Which Filter?

[caspade916]

Hey, I am starting up a 46 gallon Bowfront FW tank and I am torn between two HOB filters.....

Marineland Emperor Bio Wheel and the Hagen aquaclear filters...I have heard good things about both, so I was hoping you guys and gals might be able to help me..???

Also...BioWheel Vs. Sponge which one is better for beneficial bacteria???

 

[Corleone]

I have two 70 gallon Aquaclear filters on my 55 gallon tank (300 ghp each), and I'm quite satisfied with them. I used to have a Biowheel 350 on my 30 gallon, and it worked quite well, but the wheel clogged up and stopped turning sometimes. When it broke I replaced it with one of the aquaclears that are now on my 55.

 

[Faythee]

Aquaclear all the way. I have tried both.

 

[ALEXF]

I havent tried the other but i am a big fan of my marineland pengiun 350's. I have 2 on a 55 gallon tank and they have yet to give me problems.

 

[waterdrop]

Aquaclear all the way. I have tried both.

Faythee, have you found the open rectangular media space of the Aquaclear to be more flexible for media choices? I think Colin_T once wrote about this and I know that an Aquaclear Mini I used some while back seemed pretty flexible. Or are there other advantages you've noticed?

I've read one disadvantage of the biowheel would come if you had a power failure during the day when everyone's out of the house. The filter would stop and the biowheel wouldn't turn, leaving the bacteria to dry out more quickly and possibly begin the die-off process faster. If you're there you can just unhook the biowheel and drop it in the tank to keep it wet, but you have to be there. Fairly rare chance, but still exists.

Sure would be nice to have a cannister on a 46G. Advantages might be much larger media volume, less water noise, somewhat easier cleaning process. On the other hand, having two HOBs would be a nice backup feature.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Faythee]

Hi Waterdrop,

Yes, the reason I like the Aquaclear is the large space for media. On my 30 gallon I skip the carbon and can fit 2 sponges. Great if you like to clone tanks. Easy to clean, and quiet. Primes easily too. Does make a waterfall sound if the water level is low, which I don't mind. You can also adjust the flow rate, on high it creates bubbles. Reasonably priced. Crystal clear water. Ive had the power shut off, just for a moment and they prime right back up.

I have a model 30 & 10 on my 29 galllon, and a 110 on my 75 gallon.

Tried the Bio-wheel and it was noisy. The wheel would just stop spinning for no reason. Kept taking it apart and messing with it and gave up and returned it. Didn't care for the quality either.

 

[waterdrop]

Good information.

The little aquaclear mini I used would also prime right back up easily, which was nice.

I just notice so many beginners ending up with HOBs (or some internals I guess) which seem to have little specially designed systems where the media is trapped inside little plastic frames or various other "packagings." There is an irony to it because to the newcomer who carefully looks this over, these seem to be smart, allowing a cleaner, easier changeout of the media when the appointed time-period arrives. What they never suspect is that in fact they don't really need to be changing out media in the first place, that that is really just a "system" designed to sell media at a much higher rate than necessary.

Of course another aspect of the irony going on is that the beginner is picturing a process of sponging down their plastic filter box under tap water until it is sparkling clear and the sponges are all cleaned out and like new. Probably never in their wildest imaginations would they suspect that lots of that "dirt and mud" is to be handled gently and contains a bunch of precious bacteria that will end up wanting to keep! Its a long road from that first trip down the aquarium isle to the eventual realities, isn't it?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Faythee]

Yup ! My first tank, 10 gallon. Noticed it was getting "dirty". Scrubbed walls, vacuumed gravel, and changed the filter. One of those slide in type by Tetra. The instructions said to change it ! Bye Bye media. Was a disaster. Poor Fish