Hi guys,

I know this type of question has been asked thousands of times, but I'm still not really clear on the answer. I have a 10 gallon tank with two adorable comet goldfish, and I'm looking to get a new filter. I bought this crappy 5-15 gallon Whisper that does next to nothing, and I can't decide whether to get a Penguin or an Aquaclear. I've sifted through these forums until my my eyes hurt, and it seems like everyone either really loves the Penguin or really loves the Aquaclear. Could anyone recommend one for me?

I don't want to pay tons of money, (I'm ordering out of the Dr. Foster and Smith catalog) but I don't want to get ripped off like I did with the Whisper.

Thanks so much for your help!

Personally, I'm a penguin/emporer person. Love those biowheels.
But, since you mentioned 2 fish in a 10 gallon tank, you drew a red
flag from me.

Goldfish need a minimum of 10 gallons of water per fish. The single
tailed goldies need even more. The reason is they grow so fast, and
make a small area of water really dirty, really fast. Something like
a 55 gallon tank would do nicely for them. Plenty of gallonage and
length to swim in. I know, they may start small, but can get 12" or
bigger.

Back to the filtration. You'll want a filter to do 10 times the amount
of water in the tank. (ex. 10 gallon tank filter 100 gallon per hour-gph)
I was gonna say a penguin 125, but now am thinking a p 170, since
your slighty overstocked. If you decide to go with a 55 down the road,
a pair of penguin 330's would work great.

Any Aquaclear people opinions?

ps: as with any product, there will be several different opinions,
comparision is good!

I am going to get a penquin 125 to add to the Whisper 10 that is already on the 10 gallon tank. On my 29 gallon tank, I have a penquin 125 with the inlet about halfway down and a penquin 330 with the inlet near the bottom. The two levels of suction have really cleaned up my water. I am going to try the same with the inlet levels on the ten. Originally, it was just supposed to be a hospital tank, but Princess seems to need to bee there all the time so it's going to become her new home.

Thanks so much for your input. I have another question... if I were to buy an Aquaclear 200 instead of a 150 or a Penguin 170 rather than a 125, would it bother my fish too much? I want a filter that can really keep my fish clean, but at the same time I don't want them being thrown around the tank because of the water current.

PS- My fish are still pretty reasonable in size... but I'll certainly take your advice, pm94, and buy a much larger tank as they continue to grow. Thanks. At least I don't keep them in a fishbowl like I did at the beginning (how was I supposed to know any better? )

I don't think there should be any problem. I've got p330s on all my
20 gal tanks, and everyone is just peachy. If they start to bunch
up or start drifting with the current, then you may have to much
filtration going on.

Here's a tip for 'seeding' your new filter. Either run both filters
together(week or so), or take the filter pad from the
small filter and put it into the new filter. This helps keep the
good bacteria in the tank so you won't be recycling the tank.

Any more ?'s feel free to ask. B)

I have one last question, for now. I know this makes me sound really stupid, but I don't know anything about the "cycling" everyone's talking about. I read some of the posts about cycling and the page on this website, but I still don't get it. I've just been doing water changes every three or four days when the water gets murky. I feel like a bad parent, but I just recently learned about putting goldfish in tanks and using filters. I always thought goldfish were the easiest fish to take care of, and just needed to be in a fishbowl. Do you think you can help me understand? Thanks for being so nice.

Here's a link that will help explain the cycle process:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/cycle.html (there's a whole
bunch of other links on the right hand side of the board at
the main forum page)

Don't feel bad about asking questions, I'm still asking and even
Koko is asking them. It's the best way to get information. I
know how ya fee about goldies being easy to take care of, most
everyone starts out that way. But, you've made it here and now
you can give your goldies the best care possible.

It's best to ask questions and know then to not ask and wonder.

Cheers.