Tidal Power Aquarium Filter - 35 Gallon Large Fish Tank Filter,black

These are hands down the best HOBs on the market. Large media area, self priming and QUIET. If you hear a raddle, fidfle with it. Lube the impeller and run pump (in water) w/o the filter.. it should be quiet. If its not, its the impeller, if it is, theres something in need of adjustment within the housing. Easy stuff. Dont worry, it feels scary tweeking them at first, but they're sturdy. Done right, this is a great system. Its reliable, and I can sleep with it running (and I'm picky as they come). I have 2 35's and a 55. They have a minor flaw with the intake if you have shrimp but course sponge or ACO has an answer. Over all, for the price, you can't beat it.

This could very well be the best HOB power filter for a small fish tank. By small, I mean tanks less than 30 gallon. The Tidal 35 has some standout features that make it an excellent choice for a small tank. It is capable of comprehensive filtration: biological, mechanical, and chemical. I say "perhaps" because I have not tried the newest Marineland Penguins. I owned an Emperor 400 many years ago and threw it away because it was a pain to prime the pump after a water change. I understand that issue has been resolved in the new products from Marineland. Anyway, back to the Seachem Tidal 35. This filter's most important feature is the internal (In the tank) motor. This filter will restart even if the media box is completely dry. It does not rely on siphon to work. It is a "push" system. The impeller is inside the fish tank, below the water level. The impeller pushes the water to the filter. This means it will restart reliably after a power failure. There is never any need to prime the filter. Priming means to add water to the filter box in order to start the siphon. The Seachem does not require manufactured filter media. Yes, you can roll your own. Your knowledge and choice of materials will determine the effectiveness of the filter. The size of the filter box will allow you to pack a lot of filtration material. More than enough for a 35 gallon tank. There are other very good power filters on the market. I also love the Fluval C series and the Aquaclears. The Fluval C series has the advantage of having the biological media above the water level. Thus, the Fluval C series has a small wet-dry area to grow beneficial microbes. Biological filtration is greatly improved when your media has exposure to the atmosphere. Bacteria thrives on oxygen. So this is where the Fluval C series and the Marineland filters have their advantage over the Seachem Tidal. However, most situations do not call for maximum biological filtration efficiency. Bacteria grow on every interior surface of your tank. Even submerged media will have more than enough capacity to provide biological filtration for the filter's rated gallons. This Seachem will easily handle the biological load for its rated capacity. This is a great product from Seachem. It is made for them by the Italian maker, Sicce. Yes, it is more expensive compared to its competitors. But the fact that you do not need to prime the filter is a big convenience factor. It also makes the filter more dependable. The surface skimmer will work great if you have carbon in the filter box. Otherwise, it will not be able to remove surface oils. You can reuse or repurpose the small zip bag that comes with the filter. I have freshwater clams in this fish tank. Therefore, I do not want to filter out the floating debris from the water column. Clams are filter feeders. This filter's main purpose is to provide biological filtration and water circulation. I removed the foam filter. I am only using the bag of Matrix biomedia. This allows small particles, such as phytoplankton, to pass through. At least most of them. I either reduce the water flow or turn off the filter when adding phytoplankton to the tank. I also have a Seachem Ammonia alert in this tank. Yes, adding liquid phytoplankton adds to the biological load of the tank. But the clams have to eat too. The Ammonia Alert will let me know if a spike should occur. This is a great filter. I can recommend it without any reservations. For bigger tanks, you might want to also check out the newest Marineland Emperor Pro 450. I have not owned the newly redesigned Emperor. It is only for big tanks. The Tidal 75 is probably its biggest competitor.

Great overall filter. I am new to aquariums and did a lot of research to find this, glad I did. Features I particularly like: ** self-priming -- particularly fantastic for power outtages, absent-minded family members who don't think about restarting pump when you are at work, and when you have to do water changes and need to restart. Worth the extra coin. ** customizable media -- Do yourself a favor and read up on filter media (chapter 7) at aquariumscience dot org. I removed the seachem rocks and replaced with 8 plastic pot scrubbers to increase biofiltration surface area. ** cleanability?? -- based on aquariumscience dot org website, you will do better NOT to clean your filters regularly as the filter company suggests. This will allow you to build up your biofiltration in the filter media and get clean water faster. ** overpowered for my 10 gallon tank -- this 35 gallon-worthy filter is enough to create airflow in my 10 gallon tank so I don't need an extra pump. It should be enough if/when I upgrade to 20 gallon. ** quiet sound -- only really hear the waterfall effect. If you are new to aquariums and/or having problems with your current aquarium, read up on evidence-based aquarium management at aquariumscience dot org. I really wish I had found that page BEFORE I bought all the fancy media (this filter pump is still a good purchase, though!).

