Hi,
Just joined. Hoping to get an 90-gallon tropical freshwater aquarium up and running in the next couple months.
I used to have a 55-gallon in grad school (20 years ago) and not since, so my knowledge is very very out of date. Went to two independent pet stores over the past weekend and learned that most of the equipment that I was familiar with (e.g. undergravel filters) are no longer the standard.
You'll probably see me lurking about, pestering people with questions, until I figure out what I'm doing.
- Jason (Annandale, VA)
Welcome! We look forward to your questions.
Undergravel filters definitely have been out of fashion for quite a while. I think you will find people here use a mix of hang on back filters (typically Hagen/Aquaclear or Marineland), canister filters, sponge filters, and mattenfilters. Nothing sets off a good debate among fish keepers like a debate about the merits of the various types of filters.