What's a good budget friendly HOB filter that will fit in a 125?

[Matteus]

+1

I have zero issues with AC 110's, still running several old school AC 500"s. No impeller issues unless one runs fine sand, and never had an o-ring fail, EVER.

+1

I haven’t ever had any issues with ac units, even buying used, they seem to be power houses.

I have used one marineland penguin 350. Like earlier mentioned, gets gunned up pretty bad fairly quickly, doesn’t leave much room for bio, and the impeller melted after it got clogged up after 2 weeks. The store didn’t have any impellers in stock so I just bought a new ac50 and it has been doing the same if not better job and is half the size.

Just sayin

 

[Oughtsix]

I have a Penguin Emperor 400 that is about 20 years old. It only gets used any more when I setup a quarantine tank or something but it still works great. I don't use it much because I switched over to sumps but it ran for 7+ years constant usage without issue and always works when I need it now. I have never tried the legendary AC110 or Penguin 350 so I don't have a reference to compare them to the 400.

 

[FIU Panther]

I have a pair of old Aquaclear 500's which are now known as the 110's on my 125g. I've never had an issue with them and have never replaced anything on them besides the sponges. I would go with a AC110 and call it a day, maybe add a sponge filter for aeration and backup filtration in case of a prolonged power outage.

 

[tiger15]

I'll second the penguin 350 2-4 of them should put a dent in it.

The emperor 400s would be nice, but half of the ones I have bought have been defective.

The aquaclears are fine, but keeping an impeller shaft in them for a reasonable amount of time is impossible unless you make your own.

Marineland Emperor is bad, not the same as the simpler Penguin line. Emperor is too complicated with spray bar, and over sized impeller that is noisy and trouble prone. Penguin is quiet, trouble free except for the biowheels which I don’t care and don’t install.

All magnetic impeller and shaft will worn out in a few years and make clicking noise. Be prepare to replace with new one every few years if you want silence.. I replaced my Penguin 350 impeller with smaller 200 impeller which is cheaper, quieter and filter better.

 

[Thacarter54632]

Im not familiar with any of these overflow or impeller issues of the ac that are mentioned...if you don't maintain any hob filter properly the impeller will become gummed up.

Not trying to step on toes here but the marineland hobs are for amateur fishkeepers/obsolete. They are purely a mechanical filter and they are not a great one at that. No capacity for bio-media at all and they continuously become clogged up....in fact the only hob i ever had that overflowed was an emperor.

Putting a bunch of small power filters with next to no media capacity on a 125 thats at least moderately stocked is pissing in the wind. Go with a big can or a couple ac110s. Id go with air powered sponges before lining up 4 small hobs...

It all has a bit to do with luck. The penguins and emperor filters hold just as much bio as any other hob including aquaclears. You fill the refillable bio cages with matrix or similar bio media and use filter floss for mechanical. The bio wheels cant do much, but they do help oxygenate the water, which is why I dont run them on my tanks anymore. They off gas co2 too quickly.

As for the aquaclears I have no idea how anyone runs them. In perfect condition they are loud. I've had constant o ring and impeller shaft issues. I've gone as far as to make "custom" replacement shafts out of ceramic and stainless. You can get longer life out of the shafts, but the noise is absolutely intolerable after 1-2 months.

 

[tiger15]

Not trying to step on toes here but the marineland hobs are for amateur fishkeepers/obsolete. They are purely a mechanical filter and they are not a great one at that. No capacity for bio-media at all and they continuously become clogged up....in fact the only hob i ever had that overflowed was an emperor.

Putting a bunch of small power filters with next to no media capacity on a 125 thats at least moderately stocked is pissing in the wind. Go with a big can or a couple ac110s. Id go with air powered sponges before lining up 4 small hobs...

You are absolutely right. Penguin is good for mechanical only because it has no bio capacity, and the biowheels stop all the time. I use it for mechanical only and don’t care for biological because my substrate has plenty bb as evidenced by zero ammonia detection. The only scenario that bio capacity is essential is if you pack fish in bare bottom tank as in dealer or aquaculture tanks.

125 is not large enough that a sump system is mandatory. Running 3 smaller Penguins is equivalent to running one big AC in term of gph. But filtration efficiency is not measured by gph, but by the flow through media area (not media volume), and Penguin has as large flow through area as AC. And 3 is better than one in having 3 times the media area for mechanical, picking up dirt from 3 locations, and providing insurance that if one fails, there are two other back up.

Most people compare filters by gph. I don’t and in fact I replaced my 350 with smaller impellers to reduce gph to achieve quieter operation and better filtration. If one wants high gph turn over rate, get a dedicated circulation pump as I installed one on one end to provide longitudinal flow.

 

[Backfromthedead]

You are absolutely right. Penguin is good for mechanical only because it has no bio capacity, and the biowheels stop all the time. I use it for mechanical only and don’t care for biological because my substrate has plenty bb as evidenced by zero ammonia detection. The only scenario that bio capacity is essential is if you pack fish in bare bottom tank as in dealer or aquaculture tanks.

125 is not large enough that a sump system is mandatory. Running 3 smaller Penguins is equivalent to running one big AC in term of gph. But filtration efficiency is not measured by gph, but by the flow through media area (not media volume), and Penguin has as large flow through area as AC. And 3 is better than one in having 3 times the media area for mechanical, picking up dirt from 3 locations, and providing insurance that if one fails, there are two other back up.

Most people compare filters by gph. I don’t and in fact I replaced my 350 with smaller impellers to reduce gph to achieve quieter operation and better filtration. If one wants high gph turn over rate, get a dedicated circulation pump as I installed one on one end to provide longitudinal flow.

You make a compelling argument. I do agree that having intakes throughout the tank is effective, especially in a long tank like a 125.

And i understand that substrate is effectually biomedia. But ime its always best to have a lot of water moving throigh an abundance of bio media. The more the better, especially in a heavily stocked tank where water quality conditions can deteriorate quickly.

Respecting your opinion and having owned the penguin 350 and emperor 400 before, I'd still take the ac110. That media capacity is just too good to pass up.

The marineland filters are a quieter motor, but are just as susceptible to impeller issues ime.

 

[pops]

AC110 IMHO I would run 2, one on either side. I would run a canister as well.

 

[RD.]

I have two 125's, both have 3 AC 500's on them, and two AC 500's on a 90. No dead spots, no waste build up, and plenty of room for BOTH mechanical and bio media. I have used the same media for more years than I can remember. I also am a great believer in redundancy. I have spare O-rings sitting on a shelf for several years, but to date have never needed to replace one. Some of the O-rings in my AC's are now close to 20 yrs old. lol

Yes, all things can fail, including an o-ring, but often times how one maintains parts, moving and otherwise, will depend on how long they last. I use water only to lubricate these O-rings, nothing more, and I am careful if/when I need to remove & re-insert the motor from the plastic housing that it sits in. Again, 15-20 years, no o-ring issues. While I understand that failure is a possibility, IME over many years of using this brand it is not very probable, IF one takes care.

 

[Irecruitfish]

AC110 IMHO I would run 2, one on either side. I would run a canister as well.

I probably will build a stand but for it's a floor tank so no canister