Which filter do you like best?

I like Penguins and Emperors - they are simple and effective, plus they pretty much outdo the other HOB power filters in quality vs. price.

I have a Fluval 104 right now and I've been happy with it. It's easy to maintain but I must complain about the kinky hoses. They can be a bit difficult to work with. Plus it's sort of a pain to prime it sometimes. Either way, I think compared to Eheim and Filstar they give you more for your money. I'm likely to buy a 404 when I get my 65 gallon running.

UGF's are like 8-tracks to me.

Most people like to dis the airstone type filters for anything except fry tanks, but here I would like to interject with just one product that I would swear by if you are considering this type of filter - the Penn Plax Clear Free. I'm sad that more people aren't aware of this item. It's quite effective...I once ran a ten gallon community tank on one and had great success when I was a kid. I'm glad to see they still make them, because I heartily recommend them to anyone who has a small tank.
 
jruth27 said:
In my experience, I have found the Fluval canister filters to be the best. It seems to keep the tank much clearer. I would like other people's opinions on filters. The hang-on Whispers seems to die on me after only a few months and I have to replace them, especially the smaller ones.
Click to expand...
DOWN WITH WHISPER!!!
 
I had a Whisper and didn't care for it, but I love the Penguins. They are very reliable. One thing I find important when purchasing something like this is how available and expensive/inexpensive are replacement parts. For me, Penguins are the way to go.
 
On an unplanted tank, I'm an emporer man all the way. The bio-wheel idea is fabulous, and the filters run well for years and years IME. I like the AC's and penguins well enough also. I do not consider the penguin set-up for the bio-wheel nearly as good as the emporer, but it does the job at a low cost for a long time.
I am a RFUG nut. very few if any of my tanks will ever be set-up without an RFUG. Too many advantages with minimal cost and easy maintenance.

I just bought my first cannister a week ago, and this one isn't an ehiem (thought I'd see how I liked them before spending mega-bucks) The cannister I have (Fluval 404) seems to be great, but I'm still working on input output configuration so the verdict is far from settled.
The fluval internals are very nice in design, but I haven't run any long enough to really endorse them. I have an ehiem Aquaball internal, and can't say that I really like it, but cannot tell exactly what it is I don't like about it either.
Dave
 
its all about Jebo man
its at a low price but silent, reliable, and cleans great
 
Aquaclears seem good for a low end price filter (atleast when you order them online they are cheap...). Mine is very quiet, rather elegant design (as far as a filter goes), good operation design.... but then again, my only comparison is a Cascade, which is basically a piece of crap.
 
EHEIM all the way... 2028 Pro II is silent, easy to work with, and you can find a place for it almost anywhere.
 
I have had only Emperor 400's and Aqua Clears, I like the emperors I quess. The Aqua clear worked well, but the intake tube kept coming off and ended up on the bottom of the tank.
 
I have tried canisters, ugf, hob filters and have had the best luck and ease of use with the Aquaclears hob filters. Very reliable, high flow rate, good filter for any combination of media, etc. My parameters have never been as stable with any other filter. I personally have never tried the penguin bi0-wheel but I knew a guy that had one a while ago and hated it?! He said the wheel, (no matter how much he cleaned or maintained it), would never spin properly. It got "stuck" all the time. Now, I never saw it or knew much about them at the time, but something tells me he wasn't using it properly?!
Anyways, my 2 cents! Happy filtering!
 
I run a penguin 170 on my 29 gallon planted aquarium. It seems to do a very good job filtering and even with the biowheel, I have had no problem keeping my CO2 at 15 ppm. I like the biowheel part of it because the tank never goes into a minicycle if I change the media or mostly blast the old cartidge clean in high pressure tapwater (I only run fresh carbon once every 3 months).
 
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