting an aquarium for my grandchildren and I am afraid that all he thinks he has to do is go to Walmart and buy a few things except he has in his head he needs a Fuval 305 (?) filter.
They do make "all in one" kits that have the basics to start a tank, but the items in it are not always of the best quality. Tank size will greatly affect what size filter he will need.
Getting the aquarium started right - little more thought involved. A thread in the forum in rbishops post above will get him going in the right direction.