Help!

[littlemermaid]

I recently paid $658.00 for this: (all new)

55 gal Aqueon tank
Black pine cabinet stand
Hood w/ light
Heater
Natural rock gravel (not substrate or sand)
Fake plant decoration
Back drop
Air pump/Air stone
Under gravel filter
1 Driftwood piece
10lbs of natural rock/coral stuff
1 red ear slider turtle
$40.00 store credit
Complete Set-up and delivery (Ph testing)

This is for an African cichlid tank. The pet store owner firmly recommended a under gravel filter, he said most hobbyist use them and their totally awesome. Help guys is this a good deal-and is it true about under gravel filters?Also can I mix africans w/americans?or shark fish?

 

[Sumtinsfishy]

Nope nope nope

 

[Sumtinsfishy]

Undergravrl filters wont even come close to being able to handle the waste of a bunch of African cichlids. And u can definitely find much better deals out there with real filters.

 

[littlemermaid]

Nope,nope,nope? Is this a good price?

 

[littlemermaid]

okay so are you saying i was scammed?

 

[Tokey]

Wouldn't African cichlids just dig around and uncover the filter?

 

[Sumtinsfishy]

Not necessarily scammed misinformed maybe. Maybe scammed.

 

[redtailcatfreak]

yeah id would say you did. because Petco has a 55 gallon kit that comes with tank lights filter water conditioner heater... basically everything you need to set up a tank and its like $240 or $299 i think. plus with a buch of africans are gonna have to much waste for that. Sorry bout that mate.

 

[littlemermaid]

I was thinking with all the decorations it would round up to be that much anyway?

 

[lipadj46]

Nothing wrong with supporting a local shop but you could have probably saved $200 and then been able to get a real filter shopping around and online. 55 gallon tanks are cheap at walmart too. I got my 55 gallon on craigslist almost new with 2 filters, stand, hood etc for $100. Undergravel filters are outdated technology but are passable if you hook powerheads to the tubes and run them in reverse but even then they are pretty pathetic when compared to even a HOB filter. An UGF running on an air compressor brings back good chidhood memories though (but nearly all my fish were doomed back then).