aquaclear or sunsun

[SueD]

If you decide to go with a HOB filter rather than the cannister, look at the Seachem Tidal 75 as an alternative to the Aqua Clear. These are more substantial than the AC's, have plenty of room for media, easy to maintain, are self priming and in my tanks have been much, much stronger than the AC's they've replaced.

[toddnbecka]

I used 2 aquaclear 110's, with the intakes drawing through the lift tubes of UG filter plates for my cichlid tanks. Just use 2 sponges in each filter to collect debris.

[angelcraze2]

This is my advice. If you want better mechanical filtration, a canister is better. All the mulm gets pushed to one side of the tank for easy cleaning.
Setup is a PITA, but I set up my Eheims 10 years ago and never had to mess with it since. I don't clean my canisters as often as the HOBs cuz of convenience, but I have Eheim prefilters on my canisters and it takes 2 minutes to wash them. That keeps the fillers cleaner. I have never seen a sunsun, but my Eheims are silent and I can control how much surface agitation I have.


I use ACs on my other smaller tanks, but I don't have a problem with mechanical filtration since I'm also used to sponge filters in my growout tanks and do lots of water changes. I'm also lightly stocked, so they work nice for me. I hang them on the sides instead of the back because I prefer the flow to be lengthwise like my canisters.

Sponge is awesome bio filtration, but doesn't do much for mechanical.

[BluewaterBoof]

Every AquaClear I've had gives me problems with starting up after the power is cut (power outages, cleaning/maintenance). The impellers would simply bind up for whatever reason and I would then have to take something thin and give the impellers a nudge in order to get them working. I've had people tell me the solution is to lube up the impeller with petroleum jelly during maintenance, but to me that is simply a fix that shouldn't be needed as none of my other HOB filters - even the budget Aqueons at Walmart - have ever had that problem. I also don't care for the way AquaClears just dump the filtered water downwards; this means that a lot of the water being pulled into the intake tube is water that is already filtered. I prefer filters that deflect the cleaned water out and away, spreading it across the tank and pushing the unfiltered water back towards the intake.

I've had and enjoyed two SunSuns (a 304B and a 302), but over time (a couple years) they both began to develop leaks in the heads. There were some "fixes" I found online but they were only temporary. Neither completely crapped out on me; I simply just stopped using them after a while. As with the AquaClears, I shouldn't have to spend my time catering to a defective product. I believe they are a great budget option for those wanting to try canisters without forking over a ton of money for a Fluval/Eheim or any other overly-priced canister (great flow, tons of space for different media, convenient media trays, etc. all for something half the price of an Eheim) but for me and my current state in this hobby I just won't buy them again. I will add that although they developed small drips, they still ran fine and I still have them stored with my other aquarium stuff in the event that I need one for an emergency of some sort.

If you are going to go the HOB/AquaClear route, I second Sue's suggestion for trying a Tidal. The Tidal has the same customization freedoms as the AquaClears but also have 1) directed flow and 2) weirs that act like overflows that will keep your water's surface a bit cleaner from dust, bugs, and other debris that finds itself floating on the surface.

[Slaphppy7]

The single time I had an AquaClear filter fail to start after turning off then on again (unplug/plug) was over 6 years ago, when I was a newbie and neglected to clean it when cleaning was due. It was a gunk factory.

How long it ran before it's first cleaning, I do not recall, but now I keep a journal of all my HOB cleaning dates, and each gets cleaned once a month, at the very least. Of the 5 tanks I use them on, some become gunky quicker than others...it just depends on the tank, how it's stocked, heavily or lightly planted, etc....

Lubing the impeller shaft with Vaseline is a small part of my monthly cleaning regimen for all 6 of the AquaClears I own, and I've never had issues with any of them not starting up or working properly.

Most here have had good experiences with the AC's, but there are a group that haven't whose judgement I trust.

Maybe I've just been lucky so far, and the Tidals mentioned above are well worth a look...but I'll stick with what has worked for me

[discusluv]

The single time I had an AquaClear filter fail to start after turning off then on again (unplug/plug) was over 6 years ago, when I was a newbie and neglected to clean it when cleaning was due. It was a gunk factory.

How long it ran before it's first cleaning, I do not recall, but now I keep a journal of all my HOB cleaning dates, and each gets cleaned once a month, at the very least. Of the 5 tanks I use them on, some become gunky quicker than others...it just depends on the tank, how it's stocked, heavily or lightly planted, etc....

