Best HOB Filter

[twong727]

I am convincing my brother-in-law to upgrade his current 16 gallon tank in the living room to a bigger one. He likes the idea of canister filter because of its quietness, but unfortunately the stand is a regular cabinet with no room to hide a decent size canister filter (e.g Eheim 2215 which I can give him). The space can probably fit a 30-40 gallon at most. One catch is he really wants to overcrowd the tank with haps and Mbunas, so proper filtration is critical.

Is there any HOB filter which is absolutely quiet with large capacity? The sofa is right next to the tank and TV is only 6 feet away.

If not HOB, what are the possible filtration solutions?

Thanks for feedback in advance. Tony

[pitdogg2]

I am convincing my brother-in-law to upgrade his current 16 gallon tank in the living room to a bigger one. He likes the idea of canister filter because of its quietness, but unfortunately the stand is a regular cabinet with no room to hide a decent size canister filter (e.g Eheim 2215 which I can give him). The space can probably fit a 30-40 gallon at most. One catch is he really wants to overcrowd the tank with haps and Mbunas, so proper filtration is critical.

Is there any HOB filter which is absolutely quiet with large capacity? The sofa is right next to the tank and TV is only 6 feet away.

If not HOB, what are the possible filtration solutions?

Thanks for feedback in advance. Tony


penguin emperor

[DragonKeeper]

I'm pretty partial to my Aqua Clears.

[blaciarmd]

over the years i have owned and used just about all of the HOB filters sold. In my opinion you want a filter that allows a large space for filter media and not one where you have to use the manufacturer's Media. As you become more experienced in fishkeeping you learn to tweak filters for better performance.

[Cichlidnewbie23]

I agree in combination with Rene and with Shawn. My preference is aqua clears from experience, because of their many possibilities in the media department. I actually have one right now on my 20 gallon nano reef that i modded to be used as a HOB refugium. The large capacity for media and the fact that its a big empty compartment help a lot with various media. Hope this helped,
Andy

[hawkman2000]

Aquaclear is the way to go. Especially if you want quiet. The marineland biowheel filters (Penguin,Emperor) are modifiable if you get the optional bio-media cartridges, but they are noisy. That trickle sound. Some like it, some hate it. I put matrix in my penguin 350 and have no probs. Have an Aquaclear on another tank with no probs. I like them both.

[Tradewatertropical]

I have been fooling with tanks for 30+ years and in my opinion there is no comparison to the Aqua Clear hob filters as far as being quite, durable and very easy to maintain. To me the bigger the filter on the tank the better as long as don't get too much turblance. As far as the AC flilters you really have the best of both worlds. You have you sponge for biological (which there is not of anything for bio. than a sponge filter) and chemical which you can preaty well use just about anything you want in that part, but the actual AC inserts are not too bad !!! Plus maintance is just about as easy as you can get and they are extreamly quite. Good luck !!!

[hawkman2000]

If you get a Marineland, you can replace the filter cartridges with poret foam, and add the media cartridges filled with Seachem Matrix. This way you would have re-usable mechanical/biological (foam), then submersed biological (Matrix), then aerated biological (Bio wheel). I did most of this to my Penguin 350, I just need to get the poret foam. I did something similar to my eclipse system, except I used fluval 405 foam, and it works fantastic. Low maintenance and low cost (over the long run). Don't get me wrong, Aquaclears are fantastic; but I am having better luck with my penguin. The noise does irritate me sometimes though.