Oh I don't fault that at all. One must always search for opinions...but you see the problem is we end up with the same threads again and again which get us nowhere.
Basically it ends up the same every time - one person doesn't like Aquaclear. Then someone else says they swear by it. Then someone suggests Whisper, and two people chime in saying Whispers are crap and that Penguin is the way to go. Then someone else will say they use only Aquaclear and that Aquaclear is the industry standard. Then someone seconds it. Then someone says they use both Whisper and Aquaclear. Then someone says they use all three. Then someone compares and contrasts two of the filters and tells a long personal experience story which ends up with them concluding that they still prefer Aquaclear over Whisper but that Whispers are good filters nonetheless. Then a whole bunch of people praise Penguin. Then some people post that they are annoyed by the noise from the biowheels. Then someone will say that those people are crazy because they hear nothing from their biowheels. Then someone had an Aquaclear stop running and it made them really mad. Someone's biowheel stopped and it got on their nerves. They returned it for a Whisper, and then they bought an Aquaclear for a different tank. They like them both. Someone likes that Aquaclear allows flexibility in media. Someone says biowheels give more biofiltration. Someone says that's a joke and that Whipser provides just as much. Someone had a Whisper that stopped running and killed their whole tank. They've been using canister filters ever since...
See what I mean? It always comes down to the same conclusion: All three brands of HOB do their job, period. There is simply no definitive answer to "The Best Filter" so it's a purely futile discussion. Do you prefer Hershey's or Nestle? Ford or Chevrolet? Folgers or Maxwell House? Cannon or HP? Motorola or Nokia? In the end, aside from personal experience and/or that highly illogical human behavior called "brand loyalty," there really can never be a conclusion.
I just feel there ought to be a sticky at this point which is well written and gives the overall analysis of each products' strengths and weaknesses. (This goes for heaters as well.) But the problem with that is, in the end, all of the quality brands are about equal in strengths and weaknesses. They just have different ones. Therefore I would probably feel better if the discussion was purposed more towards that particular action of contrasting and comparing individual models, rather than just a game of "who's your favorite?"
