There seems to be ALOT of people posting very specific questions related to THEIR own tank setup. This thread/ article should be for generic/ principles information about filtering.
If you have a question about your personal set up here's how you are expected to deal with it:
A.) Read other posts related to issues similar to the one you are in. Read and learn from all the questions that are already posted here. Almost any issue that you as a noob have, has already been asked/ addressed elsewhere on this site, there are some very knowledgeable aquarists here. Just remember as the author posted at the beginning, alot of what is "known" about filtering/ setup is really just opinion. So you might not find exactly the issue that you are dealing with, but there are some overall principles that have been outlined numerous times on the site.
B.) Start a new thread; post your own question under your own heading. Sometimes the more knowledgeable will actually surf through the "today's posts" looking for people posting questions to answer. Don't know how to start a new post? Directions follow:
To start a new post it is quite simple. At the top of the page is a heading that says "Forums", click it. Scroll down to forum that describes the type of issue that you have...such as "Setup and Filtration", click that forum. When it opens, at the top of the box that contains all the threads in that forum there is a small button that says, "New Thread", click that button. It takes you to the form/ window for posting a new thread, this is where you describe your specific issue and can get numerous people who are looking to answer questions. Otherwise you are “hijacking” someone else’s thread and that’s just rude.