Hi everyone,

I'm new here. Next week I'm getting a 58gallon tank for my gold fishes and I was wondering if someone can recommend me a neat (not so space consuming) filter because I only have a small cabinet under the tank stand to stick the filter in.
Thanks a bunch,
-Amy

First off, welcome! You'll find lots of great info here!

Well for a 58 gallon tank, a Marineland Penguin BioWheel Filter 250 would be very good. Large, but it hangs over the side of your tank and offers superior filtration. You could go with a canister filter. They are considered to be the best filters. Fluval and EHEIM make large canister filters but they are rather expensive ranging from $60.00 up to $250.00. A large canister filter would be about the size of a small paper shredder. These two types of filters are considered to be the best for large scale aquariums. You could use several smaller power filters like I do but then you get into problems with biological blossoming during the biological filtration cycle with too many filters. Largely its up to you. My favorite, for space and efficiency are the BioWheel filters.

Happy Hunting!

Also, how many fish do you have? And do you plan on running the tank a little before you put the fish in?

I dont know why, But i really dont like the filters that hang behind the tank.

I'm a big fan of the canister filters.

AlexRowe's suggestion of Eheim and Fluval are very good.

Both filters are very very impressive. I tried both. they are great.

I find the Eheim's better. These are a abit more expensive than the fluvals. but its worth it!!!

if you like to change the media (charcoal, ammorid and stuff monthly) then go for the fluval.

if you just want to let your filter's biologicaly do the things for you, go for the eheim.

but like alexrowe said. how many fish are you planning to keep? if your stocking it correctly, i would really go for the eheim and let things go naturally. Eheim has more space for bacteria to do its work.

if your gonna over stock it a bit and use the medias to help you keep your water in good conditions. go for the fluvals.

Gee... i hope i made sense.

Oh I'm sorry I didn't get back to this thread sooner. I've been a bit "lost" with this forum because it's so packed with information everywhere I usually look at the photo sections because there are some spectacular photos and also I'm trying to get ideas for the layout for my new tank.

I have 3 black moors, 1 bubble eye, 1 fan tail, and an algae eater (regular pl*co) - iffy subject with the algae eater because someone told me that when they mature they have a real taste for protein and might start sucking the slime off my fishes - in which case I'll definitely get rid of him...

Back to my filter question. I checked my pet stores and I really like the types that hang over or internal filters instead of the canisters. I saw the biowheel, fluval and also the aqua clear types and the aqua clear is my current choice. I've also read a lot of good reviews about it from users.

I want to thank people again for the respone

Hi Amy,Good to hear that you'll be getting a new tank. Since you like the Power Filter's,I will also just say that between Emperor/Aquaclear,and Penguin,you definately can't go wrong.They're all great filter's. One important thing to remember though is that we recommend Goldies to have at least 10x's filtration on your tank.Goldies are piggies and really need a strong enough filter. For your 58 gal.,I'd recommend at least something that ends up to be about 580 gph. For instance on my 75gal,I need around 750 gph.I use an Aquaclear 500 and I also use an Emperor 400.Using both not only put me ahead of the game,it also gives me a second filter for feeding other tanks,cleaning one filter and still having the bio-bugs safe on the 2nd,etc. Breaking it up in two filter's really has alot of benefits. Good luck with the new tank!

Thanks! Much to my surprise we ended up getting a 66 gallon today!!!! I already have it set up - WOW it was a lot of work. And it looks like our table is going to give away So I could only fill half the tank with water. i'll have to get a new table soon!

Right now I'm cycling the tank. I bought an Aqua clear filter and some live plants. I'm so exhausted right now but hoping to get the new table soon and after cycling it I'll put in the fishies and hopefully share some photos

Congrats on the new tank!!

You really need to be careful with what you put a tank on--keep in mind that water + decorations usually weigh about 10 lbs per gallon so you're looking at 660 lbs on that table!! And if you're gonna get a different table to put it on you'll pretty much have to completely empty the tank to move it. Just a thought--don't want you to get it all set up (I know it takes forever) and then have to move it a week later.