i have a Eheim 2215 classic for my 50 works solid i love it i have it cycleing on my 29 gal so when i move in to my new place in July it will be full of good bacteria.
I also have AquaClear 100 on my 29 gal i don't really like it as well as a bunch of other filters that i picked up when i drove to Florida. Everything is half price in the states compared to what i pay up here, the only problem is they don't carry the media for most of them up here so i have to fashion my own.
I have never had a problem, in properly stocked tanks, with power filters that turn over the water volume 5-6 times. I set up all my kits to run a minimum of 7 times and up to 10 times. The problem with putting on such a large filter is that people use it as an excuse to overstock their tanks. While I would rather have a 10X per hour than a 6X per hour filter on my over stocked tank, its a stopgap measure and you are destined for failure eventually. Also, a 4 or 5 times over hour filter can work if your water change regimen is sufficient. It is much too simple to say "for x size tank you should get a filter that turns your water over "y" number of time. A 30 gallon tank with 4 mbuna cichlids would need a bigger filter (or more water changes) than a 55 gallon full of live plants with 25 neons.
All those filters you have listed are OK. You will get lemons with anything so listening to one person saying "don't get this brand because they suck" doesn't mean that is true.
I have been a Marineland person for most of my fishkeeping life and I have had no problems whatsoever. I am switching over to Hagen now though because of certain business practices that marineland/tetra/whatever have implemented that I feel do not support me as a retailer. I also think Hagen is a great filter.
I have used and sold most of the filters on your list and all I can say is that filters are really a fairly insignificant part of your aquarium setup unless you intend to be lazy. Granted, you don't want a cheap piece of crap but as long as they turn the water and keep turning the water they are pretty much one in the same.
If I were choosing a filter for my own tank I would pick the one that was easiest (for me) to maintain and not pay so much attention to the brand.
When I kept turtles I heard Eheim was one of the best filters around to keep up with turtles. I could never afford one, but had a couple of fluvals. They were alright, but I always had issues getting them to prime and set up. We now have a rena xp3, and my hubby and I love it. We have it set up on a 55 gallon right now, but will be moving it to the 125 gallon when we get it set up. Its rates for up to 175 gallons and has adjustable flow so you can set it for what your fish need.
I use a mellieum power filter wet dry with the oxigen valve that produces bubbles.it works good in the ten gallon. and I use a eclipse bio wheel in the 5 gallon both are good. I put netting over the intake filter tube. when babies are present. for thier safety.
Bio-wheels are a must! They provide extra space for bacteria to grow. The bio-wheel is constantly rotating through the air and staying wet at the same time thus providing tons of extra oxygen for the bacteria. What else can do that? I have added them to established tanks and in a few weeks they make any tank perfectly clear. It takes a few weeks for the bacteria to populate the wheel. Even if you add a small bio-wheel filter to your tank along with the filtration you are already using you will see a huge difference.
The bio-wheel allows you to have so much more beneficial bacteria than other media that your tank can handle a heavier bio load. Helpful when disaster strikes and you have to combine tanks (like when one springs a leak or something).
Plus I can pick up a bio wheel and sit it in a bucket of water to protect the beneficial bacteria. When I had my old 75 gallon and bought a 37 gallon I just took one of the bio-wheels off of the 330 gph (they make diff sizes now) and exchanged it for the single bio-wheel on the 170 gph and had an instantly cycled 37 gallon tank. Portable bacteria is very convenient!
Also, The HOT magnum with the micron cartridge polishes the water so fish look like they are floating on air. And if you charge it with DE powder... wow now that's some clean water!
IMO Marineland Rocks!
The penguin and the emperor should not be counted separately. So if someone is using these opinions to consider which filter to buy I would say add their votes together.
They are the same thing minus a spray bar on the emperor right? Correct me if I'm wrong please.
It says right in the directions that the bio-wheel will slow down as it gets heavier and that is fine so then why would I pay more for a filter with a spray bar to make it spin faster. That's just my opinion of course but its why i never paid extra for the emperor.
Best hang on types would be... Aquaclear first, for the range and amount of different media you can use... Bio Wheels second, only because of a lack of media range and space
I cant say much for canisters, as I've only had Fluvals, which seem to work just fine.
I have bio balls in my canister but they are plastic, there are little ceramic tubes too. Are we talking about the same thing?
So if they are under water how can they have more oxygen available to them than the bio-wheel would when its constantly spinning in and out of the water? Is there more oxygen in the water than the air?
I guess the Aquaclear may have a bigger box (not sure haven't seen one recently) but as for range (if you mean what type of media you can use) what can you put in an Aquaclear that you can't put in a penguin?
My thinking is this... the bio-wheel is an added bonus so why not? If for some reason a person decides they don't like it then they can take the bio-wheel off and they would be right where they would have been with any other HOB filter.
I have bio balls in my canister but they are plastic, there are little ceramic tubes too. Are we talking about the same thing?
So if they are under water how can they have more oxygen available to them than the bio-wheel would when its constantly spinning in and out of the water? Is there more oxygen in the water than the air?
