Best HOB filter?

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Never had an Aquaclear but honestly my Aqueon HOB's have lasted me forever, but if I had the choice I would always pick a Aquaclear just because you hear that they are so much better and they actually perform a lot better.
 
Never had an Aquaclear but honestly my Aqueon HOB's have lasted me forever, but if I had the choice I would always pick a Aquaclear just because you hear that they are so much better and they actually perform a lot better.


Part of the appeal comes from the fact that there are no proprietary cartridges to use. They utilize vertically stacked media which can be customized. For instance, you can swap out the carbon bag with another chemical media or use that space for additional mechanical or biological media.
 
Fluval C series (C3 or C4) is by far superior to AquaClear.

Please read this thread (including my post #2) to see why.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/c4-vs-aquaclear-335126.html

I bought an Aquaclear 50 and it made the water clear but not crystal clear. I have fluval C4 on my 29 gallon tank and two C3's on my 38 gallon. I was running the AC50 as a third auxillary filter but recently "retired it" since it served no purpose.

I use Seachem Purigen in the chemical chamber instead lf carbon. My water is so crystal clear, sparkling, and downright stunning that when people see my tanks for the first time they are amazed. I also use 50 micron Aquatic life cut to fit pads in addition to the factory pads so my C series filters all function as a canister filter.
 
Very informative Paul always wanted to try the C series but never saw them locally until recently. My lfs now has one, think I may pick it up for an upcoming project.
 
One last thing ... intake reaching to bottom of tank

Very informative Paul always wanted to try the C series but never saw them locally until recently. My lfs now has one, think I may pick it up for an upcoming project.

I purchased my Fluval C's in 2013 & 2014. At the time, I had to go with two C3's on my 38 gallon tank because I was short on space between the wall and the tank. The one problem with the C3 at the time was that the filter intake was not deep enough to pick up waste from the bottom of the tank so I had to purchase the extension .... which at the time was $7, making it cost almost as much as a C4 which does reach to the bottom of a standard 29 or 38 gallon tank.

Right now on Amazon, the C4 runs $55 and the C3 runs $45.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluval-14003...UTF8&qid=1495622058&sr=8-1&keywords=fluval+c4

However, for that little piece of plastic extension you need on the C3 to reach the bottom of the tank, they want $14, making it cheaper to buy a C4. I run the C4 on my 29 gallon at "minimum flow" .... whereas when I had a C3 on it, it ran at "maximum flow."

Pre-Filters

I use pre filters and rinse them out weekly. On the C3's, I use the generic pre-filters and only have to change out the pads about every six weeks. On the C4 which has a larger diameter intake, I use a filter-max pre-filter and only have to change out the pads every two months or so.

Chemical Chamber

I think everyone pretty much knows that carbon is useless, but some people just put more bio-media in the chemical chamber. Putting huge amounts of bio-media in does nothing. Once you "max out" your bio-meida, the beneficial bacteria count stays the same (only as much as your fish waste can feed it) and it's just spread out over a larger surface area. Accordingly, I add a bio-bag of Seachem Matrix plus 100 ml bag of Seachem Purigen to the chemical chamber which helps keep the water crystal clear and lasts about six months. It's re-chargeable in bleach ..... but I just throw it away.
 
On an aquarium that big, if you don't have two filter intakes, you're likely to have "dead spots" with only one filter. I'd go with two C4"s or a C4 and a canister.
 
Fluval c series are intriquitly designed, very functional, loud, obnoxious, currently sitting dry on my shelf. Works fine too! Aquaclear is the only filter in my fish room at this point. Cannisters are out.. I'd rather deal with evaporation and I little rattle vs. catastrophic leaks and death rattles.. some may complain of bypass?? Just clean them and they'll be fine.
 
I run two A.C. 110 'S on my display tank. Both were very noisy at first, but after a few weeks the inner components gunked up and the filter began running quiet.
The A.C. 110 is easy to clean and has a lot of room in it to handle a big load of filter material.
It's the best filter I've ever had.
 
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