As a newbie who inhearted the hobby, I am looking for buying advice. I have very little money so I need the best bang for every buck I spend.

I am looking to buy off the net for better prices, no tax and hopefully no shipping, so what money I do have goes completely towards the best product / quality I can afford.

I'm also looking for advice on which sites are the best for unbiases information, not just specs but actual testings sites. Is there an consumers report type site for aquarium supplies? I'm looking for real and quality information. I've even gone through many libarary books.

Equipment needed:

OOOPS wasn't finished before my kitty walked on key board..............



As a newbie who inherited the hobby, I am looking for buying advice. I have very little money so I need the best bang for every buck I spend.

I am looking to buy off the net for better prices, no tax and hopefully no shipping, so what money I do have goes completely towards the best product / quality I can afford.

I'm also looking for advice on which sites are the best for unbiased information, not just specs but actual testing sites. Is there a consumer’s report type site for aquarium supplies? I'm looking for real and quality information. I've even gone through many library books.



I now have a 20 gallon tank, thanks to the generosity of the Freecycle community, which houses, now all mine, 2 1/2 year old comet and 2 very small comets. I bought the Rena 20 smart filter but did not like it and returned it 2 days ago. I am vacuuming the gravel and doing a 25% water change daily and using the 2 in tank whisper filters that were given to me.


Equipment I think I need:



HOB Power Filter: I think I have narrowed it down to 3 in my price range ……$30-ish



Millennium 2000 Power Filter



Cascade 200 or 300 Power Filter



Dr. Foster & Smith Bio System Power Filter & Oxy Surface Skimmer



Which is the best quality, the workhorse because until I find a job and get back on my feet the bio load will be substantial …(should I add a poop eating fish to the tank?) If so which?) keep in mind I will most likely be making my own filters till I can afford not to. I was even thinking of a D.I.Y canister but I need something now that will really work because, I don’t know what I’m doing yet.



Air pump … A basic heavy duty, strong enough for 2 lines full strength, reasonably priced, nothing fancy needed. The two I was given are ( Airtech 2k3 and Aquatic Garden 800 ) seem to be very week and when I tried adding a hose …… maybe I just doing something wrong



I am using:



Amquel + just carbon filters ….. should I use those Ammo-Carb and Zeolite stuff?

The test strips ….are the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals better.



If anyone has advice, information, direction, suggestions, better way and cheaper way of doing things. I’m a big fan of DIY projects especially if I can use stuff around the house….free stuff. I would greatly appreciate any info.



Thank you,

Robin

Here's a site with great prices. The products don't have any reviews and their descriptions are vague though. http://www.bigalsonline.com/
For reviews and such, this site is really nice. http://www.aquahobby.com/e_products.php That link contains tons of reviews from people. http://cichlidforum.com/reviews/category_d...y.php?CatID=107 That site is also full of nice reviews. As for a HOB, I recommend http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...200bpowerfilter . It's a Penguin Biowheel by Marineland. I have it myself (the 350B version) on my 20 gallon tank and it works wonders. The 200B should be adequate for you though. I only bought the 350B because I was massively overstocked at the time. If you don't like the biowheel, I suggest buying an aquaclear instead. http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...ar50powerfilter Those are the two most popular filters on this site.

As for the carbon, those are completely unnecessary and a waste of money in my opinion. Just use the filter floss. Most people around here just dump out the carbon, as it loses its effect in a month or less. It's pretty useless unless you're trying to take out medication from the water, which you're most likely not. And a tip for the filter inserts, just rinse them out every water change. You don't need to change them until they're ripping. Even then, you can buy filter floss in bulk and just wrap it around the old filter insert when the original floss is starting to rip and wear out. This really saves money with those expensive filter inserts. Also, the aquaclear features a sponge instead of a traditional plastic insert. The sponge is really easy to clean, and you almost never need to replace it. Just wring it out in a bucket of old tank water during water changes and you're good to go.

Now about the pumps, I honestly have no idea since I never use them. So I'm no help there, sorry.

Thank you.
I am reading / researching as much as I can. Can u suggest any good books?

Not really......I've never read any actual books about aquariums myself. I just picked out knowledge from spending too much time surfing websites.