Which one is your all-time favorite filter..

[Rapunzelle]

In all the filters you've had, tried, switched, etc.. which is your absolute favorite in terms of efficiency, ease of use, price, appearance on tank, etc.

Which model for what size tank..

And why.. (pls post)..

[TETRALADY]

Voted For Whisper

I used many filters over the years, but I always find myself going back to a Whisper because of its ease of use, cost and reliablity. Although, the Emperor 280 comes in at a close second. :D

[Hans]

have you guyes seen the nano filter for the tiny betta desktop aquarium? its so tiny hehe. i have the peng 330, great filter! ive had a whisper with the blue drip foam, that wasnt so great.. alwasy cloggin

[Dahlia]

I like my Rena Filstar cannister.

[RTR]

Eheim Classic, Eheim Pro, Eheim internals - I love them all.

[forsure]

Aquaclear is my fav, but the only one I ever owned. I shoud have picked other becuase I can't truly choose.

[blitzen25bm]

i thought aquaclears were good before now i think they suck, i want some more emperor 400s you can just spray the cartridge clean in the sink and then just put it back and not have to worry about killing your bio. my fave is wet/drys, works the best and i rarely clean it.

[ewok]

abstaining.......

penguin doesn't belong on the list and all the others have worked fine for me *except* ehiem which i haven't owned yet. they each have their uses....... i'm not sure which i would pick above the rest. maybe emperor......

[125gJoe]

I picked "other" since Rena Filstar's were left out.

[Rapunzelle]

This is interesting. AC's seem to be winning though :p I had a fluval 304 before, AC500 also at one point, now have an AC300 on a 44g - it is doing the job now but my fish are only small (fancy gf - messy). Dunno if it'll do the job when they're big. Anyhow, I like how Fluval external are discreet, but AC's move more water I think, plus they provide surface movement, don't need air pump.

Rap

[Cearbhaill]

I can't vote- I like different filters for different applications. There is no one type fits all winner.
At the moment I'm using Eheim cannisters on the planted tank, Penguins for my Goldfish tank, and a sponge filter in the Q-tank.

[plantman1028]

I have had just about all of the filters mentioned,but the one I like best is the AC's.They move lots of water and all you have to do is lightly rinse the sponge and change the carbon bags.I have 2 ac500 on a 125 with 8 nice sized cichlids in it and it is crystal clear.

[sumoschro]

I agree. I too am a big fan of the aquaclear filters. Then again i havent got anything against the whispers, and i havent tried eheim.

[cyberbeer65]

Aqua Clear is my favorite hands down,then Whisper.

[Bobafish]

only tried whisper, so they get my vote. They are sooo quiet. Are all the filters that way, or just "whisper"

[SCU33ZE]

I also voted for the AC due to its cannister-ish versatility and its super reliability. I use 2 AC minis in my 12g one with sponges and the other with bioballs. Works great!

[mvigor]

I voted "Other" because I just find it odd that this many people have a "favorite filter". :rolleyes:

[FishSeller]

I voted other as well. I've began using wet/dry filters on larger aquariums several years ago and I've found them to be most efficient and "cleanest". I've had a lot of tanks over the years and I've pared things down to a 29 gallon planted and an 80 gallon African Cichlid tank. Granted, the 29 has an ancient Aqua Clear on it, my 80 has a wet/dry. It's plumbed in-line with a mag drive 7 and it does an outstanding job. What I like most about wet/dry filters is the ability to put heaters, carbon, and whatever other necessities in the sump, rather than hang it over the back of the tank.

[flyfly]

I had to go with aquaclear cuz Im still a noob and that is basically all I have used. But it is a great hob

[jeanne77]

Someone said above that Pengiun doesn't belong on this list. Why not?

You guys don't seem to like the bio-wheel type filters. Why is that?

I'm getting ready to set up a 125 gallon tank, probably as a planted community tank. I was going to use two Penguin Bio-Wheel filters for it, but I'm not so sure now. Any suggestions?

