Filter Choices for 10 gallon tank

Currently I have an in tank Tetra Whisper 20I for my 10 gallon tank. Its quiet, does a good job. But! It eats up so much room in such a small tank that I am considering an HOB (hang on back). There are three products I’ve looked at and read reviews on. Marineland, Fluval, and Aquean quietflow. Here are my concerns listed:

1: Maintenance. I don't want to have to pull this filter unit apart every month to clean it. An occasional cleaning is ok.
2: Quiet! My tank is in my kitchen just off the living room. I don't want to hear the filter more then the TV!
3: Cost of filter replacement. Keep it reasonable!
4: I live in the sticks so no LFS. Any additional “mediums” will likely needed to be ordered online, so gotta keep it simple!
What advice do you guys have? They all seem to have their pros and cons, and now you know mine!

 

I use Aqueon QuietFlows for all of my 10g's, but I wouldn't recommend them if you're stocking at or above capacity.

 

I have a fluval c2, it’s quiet, I absolutely love it. And I use my own media so no costly cartridges and such.

 

I use Aqueon QuietFlows for all of my 10g's, but I wouldn't recommend them if you're stocking at or above capacity.

Thanks for responding! Can I ask you why? What issues do you have with the Quiet flow?

 

I would recommend an aquaclear. Do a little research and look at the benefits of changing to filter media instead of the replaceable carbon filters. The aquaclears have a sponge and bio media. It’s way better than the one you replace every month saving money. When it’s time to clean it just do a water change and squeeze the sponge a time or two to get the large debris off.

 

Thanks guys! I'm going to ammend my original post. I kinda forgot a 4Th issue.

 

Honestly I wouldn't use anything other then an aquaclear even if it was free. I have had really good luck with them. Never had a need to customize any from what they come with and the sponge lasts years. Well as long as you aren't robbing from it to seed other tanks.

 

Fluvals are good, mine broke and now it rattles horribly

 

Sounds like the Aquaclear is winning the debate! OK! Next will be the Aquaclear. Thanks all!

 

Marineland. I have the Penguin 100 on our 10 gallon betta aquarium.

 

I would recommend an aquaclear. Do a little research and look at the benefits of changing to filter media instead of the replaceable carbon filters. The aquaclears have a sponge and bio media. It’s way better than the one you replace every month saving money. When it’s time to clean it just do a water change and squeeze the sponge a time or two to get the large debris off.

This sounds like my pond filter. All I do is rinse the gunk out of the sponge filter, and pop it all back together again. It came with carbon on the end, but Ive never bothered replacing it and the pond does fine. I really love the cheap, easy maintenance of that.

 

Be sure to rinse the sponge in dirty tank water during water change and not under chlorinated tap water and only do one sponge at time of water change, I did 3 that I had in dirty tank water. I made that mistake and got an algae bloom. Tap water will kill the beneficial bacteria that’s in sponge. Also mine had been in filter over a month and wasn’t dirty enough to justify rinsing it so you will have a longer time frame with it over the disposable carbon pads.

 

Be sure to rinse the sponge in dirty tank water during water change and not under chlorinated tap water and only do one sponge at time of water change, I did 3 that I had in dirty tank water. I made that mistake and got an algae bloom. Tap water will kill the beneficial bacteria that’s in sponge. Also mine had been in filter over a month and wasn’t dirty enough to justify rinsing it so you will have a longer time frame with it over the disposable carbon pads.

Our water isn't chlorinated or added flouride...its well pumped so shouldnt be an issue. Thanks!

 

Grrr! I'm upset. I ordered the Aquaclear and the propellar arrived broken in the box. I have to send the whole thing back to be replaced.
Now I have a question tho. My old filter is seeded. Do I leave it in then cycle the new filter at the same time? How does it work to exchange out a filter? Ive obviously never done that before.

 

You can run them both or put your sponge in the media box on the aquaclear. Your beneficial bacteria is in the sponge, in the tank on the walls, on the substrate, and whatever else you have in your tank. Running both filters it will build up some but it only builds to what the load of the tank is, so half would build on one sponge and half on the other.

