rmurray
- #1
Filter review for my 38 gallon bowfront in 2 years of ownership. The tank has been problematic with filtration since it’s 26” deep.
Let me just say I’m not paid by anyone for this review and I brought all of these with my money.
To summarize I’m a fan of fluval and highly recommend their canister line or the C line of HOB filters. I hope this can save someone some money in the future.
Marineland penguin 200.
Well the biowheel seized and the motor burnt up in under 6 months. I still have cartridges for it and I’m unsure if I’ll ever purchase another marineland product. I also had the heater that came in the kit get stuck on and cook three cories and stress everything else.
Fluval aquaclear 50
Wasn’t a huge fan. The media seemed to get bipassed by the flow after minimum clogging. I ran this in conjunction with the marineland 200 for a while then with the seachem tidal 55.
Down the road I upgraded to the fluval C4 because it appeared to be a much improved model. I accidentally damaged the tray for this filter while it was in storage after making the switch. I will purchase another tray and keep it as my primary backup. Great flow and tons of media storage. Requires proper maintenance intervals.
Seachem tidal 55
Not a bad filter, the surface skimmer was a great idea but didn’t seem practical or useful in my tank. The filter was constantly getting clogged and it would need to be ran at a lower level or have constant weekly maintenance. I tried to pack it with purigen and extra bio from the beginning and it just couldn’t handle it. I still have it and may try it again in the future. If I do I will try the seachem sponge, filter floss, and bio material.
Fluval c4
I’m just going to say wow. YouTube has hundreds of great reviews mines consistent with theirs. Minimum maintenance and to be honest I don’t follow the recommended intervals. This filter is a beast. The only thing I wish it had was self priming. It features tons of practical media space so you can really pack it with bio and mechanical filtration.
I actually just ordered a C3 to replace my quietflow 20 on my 20 gallon fry tank.
One thing I really enjoy about these fluval HOB is all the extra bio material they can store, they make seeding new tanks incredibly quick and easy.
With my seachem tidal 55 just not cutting it and a decent bioload with a severe tank depth (26”) I needed more flow especially near the bottom. Well I upgraded...
Fluval 306
I’ve been running the 306 for almost a year now with the fluval c4 and this tank has some flow. The c4 keeps the top half circulating and the 306 keeps everything circulating. Great media options, quiet, and massive amounts of flow for a 38 gallon. This filter can easily handle this 38 gallon alone I keep the c4 running for seeding bio material and just to increase my maintenance interval on the canister.
Other filters I’ve used on other tanks include:
Sponge filters: efficient and cheap I like them, but they can be little noisy from the air pump and bubbles. The surface disturbance is a plus for tank health.
Fluval U4: I’ve never ran it solo but it has great flow.
Aqueon QuietFlow 10 and 20 good kit filters but often just not enough for the tanks they come with. (I like the self priming, hate the cartridge set up, but they work)
Fluval FX6: Absolute beast of a filter. I do a cleaning every 6 months or so. Still on the original impeller after 2 years and a snail infestation.
Let me just say I’m not paid by anyone for this review and I brought all of these with my money.
To summarize I’m a fan of fluval and highly recommend their canister line or the C line of HOB filters. I hope this can save someone some money in the future.
Marineland penguin 200.
Well the biowheel seized and the motor burnt up in under 6 months. I still have cartridges for it and I’m unsure if I’ll ever purchase another marineland product. I also had the heater that came in the kit get stuck on and cook three cories and stress everything else.
Fluval aquaclear 50
Wasn’t a huge fan. The media seemed to get bipassed by the flow after minimum clogging. I ran this in conjunction with the marineland 200 for a while then with the seachem tidal 55.
Down the road I upgraded to the fluval C4 because it appeared to be a much improved model. I accidentally damaged the tray for this filter while it was in storage after making the switch. I will purchase another tray and keep it as my primary backup. Great flow and tons of media storage. Requires proper maintenance intervals.
Seachem tidal 55
Not a bad filter, the surface skimmer was a great idea but didn’t seem practical or useful in my tank. The filter was constantly getting clogged and it would need to be ran at a lower level or have constant weekly maintenance. I tried to pack it with purigen and extra bio from the beginning and it just couldn’t handle it. I still have it and may try it again in the future. If I do I will try the seachem sponge, filter floss, and bio material.
Fluval c4
I’m just going to say wow. YouTube has hundreds of great reviews mines consistent with theirs. Minimum maintenance and to be honest I don’t follow the recommended intervals. This filter is a beast. The only thing I wish it had was self priming. It features tons of practical media space so you can really pack it with bio and mechanical filtration.
I actually just ordered a C3 to replace my quietflow 20 on my 20 gallon fry tank.
One thing I really enjoy about these fluval HOB is all the extra bio material they can store, they make seeding new tanks incredibly quick and easy.
With my seachem tidal 55 just not cutting it and a decent bioload with a severe tank depth (26”) I needed more flow especially near the bottom. Well I upgraded...
Fluval 306
I’ve been running the 306 for almost a year now with the fluval c4 and this tank has some flow. The c4 keeps the top half circulating and the 306 keeps everything circulating. Great media options, quiet, and massive amounts of flow for a 38 gallon. This filter can easily handle this 38 gallon alone I keep the c4 running for seeding bio material and just to increase my maintenance interval on the canister.
Other filters I’ve used on other tanks include:
Sponge filters: efficient and cheap I like them, but they can be little noisy from the air pump and bubbles. The surface disturbance is a plus for tank health.
Fluval U4: I’ve never ran it solo but it has great flow.
Aqueon QuietFlow 10 and 20 good kit filters but often just not enough for the tanks they come with. (I like the self priming, hate the cartridge set up, but they work)
Fluval FX6: Absolute beast of a filter. I do a cleaning every 6 months or so. Still on the original impeller after 2 years and a snail infestation.