Hi Everyone !
I need some good advice on THE BEST filtering I can provide my beloved Oscar in her 65 gallon tank. Right now she is recovering form Hole in the Head and I am doing 50% water changes every other day.

But there is a load of junk still at the bottom of the tank each time I clean.
I know Oscars are messy - but this seems to be related to the filters not doing their job. I don't over feed and my Oscar shares the 65 gallon tank with a 5 inch Firemouth and that's it...

Right now I have 2 Biowheel 350 in there. Which each are 75 gallon compatible and GHP of 350 - totaling 150 gal and 700 GHP.

I also want to get away from the activated carbon - which is on the Biowheel's replacement cartages. Who knows if it caused the HIH and I don't want to take chances.

I've used sponge filters with the Biowheel but I don't think they are very healthy for the Oscar.

I am new to canister filters and am hoping someone can give me some guidance on which on is the best.
Or what is the best filters to have for an Oscar tank ??
I want to get my Oscar THE BEST
Price is not an issue for I am willing to do what it takes to keep my Oscar healthy. The Hole in the Head gave me an awful scare that I would loose her.

Thanks everyone for your help !!!
It's people like you how keep this hobby strong and enjoyable.

if you have 65 gal tank, those filtering machines are more than enough to cover
your needs. however, the most common mistake is the cleaning process whenever
you change the water. filtering media should not be washed regularly directly
under the tap water. one should used tank water or don not clean all media in
one stting.

i have had serviced alot of filetring system, sewer line, beverage line,
swimming pool line, pond and aquarium but i am not used to those expensive
filtering machine available in the lfs. as of today, i have only one power
head 2400 LPH for my 90 gal tanks. i never had any experienced with any
deseases for my fishes.

in my experience the bio wheels type filters from marineland arent up to the mess that oscars make. for a community tank they are excellent but for large cichlids thry just dont cut it.

for a 65 gallon tank i would recommend a fluval 405 or a similar model size from eheim or rena. this should be more than adequate for your needs.

external canisters are the best for your type of tank size and fish type. the larger the better as no one wants to do to much maintenance(if you do you can come and do mine) Look for something to cope with 100g+ or if you have the cash 2 smaller filters of 60g+.overkill means maintenance is less. having 2 is a very good safety margin just in case 1 packs up. It also makes cleaning safer as you can clean 1 while the other is left and rotate them on your cleaning program. Fluval and Eheim are very good makes you will not go far wrong here but others may be as good.you get what you pay for so dont go cheap, but thats not to say fluval and Eheim will be much more. ebay is a good place to look.

All that said your problem will still be mess at the bottom of your tank.))) You need a vacuum. cost £10-$18 ish. or you can make one from a hose and a spring water bottle. cut bottom off bottle place 2 meter of hose in the top and you have a vacuum. place bottle end in tank,suck hose end and water starts coming out if you keep it lower than the bottle, a bucket or better still is a long hose to reach a drain and you can vacuum away all that crap. moving the bottle around in the subtract will clean it all away, you will need to do this every wk so its best to make it part of your water change.