Tank Hoods And Filters?

[Aussie_Dog]

Okay, the biggest thing (or one of the biggest things) I'm looking for in an aquarium is a hood. I'm planning on a Betta and I don't want to find a fish carcass on the floor one morning. Also, I have three cats (at least one likes to fish with her paws, and besides, if a Betta body hits the floor, all three are going to come running). So, yeah, a hood is kind of a requirement... lol

But I'm noticing that it's hard to find hoods with enough space for filters (though I have found them). Today I found a nice tank/stand combo that I'm drooling over (stand looks nice, tank is 60 gals, price is awesome), but it looks like the hood completely covers the tank. The other hoods I've seen that allowed space, they had a sort of clear plastic thing at the back that you remove if you need the space. This one doesn't seem to have that. It does have four little holes in the lids, though (for tubing?). So how do these kinds of tanks use filters? I was hoping for a HOTB filter (Canister is a little out of my price range right now), but I'll settle for an internal filter if necessary. For the internal, you basically just stick the thing in there, you don't need all those pipes and everything, right? (I've seen tanks with those, I'm guessing it's so water flow can reach everywhere in the tnak). But it looks like the internal filter needs some sort of ledge to hook onto, or does it use suction cups? I'm confused here, and I'm really wanting this particular tank (been waiting long enough, anyway, lol).


Also, like I said, the tank is 60 gallons, but the internal filters I was looking at don't seem to go that high (highest one was up to 55gals). Is it okay to put in two filters, so they sort of add up to 60 (so, for example, a 40gal filter and a 20gal filter, at opposite ends of the tank?)


EDIT: this looks exactly like the one I'm eyeing (I read Heartland on the price tag, so that's what I used for the search, and this came up). I'm not sure exactly what a Bio-Wheel canopy is, or how it works, so feel free to educate me on that, too
http/www.marineland.com/catalog/index.asp?prodid=1924

 

[Mikaila31]

First off a 60 gal is too big for a betta in my opinion. Unless you are talking about only females and no male bettas. Males should be housed alone in anything from a 2.5 gal tank to a 10gal tank, you choose.

As far as hoods I'm guessing you are talking about a hood like the one pictured below(55gal). A canister would really be best on a tank that size. But if you want a HOB the hood should have groves in the plastic on the back. These groves are clearly define in the pics below by the dust . As you can see with the hole for my canister. You take some kind of heavy duty cutting tool, like wire cutters. Then cut out what ever section(s) you want on the back, following the groves (somewhat) and the filter should fit .

Cheers,
Mikaila31

 

[Aussie_Dog]

Hmmm, well I did ask a while back if it's possible for a tank to be too big (general concensus was no), but I'm also planning on adding other fish too (not quite sure yet, but Zebra Danios and Neon Tetras are possibilities). I've also heard that you should really try for 55gals (if you can afford it) since it seems that most who start off with 10 or 20 gals end up with 55 eventually anyways. And what's 5 extra gals, right? 60 does seem overboard for one Betta, I agree, but I'm planning on bringing other fish in too. It's just the Betta I've decided on for certain.

I thought I might have to do something like cutting (I've heard reference to it before) but it's great to get a picture so I can really see what people mean.