[fishfreaks]

i voted "other" i like the hot magnums

[lucaspoznanski]

I'm also curious about people's opinions of the Penguin Bio-Wheel filters.. I bought a Penguin 350 for my 75 galon tank - I liked the simplicity of the design and the Bio-Wheel concept seems to hold water (sorry). One thing I noticed, however, is that the cartridges (combined physical and carbon filtration) seems, well, flimsy and thin - a little too simple. My water's clean but since it's a new tank there isn't much there to pollute the water - I'm wondering if I made a good choice for what will eventually be a reasonable community tank with some larger specimins. Any thoughts?

Lucas Poznanski
www.lucasworld.net

[wwildcats04]

I have a penguin 100 on my 10g that just has a pair of rams in it and it seems to do a good job. I dont change out the carbon unless I need to because it tha n provides bio filter. But I like to be able to put carbon in if need be, also I shove a little bag of peat down in there. the only problem with penguin and i dont know if it really is a problem or not, but I always find that the biowheel stops turning. On my 75g, I have an Eheim 2217 and it works wonders, it never gets cloudy its very quiet and you dont even really see anything in the tank either. Of course you have to take into consideration that the one I have is made for a 160g tank. I am making a 20g long planted tank and I decided to try out a Fluval 3 Plus (internal filter) because it wont distrub the waters surface like most power filters, plus you cant have activated carbon w/ plants. I refuse to have a ugf and powerhead because I think they're old school and a 20g just isnt big enough for a canister. Plus it also has the option to put carbon in there and other filter pads and you can change one pad at a time so you dont loose your biological filtration. Plus now I can say I have a fluval and people will think its an expensive external lol

[jeanne77]

bump


I really want to know why people don't like the Penguin filters. Is it something about the biowheel set up, or is it that particular brand?

[cyberbeer65]

I also voted for the AC due to its cannister-ish versatility and its super reliability. I use 2 AC minis in my 12g one with sponges and the other with bioballs. Works great!

Need anyone say more?

[mysis]

yes, there crappy thats all there is to it.

[graysilm]

I got a brand new whisper filter, and it "burps" when i turn it on low to feed the fish, but it seem to be good. It has these black mediums that fit on the outside of the filter that are supposed to house bacteria. I am looking forward to it. Just wish I could get all the bubbles out of my tank.

[anonapersona]

I agree with whoever said that you need different filters for different uses.

For cheap, you can't beat a big sponge filter, either air driven or on a power head.

For great circulation and occasional micron filtration, the HOT250 is super and is a good HOB filter for a planted tank with CO2 where you just want mechanical filtration and flow.

For canisters with long life and well built, Eheim is tops if money is not an issue.

Penguin 330 is very good if the possible noise is not a problem, at least it always comes back on after power outages, unlike many HOB filters, and with clamshell type refillable cartridge frames and your own foam padding, the ongong cost is very low.

[Spykce]

I have always used Whisper, my dad has a cascade and we had issues with it. I've never really tried anything else.

[H3D]

If all Marineland filters were in one category it would be in the lead.

[blitzen25bm]

wow someone dug up an old post. i like emperors the first time i replied over a year ago but now im a fan of aquaclears but my favorites are still wet/drys, virtually no maintenance at all and will work for even the biggest tanks.

[tbone-ike]

I'm just re-introducing and re-devoting myself to the hobbie after a couple of years. I've been very happy with AquaClears. Between my current setup & my previous 2, I've used all the various AC sizes and also a Fluval 304. I thought the Fluval was much more difficult to clean & maintain.

I currently use two AC 50's (200 ga each/rating) on my 55gal.

The AquaClears are very simple in design yet very effective. They are easy to clean, disassemble, and replace parts (although by design, there aren't too many parts that could need replacing).

I'm a huge AC fan! Why:

-only a few, simple components by design
-easy to clean
-good, variable flow and adjustment
-good filtration
-easy to use variable media (filter floss, bio-max, amrid, etc)
-to top it all off- there's fairly inexpensive :)

-jeff