VERY quiet; flow adjustment is not smooth - the slightest turn of the control can vary output from high to a trickle; takes time to figure how minute the adjustment has to be to fit your need; NO DOWN PIPE! This is the biggest drawback of the unit. As the impeller is exposed to the water, small fry will easily be sucked into the filter, as does any plant detritus; also the lack of any down pipe makes me wonder if it is actually filtering the WHOLE aquarium and not just the top 25% or so. If you have a shallow tank, then great, but the design leaves me questioning its capability on a relatively deeper tank. UPDATE: because the intake is so shallow if the water level drops by 1/2 inch it stops working! You have to top up the aquarium every couple of days to account for the evaporation! VERY expensive waste of money! UPDATE: There is one MAJOR issue with this unit regarding the lack of any "down pipe". The intake for the unit is a rectangular pump that sits parallel to the bottom of the filter and has vertical "cut outs" in the filter housing. You MUST pay attention to evaporation from your tank! If the level drops even by an inch, the pump labors and gets loud & water flow is dramatically reduced!! I found myself topping up the water in the aquarium 2x weekly due to this whereas before I only had to do this once a week! Otherwise the unit is impressive in its performance and noise level. Just position it AWAY from any live plants and don't use in a tank with very small fish or live bearing fish.

Setup was super easy, and it’s really simple to maintain. The media basket is a great size, and with Purigen added, the water is crystal clear, I’d even say healthy, considering how many planned and unplanned creatures are thriving in the tank. It’s sturdy and a bit on the bulkier side, but I don’t mind. It does its job perfectly and runs quietly in the background. Worth every penny.

Works great, I had other filters by bigger name brands but honestly this one is easier to service with the removable tray and flow. If you're looking somthing that moves water as advertised actually can filter out you're tank and has a tray big enough you can add extra filtration this is a steal at that for the price. I added purigin and a finner filter sponge with a polishing pad [not included just extras I always advise] and my cloudy water disappeared. Normally if I clean my rocks and glass the tank used to stay cloudy for days now withing a hour or 2 the tanks back crystal. O not to mention you can get aftermarket power heads that delete the surface skimmer and help save baby fry and shrimp you may have! Just research aquarium co-op great youtube channel and store for people learning the hobby with people sharing experiences about their current aquarium lifes.

I really want to love this thing but it’s just ok. I’m running it on a 29g and have had it for almost a year now to replace my sponge filters. I LOVE that it self primes and that motor is underwater so it’s quiet. Do the fish like that? Who knows. I have a community tank with soil under sand and lots of live plants, drift wood and rock scaping. I have shrimp so I’ve had to do some modifying to keep them out of the system but that wasn’t hard. Used the toe end of some black nylons over the whole in-tank part of filter and it works great. What I don’t like is how noisy it is with water movement. Some say the water level has to be at right level which does help but I find the filter media itself keeps getting full of good bacteria and causing uneven water level pouring over the spillway. Doesn’t seem to matter what I do, it sounds like a water fountain is running. It fixes when I top off tank and rinse media but it comes back in a few days. I’ve tried all different water levels and even hotglueing a thin sheet of clear plastic to end of spillway to extend ramp but that didn’t help no matter what shape I gave it. I also wish the media compartment was bigger. Some might be happy with it but I’d say size up so you can tweak what you’re running in there. I have another 29 that is using an old larger Aquaclear with motor noise and that tank is crystal clear, needs almost no filter maintenance even though it has more water flow it is quiet. I do like the adjustable water flow dial overall design build of this thing and cleaning is easy. I think the adjustable dial for fitting it to different thickness of tank rims is pretty slick as well. Overall, maybe size up and power down would be my advice and expect some water noise.

Best filter on the market and best seller too! Had a small problem with a broken impeller on receipt. Lorraine promptly replied to me and sent me a new one at no charge which fixed the problem, taking all of 5 seconds to pop it into the pump. Filter (and pump) is working great - fish and I are very thankful!