As posted to my blog, lemme know your thoughts on this
Well, in an effort to replace the woefully inadequate filter that came with my 5g hex and add more light without building a new hood, I started looking at internal filters. There were two that I rather like, a ZooMed 328 (or some such thing) or a Fluval 1plus. The zoomed was somewhat larger to the fluval, but it did incorporate a canister like operation. Not a bad thing. But its capacity for filtering out dirt was not great, the foam was really small. Plus it was $10 more. not the greatest in the world. Whispers were about $12, but it was basicly a HOB just submerged under water. No, it wouldn't do either. The fluval was a clear winner.
Pros
Ultra quiet (like, silent)
Fully submersible
Ultra strong suction cups
decent sized foam for both bio and mechanical filtration
Isn't prone to sucking up newly filtered water such as HOBs and the whispers
Mounts in many positions
A spraybar could be fashioned for a more spread out flow (extremely useful)
Little to no bypass
Cons
Strong suction cups prevent easy removal of filter
No chemical filter options
Output nozzle direction is fixed.
More expensive than other internals out there
Ok so the pros far outweigh the cons, but is it worth the extra money? Well assume you plan on having a small betta tank next to your bed, or in your bedroom, where silence truly is golden, then yeah, its worth it. I can't hear it at all. It is relatively small, don't worry about it taking up space in something like a 3-5 g tank. Its also likely it work well as a CO2 diffuser, though I haven't tried yet.
The internal design is actually quite nice, the way its built, little to nothing can actually bypass the media, which is certainly better than some out there. Also with the media being a foam, it saves space on a second media for bio. Though this could prove problematic should you need to replace it. The external design is also great. With the output pointing away from the intake, it prevents the filter from sucking up already filtered water, something I think HOBs and especially the Whisper internals are prone to. It can easily be hidden by a couple of plants as well.
One other thing, Because of its size and versatile mounting, it could be placed in a bowl or other container with relative ease. This is great if your raising bettas in containers, or insist on keeping your betta in a bowl.
The only real negative things I can say is, that the media is somewhat small, however it is bigger than some AC filter foams I have seen. It also a little higher priced, being made by Hydor, However, its also cheaper than some HOBs I've seen for small tanks.
All in all, I think Hydor has really outdone themselves, A most excellent filter for a small planted tank, with a few shrimp, snails, and a few fish (such as a betta). I would definitely recommend this other people as a possible filter for their tank.
Well, in an effort to replace the woefully inadequate filter that came with my 5g hex and add more light without building a new hood, I started looking at internal filters. There were two that I rather like, a ZooMed 328 (or some such thing) or a Fluval 1plus. The zoomed was somewhat larger to the fluval, but it did incorporate a canister like operation. Not a bad thing. But its capacity for filtering out dirt was not great, the foam was really small. Plus it was $10 more. not the greatest in the world. Whispers were about $12, but it was basicly a HOB just submerged under water. No, it wouldn't do either. The fluval was a clear winner.
Pros
Ultra quiet (like, silent)
Fully submersible
Ultra strong suction cups
decent sized foam for both bio and mechanical filtration
Isn't prone to sucking up newly filtered water such as HOBs and the whispers
Mounts in many positions
A spraybar could be fashioned for a more spread out flow (extremely useful)
Little to no bypass
Cons
Strong suction cups prevent easy removal of filter
No chemical filter options
Output nozzle direction is fixed.
More expensive than other internals out there
Ok so the pros far outweigh the cons, but is it worth the extra money? Well assume you plan on having a small betta tank next to your bed, or in your bedroom, where silence truly is golden, then yeah, its worth it. I can't hear it at all. It is relatively small, don't worry about it taking up space in something like a 3-5 g tank. Its also likely it work well as a CO2 diffuser, though I haven't tried yet.
The internal design is actually quite nice, the way its built, little to nothing can actually bypass the media, which is certainly better than some out there. Also with the media being a foam, it saves space on a second media for bio. Though this could prove problematic should you need to replace it. The external design is also great. With the output pointing away from the intake, it prevents the filter from sucking up already filtered water, something I think HOBs and especially the Whisper internals are prone to. It can easily be hidden by a couple of plants as well.
One other thing, Because of its size and versatile mounting, it could be placed in a bowl or other container with relative ease. This is great if your raising bettas in containers, or insist on keeping your betta in a bowl.
The only real negative things I can say is, that the media is somewhat small, however it is bigger than some AC filter foams I have seen. It also a little higher priced, being made by Hydor, However, its also cheaper than some HOBs I've seen for small tanks.
All in all, I think Hydor has really outdone themselves, A most excellent filter for a small planted tank, with a few shrimp, snails, and a few fish (such as a betta). I would definitely recommend this other people as a possible filter for their tank.
