Seachem Tidal HOB filters?

[FreshyFresh]

I'm in the market for a larger HOB for one of my tanks and was wondering if anyone has any experience with these? When it comes to HOBs I've used all the big names and some no-names over the years but always seem to go back to using nothing but Aquaclear because of their reusable media and the flexibility of using whatever media you want. I've got a few AC70s an AC30 and a 110 currently in use. My only complaint with Aquaclears is they can be noisy and the pump/impellers are finicky. Sometimes need a flick to start, etc.

There are some decent youtube videos of these new Seachem Tidal HOBs. They look really nice and have some great features. They've got a removable media basket, sort of similar to AC, but only seem to offer a small coarse blue sponge in the bottom of the basket. It's rinsable/reusable. Then it looks like they come with a bag of Seachem matrix for the bio portion, a carbon bag if you wan't chemical media, etc.

My concern is the apparent lack of mechanical media, aside from the custom fit piece of blue sponge that comes with the unit? I suppose you could fill the basket with floss or the likes, but that's not nearly as easy as the big sponge blocks all aquaclears use.

At the end of the day, I guess there's pros and cons to all HOBs!

 

[Def Leppard Hysteria]

We don't currently own a Seachem Tidal HOB, but I've read some reviews on these filters. Sounds like everyone likes the skimming feature, except the part about not being able to close it all the way (like during water changes and feeding time). The self priming feature is huge. Wish AquaClears could do the same. The Tidal filters are supposedly super quiet. Not sure if they will remain so over an extended period of time, but they seem to have a leg up in that department. The adjustment "screw" is a far better design than Fluval's. Getting the Tidal filters to sit perfectly level seems like a much easier task. You really can't beat the AC's on media capacity. I think the Tidal filters are a little smaller, but the removable basket is a much better functional design than the AC's. Ultimately, if we could combine these two filters, we'd have the best HOB ever...lol.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Thanks Def! I am definitely intrigued by these HOBs. The pump end is made by Sicce. Maybe the whole thing is I dunno. I really like the threaded leveling peg as opposed to the one that long ago fell off of my AC110. The heater clip on the side is a great feature, as is the self priming ability you mentioned. My ACs will sometimes self prime once the water level is refilled high enough in the tank, but they won't always. Sometimes the darn impellers need a flick to start, but this basically never happens to my AC110. Just the smaller ones.

What I do not like about these Seachem Tidal filters is, they basically come with no mechanical media aside from a small layer of coarse blue sponge that is cut to fit the basket. This leads to my second dislike; The odd shaped media basket. It would be difficult to cut a block of foam into that shape, where as good old Aquaclears are a simple block shape.

Dunno which way I'll go, but it may be another AC110.

 

[jaws7777]

Check this out freshy

By pass is going to happen sometimes it minimal as it appears to be in that vid. I think you would be able to cut some foam pads to fit using the tray as a guide.

The only thing that really concerns me is the motor. Unless imistaken it sits inside the tank. Would be concerned how easily sand would he able to enter the impeller housing

 

[FreshyFresh]

Thanks Jaws! I did see that video. I'd be interested in the next model up, the 110 and wouldn't run a carbon bag in it like this guy does. I'd bet his bypassing would stop if he yanked out the carbon bag. The more I look at these filters, I'm not sure I'm big on how they look in the tank anyway, with that big motor housing visible from in the tank. Way uglier than just an intake tube IMO. I'm not really interested in a surface skimmer either.

 

[jaws7777]

Yea man its really hard to beat an ac110. This filter does look intersting and to be fair i get quite a bit of bypass on the ac units.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Whelp, I'll be the guinea pig on this one guys. I just mail-ordered a Seachem Tidal 110 for $62.06 all in. I'll post back on how it goes.

 

[jaws7777]

Whelp, I'll be the guinea pig on this one guys. I just mail-ordered a Seachem Tidal 110 for $62.06 all in. I'll post back on how it goes.

Cool cant wait to see your review. Please post

 

[millerkid519]

Check this out freshy

By pass is going to happen sometimes it minimal as it appears to be in that vid. I think you would be able to cut some foam pads to fit using the tray as a guide.

The only thing that really concerns me is the motor. Unless imistaken it sits inside the tank. Would be concerned how easily sand would he able to enter the impeller housing

It's no different then the bypass in a open sump lol

 

[jaws7777]

It's no different then the bypass in a open sump lol

Agreed just thought op would have been interested