Sooo.... I have been using marineland HOB filters for a looong time now and am quite happy with the results after I have modded them and geared them to mechanical and biological filtration only. I have my penguins set up with refillable media cartridges packed with eheim pro/matrix and poly filter in front as mechanical. The emperors have a media basket that comes with them (I filled them with ehim/matrix) and I have poly filter as mechanical in the back and the space in the front with DIY nylon bags filled with ehiem pro and Matrix. Between the penguins and emperors I prefer the penguins because they are cheaper and seem to work flawlessly and with much less maintenece than the emperors in my experiences (couple broken emperors and the flow seems to decrease over time). I have been really getting back into fish keeping these days (well I never really stopped) and am now looking into aquaclears. I didnt like them before because of the fact that they are the ugliest HOB filter that I have seen out there, but now that I have researched them I really like the flow design that directs the water from the intake to the bottom and flows upwards through the media unlike marinelands where the water is directed to the sides and flows forward. It also looks easy to pack with biomedia. I then found the fluval c series which is supposed to be the upgraded version of the aquaclear (both made by Hagen). It looks interesting as I like the apperance (one of the coolest looking HOB's out there) and has quite a bit of features (built in wet dry biological like the marinelands bio wheel - hear they require just as much if not more maintinence for the wet dry bio system tho...). Though for the fluval c series the water doesn't come out from the bottom anymore like the aquaclears... So in a way they may be almost the same/just as effective as my upgraded marinelands? So my question for you MFK'ers is if you think I should switch to aquaclears, fluval c series, or just stick with what im doing with my upgraded marinelands? If it aint broke dont fix it right? But even if it aint broke if I can make something much better than...i'll change. Do you guys really think hagen is that much better than marineland? If so then aren't the fluval c series better than the aquaclears since they are touted as the "upgraded aquaclear"? Dependability wise I have no problem with marineland and have always relied on marineland. For me their products have never really failed my expectations. I have had some powerheads and HOB filters from marineland for over a decade and they are still running strong and quiet.
P.S. If your thinking I should upgrade to canisters, stop thinking about it! I wont and probably never will. I have had horrible experiences with costly caninsters leaking and breaking and I dont want to deal with them again! Thanks for your input MFK'ers!
P.S. If your thinking I should upgrade to canisters, stop thinking about it! I wont and probably never will. I have had horrible experiences with costly caninsters leaking and breaking and I dont want to deal with them again! Thanks for your input MFK'ers!