Lubing the impeller shaft with Vaseline is a small part of my monthly cleaning regimen for all 6 of the AquaClears I own, and I've never had issues with any of them not starting up or working properly.

Most here have had good experiences with the AC's, but there are a group that haven't whose judgement I trust.

Maybe I've just been lucky so far, and the Tidals mentioned above are well worth a look...but I'll stick with what has worked for me

+1. For a 55 gallon- I would get a canister- hands down. Much better mechanical filtration and movement at substrate level.

[Taurus]

Never had any of the aforementioned issues with an Aquaclear filter, guess I've been lucky as I'm sure it does happen. A bit of preventative maintenance goes a long way. I will say that if I were to buy a new HOB filter today though I would love to try a Tidal ...

[fissh]

Every AquaClear I've had gives me problems with starting up after the power is cut (power outages, cleaning/maintenance). The impellers would simply bind up for whatever reason and I would then have to take something thin and give the impellers a nudge in order to get them working. I've had people tell me the solution is to lube up the impeller with petroleum jelly during maintenance, but to me that is simply a fix that shouldn't be needed as none of my other HOB filters - even the budget Aqueons at Walmart - have ever had that problem. I also don't care for the way AquaClears just dump the filtered water downwards; this means that a lot of the water being pulled into the intake tube is water that is already filtered. I prefer filters that deflect the cleaned water out and away, spreading it across the tank and pushing the unfiltered water back towards the intake.

I've had and enjoyed two SunSuns (a 304B and a 302), but over time (a couple years) they both began to develop leaks in the heads. There were some "fixes" I found online but they were only temporary. Neither completely crapped out on me; I simply just stopped using them after a while. As with the AquaClears, I shouldn't have to spend my time catering to a defective product. I believe they are a great budget option for those wanting to try canisters without forking over a ton of money for a Fluval/Eheim or any other overly-priced canister (great flow, tons of space for different media, convenient media trays, etc. all for something half the price of an Eheim) but for me and my current state in this hobby I just won't buy them again. I will add that although they developed small drips, they still ran fine and I still have them stored with my other aquarium stuff in the event that I need one for an emergency of some sort.

If you are going to go the HOB/AquaClear route, I second Sue's suggestion for trying a Tidal. The Tidal has the same customization freedoms as the AquaClears but also have 1) directed flow and 2) weirs that act like overflows that will keep your water's surface a bit cleaner from dust, bugs, and other debris that finds itself floating on the surface.

The solution for a small leak you've had is a new o-ring. All canisters need the main o-ring change every 1 to 1 1/2 years too be safe.

[BluewaterBoof]

The solution for a small leak you've had is a new o-ring. All canisters need the main o-ring change every 1 to 1 1/2 years too be safe.

Sorry but no, that was not what the issue was. O-rings were the first to be replaced.

As a side note, all canisters do not need o-rings changed every year. Maybe your SunSuns do, but all of my Eheims have been going for many years with no leaks or issues and all they get is a simple cleaning every few months.

[BluewaterBoof]

The single time I had an AquaClear filter fail to start after turning off then on again (unplug/plug) was over 6 years ago, when I was a newbie and neglected to clean it when cleaning was due. It was a gunk factory.

Matt, I know you and I like to spar on the AquaClear subject haha I have to interject here and make note that I never let my filters turn into gunk factories. Oftentimes my ACs wouldn't start even upon plugging them in immediately after a cleaning. For me, it was never an issue of having waste build up. The impellers simply would be stalled and would sit there vibrating until I gave them a decent nudge. Once spinning they would be fine, until the next time the power went out or I had to unplug them for maintenance.

I know we had a much more heated debate a couple years back. There were several members who were like you and had zero issues and loved their ACs. I'm glad they work for you folks and am in no way advocating for you to switch to something else. But it is important to point out that there were also just as many members in that discussion that reported the same issue I was having, most if not all of those folks were prominent members (some still lurk around while others have moved on) who I would never think to accuse of neglecting their tanks/filters or not understanding how to maintain them. Many of those members are like me and switched to different brands and have not had any repeats of the problem since switching. To me this is indicates a problem that is specific to Aquaclears. Obviously there are tons of people who swear by them and like I said I am not trying to convince anyone that is happy with theirs to try something else. I am simply offering up my experiences with the product so that others who are researching and considering buying one are aware of an issue that plagued myself and other members here. No disrespect towards you intended, my dude!