Tank plan scrapped, people will suffer wrath, must re-plan

So my wife had been counting on me to help her set her Molly tank up. She got a hexagonal 36g that looks really neat. I ordered everything I would need from Drs Foster and Smith, a Whisper Filter, a bag of Eco-Complete, heater, powerhead for water movement, enough light for plants, other necessary bits.
Tonight, we were going to set the tank up, and the first thing I checked was how we were going to set the filter up. Turns out that the lip of the tank is too wide for a Whisper filter to fit on. Who the heck would do that to me?? They...must...PAY!!!

So now, we're going to have to completely re-work the setup.
We've decided that we're going to try setting a tank up without a HOB filter. Since the tank's shape is different and cool, we're going to try to make it look more natural, and hide all of the electronics in it.
Despite my earlier issues, I'm going to put an under gravel filter in, but attach a powerhead rather than an airline to run it.
There are going to be lots of plants, too. My only issue right now is what else to use as a filter. I'm thinking of getting a really simple internal filter, like a fluval or such.

 

is a canister filter outside of the budget for this tank?

 

A canister filter is out of the budget for us. We paid for this tank with the random change we've collected over three years.

 

HI Sirdarksol
sorry to hear that your filter doesn't fit with the lid. I also use HOB filters. Is there anyway you can make the space larger to fit the filter? Most of the lids have a indentation where you can cut it out to fit your filters and I have had to do that from time to time.

 

do you have a pic of the top of the tank and the filter.. if i'm understanding you right, the top of the tank side is too thick for the filter to slide down onto? is there a plastic part at the top of the hex tank that could come off?

 

Yeah, it's that the top of the tank is too thick for the filter to fit over.
But that's okay. It actually probably is better, as we really have decided that having a HOB filter on this tank will just look bad.

 

I had the same problem with my 30-hex tank before I got my bowfront. My filter fit, except the intake hose was about 1/4" too tight. I found the actual glass was clear, so I used a jigsaw and CAREFULLY CAREFULLY cut out a small notch into the lip of the tank so it would fit.