Very confused beginner

[CH]

Hi, any help will be appreciated. OK, my wife and I have decided we want a freshwater aqaurium. Went to WALMART last night and bought a 55 gallon tank that came with what appears to be "basic" necessities. Here's where I get lost, what is the best filter?? It came with a filter that hangs on the edge of the tank and the water is drawn up into a canister and cascades through a filter back into a tank. Talking with a local fish dealer, he told me these types of filters are useless. He says I need a BIOBALL filter, (200.00 by the way) We really like the look of sand for the bottom, if this has any bearing on the filter that we need. Thanks for your time.

[Alf]

Sounds like you got a canister filter with the tank. You could use a Fluval filter the same way. It has a place for bio meadia and charcoal filtering and a poly filters. This can do the same thing. I'm not saying this is the best but they are around $99.00 to $150.00. If your useing sand instead of gravel then i do not suggest a undergravel filter. If your going to use Gravel I suggest a UGF and A fluval. If you go with sand then you will need to vacume the top of the sand on a regular basis to clean excess food and poop, to keep ammo, and nitrites down to 0.0.HTH

[Alf]

So how it it going now?