I guess the Aquaclear may have a bigger box (not sure haven't seen one recently) but as for range (if you mean what type of media you can use) what can you put in an Aquaclear that you can't put in a penguin?
My thinking is this... the bio-wheel is an added bonus so why not? If for some reason a person decides they don't like it then they can take the bio-wheel off and they would be right where they would have been with any other HOB filter.
There are also ceramic bio balls, usually called bio-max or bio-media. These have much more surface area than a bio wheel does. And as far as oxygen goes... bacteria need more waste than oxygen. They only need the amount of oxygen thats in the tank water to survive, but they need a lot of waste to eat and stay alive... Bio wheels are not exposed to much waste because the filter pads catch all of it, and the wheels are spinning, so not much waste accumulates on them. There is some bacteria on the bio wheels, but nowhere near how much people actually think there is... most of your bacteria is going to be in the filter pads where the waste is, in other words where the food is =)
As far as media that you can put in an Aquaclear versus a Penguin... this may have changed recently, but the last penguins I saw just had filter pad inserts. Whereas Aquaclears are more like a canister... they hold bio balls, sponge filters, peat moss, filter floss, ceramic noodles, filter pads, carbon bags... pretty much anything you feel like using.
In my opinion what you are saying about bacteria not needing any more oxygen than what is in the water doesn't make much sense. If that were the case why were wet/dry systems ever invented? And, you are right on one thing waste does not accumulate on the bio-wheel, its not supposed to. I think a lot of people would dispute your claim about the amount of bacteria on the bio-wheel, but hey maybe you actually have some way to determine how much beneficial bacteria is in your media verses someone else's.
Both the penguin/emperor and the aquaclear are hob filters. They are empty boxes that hang on the back of an aquarium. You can still fill those empty boxes with whatever media you want. They are still hob filters and not at all canister filters that are sealed containers that force the water through the media. Whether one box is slightly larger than the other I don't know. (I believe the emperor is larger than the penguin?) You are correct in that Marineland makes cartridges with filter pads and carbon all sealed up together. They are ridiculously expensive btw.
bio-max are "porous ceramic cylinders" that are actually made by Fluval. I don't know about the bio-media, unless you mean bio-media in general. If not then its something I'm not familiar with but I don't see why you could drop some in an Aquaclear but not an emperor.
I still say if a person is torn between a bio-wheel and some other hob filter then get the bio-wheel and if they decide it is not something they like then they can take it off.
An Aquaclear is designed different than a typical hang on filter.... it does force water through the media, and it does not use cartridges... it uses a basket similar to a canister that holds different media types. The water is forced up through the bottom of the basket... usually in the same order of media that a canister uses, first through a sponge, then through an optional chemical media, and then last through a bio-max media.
If you just threw all that media into a penguin/emperor filter, then it wouldnt work very well... the water wouldnt be forced up through the bottom, it would just flow over the upper media because they are not designed the same as an Aquaclear.
And I did not dispute the fact that bio wheels do have bacteria present on them... they just dont have as much as a filter pad would... because the bacteria need food to keep them alive. By the time the water goes through the filter bags and out to the bio wheel, it is essentially clean... so the bacteria on the wheel have very little ammonia or nitrite to feed off of even though they have plenty of oxygen.
May have to just to agree to disagree. I'm curious as to why you insist that a filter sponge has more bacteria than the bio-wheel. I guess I'm asking how you came across such specific info. Maybe you work in a facility where you can do testing to refute the claims of the Marineland people. (I may have to eat crow if tht's the case lol) I don't know, I'm just really impressed with them.
I'm still taking your advice on the carbon and peat moss, you clearly know way more than I do about ph and hardness. (You suggested in another thread that I take them out) An interesting discussion but I have to admit I'm pretty hard headed about the bio-wheel. Off the top of my head I think I've purchased 6 and also 2 as gifts that really drastically improved some friends water clarity after the wheel had time to build up a good bacteria culture.
BTW do use DE powder in your Fluval? I use it in my Magnum sometimes and WOW it looks so good. Is yours the kind of filter that uses that or am I thinking of something else?
Well nobody is going to claim that their product doesnt work lol. I have definitely found that you either love the bio wheels or cant stand them... theres not much in between there. Personally I think they work just fine, the wheel is definitely a bonus with a filter pad only type of filter, as it gives you more available surface area than just the pad alone. Surface area and available food sources are the two biggest things for bacteria. Bio wheels definitely have good surface area, but not a lot of available food. Look at it this way, would you rather eat a little bit of food... or an entire buffet? Thats the reason why the media with the most waste on it has the most bacteria on it, they live where the waste is... not in clean water.
And yes I remember talking to you about pH and carbon =)
I'm not trying to attack your view on bio wheels, just giving up some insight into how well they work How is the pH coming along now by the way?
I'm not using my fluval right now, it was actually on my 55g saltwater tank that I gave up =( But yes I believe it could use that type of media, although I only ever used sponges, bio max, and filter floss.
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How is the pH coming along now by the way?