views on aquaclear hob filters

[genitor]

I'm thinking of purchasing an aquaclear filter for my 15gallon. Has anyone had any experience with this filter? What are the pros and cons of this filter?

[Fishguy2727]

The Bio-wheel is the most effiecient form of biological media, so you should look into the second smallest Penguin. The AquaClears have a high flow rate and reusable (mechanical) media. I wouldn't use their chemical (or any chemical media), but the biological is the same as a Fluval's, so it is good. I have seen people hybridise the two by rigging up a Bio-wheel onto an AquaClear, but if you are buying new you might as well go with the Penguin that comes with the Bio-wheel.

[Sasquatch]

For a small aquarium, it'll do fine and they don't cost much. I have an Aquaclear 20 on my 10 gallon and the water is nice an clean, even though I run it at minimum.

I'd go with an Aquaclear 30 or two 20's (also called minis) for your 15 gallon tank. If you have the budget, the two 20's are a better option, more filtration, redundancy and you can cover more of the tank by putting one at each end. With two 20's, you don't have to run both full pin to get the filtration you need and when you clean one, the bacteria stay in the other.

As for the inserts, you only really need the foam. The charcoal is good for removing meds or if the water smells, but if you use a good water conditioner, isn't really needed.

All told, they're good filters for small and shallow aquariums, but once you get to anything bigger than about 25 gallons, move up to a canister or another model of HOB.

[Abbeys_Mom]

The bio wheels are great, but they have no flow adjustment. In that regard, I prefer the Aquaclear.

[Severus]

I have an aquaclear 110. It was given to me and it works great. Moves alot of water and works decent for my 55gal (im adding a canister soon). For a 15gal i think an aquaclear would be fine.

[genitor]

Thanks everyone for the info. Think i would go with the aquaclear 30. The penguin seems interesting but it's not available at my lfs. I plan to use the foam and ceramic rings in the aquaclear and a sponge filter in the tank.

[kufan]

I've got 2 aquaclears. One on my 20 gallon tank, and one on my 10 gallon tank. I will say that I've recommended to my friends that they purchase them for their tanks, as they do a good job filtering, and the fact that the media is reuseable. For smaller tanks I would definitely recommend them

KU

[blue fin]

I have an Aquaclear 110 and it works fine on my 75 gal tank, I recently added an Eheim canister but the Aquaclear was doing the job, it probably would have excelled for anything smaller than my tank but I think by itself it was too much water to effectively clean.

[Ascendant]

I got a AquaOne Hangon filter.. It's alright I guess, flow control and all that stuff. I payed like 70AUD at my local aquarium store... another 40 dollars and I could've gotten a Canister filter online...

Foolish nub regrets :(

[jeffs99dime]

you could also go with emperor

[KneeKickLou]

I had a BioWheel for my 20 gallon and ended up taking it back it was really loud not sure if it was just that one but I could hear it all the time. I replaced it with an Aquaclear filter and it works awsome water is clear flow control is great, the ability to customize the media is nice too, and its so quiet you dont even know it running :)