i just started getting into fish keeping about 6 months ago. i started off with a 30 gallon with a couple tiger barbs and whatnot. everything seemed fine, i just had a regular tetra whisper x45 on it. the water seemed to stay pretty clear. ive recently picked up a 75 gallon (in january). ive had the tank running since then. and all i have in there now are three small angel fish. I plan on moving them into my 30 gallon pretty soon (no more tigerbarbs in there) so i can remodel my 75 and get some bigger fish. but the problem i have right now is that i can not keep the tank clean for the life of me. i do water changes once a week, up to 25-30%. its just always cloudy and the algae is out of control. the filter i have now is a tetra whisper x70. which i know now is way too weak to keep it clean. can any one point me in the right direction filtration wise? good brands, different styles and combinations ect? id appreciate the help.

In my personal opinion, it's at the 75 gal point that they are kept clean easier and the bio filter maintained better with a canister filter. HOBs will work though. You'll need to have at least 2 if they are made for only a 70g tank. You'll always want to get at least double the rating. If you really want bigger fish you should really consider a canister to help keep up with the bigger waste load they create.

Aside from that, placing 3 Angels in a 30g tank probably won't work either, or at least it won't be a good idea. A full grown Angel is a very large fish.

the angles are still fairly small, its not going to be permanent though.

Would you suggest an under gravel filter to help control the waste of a larger fish? how often do canister filters need to be changed and how costly are they to maintain?

thanks for the help also!

No, I wouldn't suggest an UGF but others may. I only replace the filter pads inside my canisters once a month. The pads are very cheap. The filter themselves is where the cost can be pretty high.

If a descent canister isn't an option due to cost I would add an Aqua Clear (AC) 70 or even a 110 to work with the Tetra filter.

UGF pull a lot of waste under the plates where it builds up and can cause serious water quality problems. Some people now run them in reverse using a kit to hook a power head to them.

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You can never have too much filtration unless you're running excess current through your tank.

I would agree - either a canister or two HOB filters. Go for 4x the tank size in GPH (gallons per hour), or go with the "ratings" on the filter. So you'll either want enough filtration rated for 150 gallons, or 300 gallons per hour total. I know the GPH sounds like a lot and like me you'll probably think you'll be turning your tank into a river, but you can get around this by spreading out the flow pattern - a canister with inlet at one end and spray bar at the other end, two HOB's at opposite ends of the tank, or two slightly smaller HOBs and an UGF.

With that being said, undergravel filters are THE best biological filters. However, if you're going to be keeping plants, I would advise against one as plants do not like moving water around their root systems. In addition, UGF's require a 100% overhaul for cleaning every 6-12 months - yet another reason many don't like them.

Just my thoughts.

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FW 10G, 5 neons, 1 fancy male guppy, BNP, pond snails, ~80 RCS. Camboba, java moss, java fern, willow hygro, ludwigia repens, dwarf sag, anubias nana. AC50, 50W heater, Current USA Nova Extreme 2x18W T5HO.

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you can never over do it, i have a 54 hex tank, i have a ehiem 2217 canister on it, its an over kill but now my water is crystal clear, this is the first time i have used on and i love it to death, i have never had water so clear in my life. the aqua clear is what i had on the 55 gallon and it did a great job, if you went with sothign like that i would use 2 of the aqua clear 70s to keep it looking good

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