Getting a 50gl tank
and im wondering what all i should get for it
i need the cheaper the better
and easiest to clean
I have 4 little gold fish that will be in the tank
as well
I have a 10gl internal filter
and a 10-20gl external filter
I didnt know if I could combine them or not
i want my oscar to be healthy
but unfortunatley the biggest tank i can get is 50-55
ill be selling my 20gl
and keeping my 10gl for my guppies
I didnt know if i needed a large cave for my oscar to hide in and if one of those internal decorative filters
would work with maybe sand???

I think you should try and increase your filtration is possible. I'm assuming these are internal filter is you are talking about? They forget the tank is a very big to start with, you're wanna take up all the space of filters. I would advise you if possible to get a large canister filter. If you go to a company called Hagen, they manufacture a filter called a fluvel, in fact there are various sizes. If I was in your position, I would get a 404/5, this would be excellent on your tank. It would actually give you twice the filtration you need. If not, you could always go for a 305 (I think that's the model)

I would advise you not to put the goldfish in with the Oscar. Goldfish are actually extremely messy creatures and will just increase the chances of you having poor water conditions. I think a cave is definitely a good idea, fish do like places to hide. From my experience, I've not actually have Oscar is that hide that much. They will probably do more as babies rather than when they get older. It'll probably be good to have something for them to hide when you first put him in the tank, they can be very stressful for them at this time.

As for substrate, if you want something that is easy to clean, go for sand. The good thing about sand is all the crap sits on top, unlike gravel where you've got to use a gravel vac to clean it. You can keep sand extremely clean with very little effort. I reckon it takes a quarter of the time to clean sand and it does gravel. I have got white sand in my 125 gallon tank and it looks beautiful. Okay, the diet does show up but it really isn't that bad.

where do i buy sand at and what site is that filter on

Here's a link on Fluval filters by Hagen for info if you're in the U.S., most pet/fish stores and online shops should carry those I'd guess.
For sand, you could either get aquarium sand in bags or go for a cheaper version from a garden centre, DIY superstore or similar, needs to be cleaned thoroughly then.

metoo wrote:


LFS's in the states are pretty expensive for tank hardware. You can usually do better on line even with the shipping. Here's one of the places I shop. www.drsfostersmith.com/

Some aquatic centres are downright cheeky and charge you three or four times more for sand that you can get from a normal garden centre, the same goes for gravel, rocks etc.

You normally have to give sand or gravel an extremely good wash in a bucket because it's never that clean. Even when you do clean it, you will still have some cloudiness in the tank for a couple of days so don't worry about that.