new filtration system help

I am going to swith up my filtration and need some suggestions.  Currently I am running the poor man filtration with two power heads and sponges, skimmer, and LR.  It is fine but I want clearer water.  I always have that white fog.  So I was thinking a cheap fix would maybe be a cannister filter from everything I have read.  I do not have much money so any suggestions would help and if anyone has a used cannister I could buy that would be nice too.  Is a cannister filter the best way to go?  By the way my tank is a 29 gal.  Thanks guys.

White fog? Have you tried using carbon?

Cannister fiters will do the job; but are more expensive and if you don't buy the right kind, can be hard to prime, hard to change filter media, etc.

When you're on a budget, the best way to deal with your problem, IMHO, is a Hang-on-the-back filter.  My favorite is Aquaclear.  It has a large body that will hold a lot of media.  It usually comes with a mesh bag that holds carbon, a sponge, and maybe some other materials.  To buy it, I would go to petsmart.com, print out the price of the filter that you want, then bring it to your local petsmart and they will honor the internet price for you, which will save you A LOT of money.

I would place the sponge at the bottom of the basket, then a big chunk of filter floss in the middle, then the carbon on top. 

Don't bother with the fiter floss from the fishstore, they are very expensive.  Instead go to Walmart and go to the Fabric section and look for the floss that is used for pillow (I think).  2 bucks will last you a life time.  The floss is the material that will catch all of the particulates in the water and clear your tank up.  You can just throw it away when it becomes dirty.

Carbon will absorb yellowing substance in your water and make the tank seem much clearer.  When you're done with the carbon (usually a month or so), I would just cut the bag, throw away the carbon inside, buy some bulk carbon and put them in the bag; a much cheaper solution.

If you have trouble looking for the stuffs that I mention, let me know and I'll see if I can help you out.

Thanks dkle I like your idea and I think that is the way I will go.  But what do you think of this bio wheel?  Bad way to go or is the aquaclear better.

I would use the AC HOB filter or a Two Little Fishies reactor.

On my first salt tank, years ago, I ran a Magnum 350 and a HOB setup.

basically all you are gonna use the filter for it to remove setiment and run carbon. if thats the case then walmart is a great idea. just depending how crowded and you tank is gonna be. if you are gonna have corals then leathers will take out amonias and mitrates out of your water. i personally love my devils hand and toadstool my amonias are always at 0

I didn't read many of the other posts, so if I'm just repeating things, sorry... I've been running my 29 gal for a year now with an AC 110, I picked  up on the board for like $10, it has worked great, it's actually probably overkill... anyway, Aqua Clears are awesome for smaller tanks!

There are many ways to filter the tank. Its up to how much do you really want to get into it all. Do you just a simple fix, run an external canister and a HOB refugium with a medium sized skimmer. That will actually aloow you to control the fugium growth with out having all the cumbersome plumbing down onto the lower level of your stand.

Although the HOB refugium, if you buy one already to go, it does bend the pocket a bit, or you can piece meal the unit over a small period of time.

Or you can really take the time and build a nice copy of one to HOB your tank. And then continue to peice meal it all together.

Here is one from the Dr.s' site, it is a nice setup for the quick and simple HOB refugium. Not a bad price with the built in skimmer.

Good to here of the success with the aquaclear unit. I run a HOB-canister attached to my UG filter tray in the reverse mode and a powerhead on the opposite side of the tank in the reverse mode, along with a HOB Whisper for the particles. Soon I will have a skimmer on the tank as well. This is my large cichlid tank. It stays very clean and allows for less water changes. Just rinse the filter pads once a week and use my portable canister to vacuum the tank on a bi-weekly function as well.