I need to buy three HOB's for 10 gallon tanks. Searching the forums, everyone says they prefer AC's, but no one tells why. Why do you prefer you AC filters over a Aqua-tech? AC's are 2x the expense, are they really that much better?
WHY do you love your Aqua Clear Filters
- Thread starter londonloco
- Start date
They're both the same to me. Go with what you like, it's your tank and you're maintaining it. But I really don't see the difference between the two except for the way the filter media is.
IME, they are reliable, quiet, and extremely versatile in terms of space for whatever filter media you plan to use.
If you look around you can find aquaclear's at a more competitive price. I replaced my aquatechs with aquaclears as I like the fact you could use just about any media you liked vs the aquatech cartridge and aquaclears seemed to have better throughput than a similar size aquatech. Both are acceptable filters though.
I use sponge, floss and biomax in my aquaclears. Water stays clearer since I switched. ymmv
I use sponge, floss and biomax in my aquaclears. Water stays clearer since I switched. ymmv
I'm in the minority, but I never liked my AquaClears very much. They were the noisiest of my power filters and allowed too much water bypass. Yeah, you could customize/reuse the media, but you could do that with most power filters with just a little more work.
One good thing about AC filters is that you can clean and dismantle the whole thing. Those black Marineland filters (be they AquaTech or Penguin/Emperor) can't be all the way cleaned...you can put AC filters in the dishwasher if you wanted to 
I love AC media, I use it in almost all my power filters. It comes in so many sizes, you can find one that fits any filter...but ACs are roomiest, and as someone mentioned they do have more flow.
I love AC media, I use it in almost all my power filters. It comes in so many sizes, you can find one that fits any filter...but ACs are roomiest, and as someone mentioned they do have more flow.
I've never liked HOB's in general, and I didn't like the couple AquaClears I've had, but I've heard good things about the Via Aqua VitaLife series.
Adjustable flow, lots of room to put media in, easy assembly (and taking them apart), quiet, and I've had mine for a few years now, and I've had zero problems with it.