New, 55 gallon filtration

[xDestro]

Ok so I recently picked up a 55 gallon starter bundle kit from from petsmart (topfin is the brand) I haven't set it up yet but I was wondering about filtration, I kinda want a sponge filter to go along with the included filter so what do u think? Should I upgrade the included filter and if so any suggestions?

 

[Angelphish]

What type of filter do you want? HOB or Canister?

 

[xDestro]

Open to both, I would like my tank pushed up against a wall if possible though.

 

[Angelphish]

You can keep a canister under your stand. I would suggest an eheim 2215 if you want a canister, but if money is an issue then get an AquaClear 70.

 

[xDestro]

Thanks!

 

[duanes]

Most commercial "filtration packages" sold with an "aquarium kit" assume you will be having a community tank with a bunch of small, community species, with something that tops out at mayb4 4"-5". (some small tetras, a few swordtails, and a small cichlid, or gourami or 2)
If you are going to go with any larger fish, doubling, tripling or quadrupling filtration is a great idea. The kind of filter is not important (they all do basically the same thing, although going too cheap is not a great idea), and its all about maintenance. Things like regularly cleaning the gunk out of your filters, keeping flow at a good clip, etc etc.
There is nothing magic about 1 filter over another .
I have had 55 gal tanks where the entire back panel is a line of HOB filters, and the tank worked very well, as long as I cleaned the mechanical media every couple days, and did plenty of water changes.

 

[Ihsnshaik]

I would do sponge filters two rated at 60 gallons each. Thats it. Just do weekly water changes and you'll be fine. I was doing that until I started to feed 3 times a day to my grow outs and added a HOB so the poop can be collected from the bottom. Everyday I take out the poop and rinse the filter. I also have 3 sponge filters in there.

Anything less than 120 gallons I would do traditional sponge or a HOB. I bought some nice internal canister filters for cheap from petsmart and they do an amazing job.

Biggest thing is surface agitation. You don't get oxygen by the bubbles but rather breaking the surface of the water.

 

[AquaLeo]

Honestly always go with double power like I have 120 gallon so I use a 240 gallon protein skimmer and don't forget sumps.

 

[xDestro]

Do I need a sump?

 

[duanes]

Need?
You haven't said what fish you intend to keep, and species, size, and many other factors determine need. One size does not fit all.
10 or 15 neons in a 55 gal, a HOB is sufficient.
a few medium size cichlids <6" , you may need slight overkill.
Anything larger than 6" you'll need way overkill, and plenty of frequent water changes on top of overkill filtration.