 

Grrr! I'm upset. I ordered the Aquaclear and the propellar arrived broken in the box. I have to send the whole thing back to be replaced.
Now I have a question tho. My old filter is seeded. Do I leave it in then cycle the new filter at the same time? How does it work to exchange out a filter? Ive obviously never done that before.

For future reference, idk what you paid online but if you have a PetSmart near you, look it up and check the price. I purchased a Marineland penguin 200 for $18 versus the $44 they wanted in the store. They price match their online prices and the prices at chewy. Aquaclear 30 is $32.99 and in store was about $10 more.

 

For future reference, idk what you paid online but if you have a PetSmart near you, look it up and check the price. I purchased a Marineland penguin 200 for $18 versus the $44 they wanted in the store. They price match their online prices and the prices at chewy. Aquaclear 30 is $32.99 and in store was about $10 more.

Yeah, my Aquaclear was 33 bucks. It was recommended a few times here so I went with it (in this thread). My closest Petsmart is 1 1/2 hours away so Amazon is my bestie! Lol.
Your marineland is an amazing savings! I will keep an eye on those other stores in the future, thanks!

 

I strongly, strongly recommend a Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel.

This forum is vastly supportive of Aqua-Clear Fluvals. I had terrible results with them back in the day, switched to Marineland, and changed everything. I use two of them now, and they're amazing. Extremely simple as well. You only replace the cartridge. The bio-wheel holds the biological filtration, and you never need to mess with it at all.

A Bio-Wheel 150B is $13.99 ... and not sure how you could beat that deal.

Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheels have always, ALWAYS done me right.

Edit: Just realized you got a filter already. Anyway, lol, day late and dollar short for me as always !

 

I strongly, strongly recommend a Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel.

This forum is vastly supportive of Aqua-Clear Fluvals. I had terrible results with them back in the day, switched to Marineland, and changed everything. I use two of them now, and they're amazing. Extremely simple as well. You only replace the cartridge. The bio-wheel holds the biological filtration, and you never need to mess with it at all.

A Bio-Wheel 150B is $13.99 ... and not sure how you could beat that deal.

Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheels have always, ALWAYS done me right.

Edit: Just realized you got a filter already. Anyway, lol, day late and dollar short for me as always !

I did look into that Marineland and it was very tempting, but it seemed like it needed regular maintence and some had problems with it getting loud (maybe due to lack of maintence? Idk). But if things go sideways with this one, Marineland is next. Thanks!

 

Did you consider a small Canister filter? I run the SunSun 603b & a 602b, I've had those for over 6 months & so far so good. I just bought a Finnex PX-360 about a month ago, and it's my favorite so far. And I'd recommend it for sure, you can run it with the hoses if you need to have it farther away from your tank. But I have mine setup as a HOB, and it works great like that. There's a few Vids on YouTube about it, check them out you may like it.

 

Did you consider a small Canister filter? I run the SunSun 603b & a 602b, I've had those for over 6 months & so far so good. I just bought a Finnex PX-360 about a month ago, and it's my favorite so far. And I'd recommend it for sure, you can run it with the hoses if you need to have it farther away from your tank. But I have mine setup as a HOB, and it works great like that. There's a few Vids on YouTube about it, check them out you may like it.

I have not because it seemed like overkill for a 10 gallon tank. But I will check into them for the future! I don't plan on a 10 gall forever! Thanks!

 

The SunSun 602B & 603B Canister Filters are very small they're not the bigger ones your thinking of, these are made just for smaller Tanks. And I think once you look into them you'll see how good they are for the smaller sized Tanks. I thought the same thing when I was looking for Filters for my 5.5 & 10 Gallon Tanks, I never thought to check for a Canister Filter. I thought they were all big,and for large Tanks. And then I happened to see the 602B & 603B for sale in a search I did, and then after doing more research I knew it was worth a try. And for under $30 you can't go wrong. And you want to make sure you get either the 602B & 603B. SunSun also makes 602 & 603's without the letter 'B' after the numbers, but they don't come with the pump. They are used as a Pre-Filter for larger Canister Filters, and not meant to be used as a stand alone Filter.