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

It really is quiet. I did some online research for the quietest filter (I have a 20 gallon tank), because the hum of the previous one was making me crazy. This one is so quiet. The water is clear, unless I put too much food in. I have had it for a few weeks, so this review may change in time, but so far, so good.

5 star! Durable! It’s easy to set up! And keeps my tank in good condition! I love sachem. I have both the 75 and 35 they both are perfect!

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.

GOOD filter that I purchased after a lot of reviews praising this as the BEST HOB filter. I like the adjustable water flow as well as the basket for the media. I also like the low profile of it as it doesnt stick out like a sore thumb. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because right out of the box the motor makes a clunking & clanking noise. I read that this is very common but over time as the impeller builds algae/biofilm/grime it makes the impeller quieter. The notion is the debris takes away the space the impeller has to bounce around causing this noise.Out of the box this filter is louder than my Whisper as well as Marineland Biowheel which are both +5 years old. For this being a "top of the line HOB filter" I expected more.

I heard about this product after doing some research on the internet. Was using a Tetra Whisper filter for my 10 gallon tank and it was too loud. The motor would just be this constant whirring sound and it became too annoying after a couple of days. Bought this one - set up was easy, and it is very quiet. The downside is it's a bit bulky but to me it's worth the trade off.

our goldfish were experiencing steadily rising nitrite levels but after getting this and filling it up with biological filter which we seeded from our other tank, the nitrite levels our now ZERO and our goldfish can breathe easily in clean water

I’ll start my review by mentioning that I have 5 freshwater aquariums currently and over 25 years of experience in this hobby. My tanks all have different filters - canister, HOB and sponge filter.I’m honestly confused on why the Tidals have such a following with great reviews. No, it’s not the best HOB. It could use some improvement. But there’s some great things about it that make me okay with my purchase and I’ll continue to use it until there’s something better. The price was decent however.Con #1 - no water polishingThis filter comes with a coarse sponge and a bag of purigen. I was disappointed to not see a water polishing sponge. So I bought that separately and cut it up to fit in place of the coarse sponge. And if you’ve just set up your tank, you’ll have a lot of small debris that can pass through a coarse sponge that you’ll need something finer to catch.Con #2 - The IntakeWhat I did with the coarse sponge that came with it, was that I cut it up to fit inside the intake grates on both places to act as a pre-filter. But mainly to prevent my neocardina shrimp from getting sucked in. So if you have shrimp or fish fry, I don’t recommend this filter unless you want to mod it this way. Also, the intake doesn’t go far under the surface of the water. I’m used to HOB’s having a long intake to get close to where all the debris would be at the bottom.Con #3 - Cord managementWhat makes this weirdly different from other HOBs is that the impeller is on the water side, under the water, instead of behind tank. I assume this was for the automatic start to work. That’s fine. But the cord is very awkwardly just sticking out of it in the water. There is a little place to run the cord in a channel, but it’s on the opposite side of where the cord sticks out, so you have to bend it in a sharp u-turn. I’ve read that this isn’t an issue in the larger Tidals. But for the 35, it doesn’t look good and it makes for a pain when you need to remove the filter for cleaning. So I gave up on keeping it in the cord channel and it just lays beside the filter on the rim, instead.Con #4 - Clogs very quicklyI have this on a 20gal long tank and the filter often slows to a trickle. I’m having to clean it out every few days! This could be from the coarse sponge behind the intake grates. Or the polishing sponge (even tho it’s very small and thin). Other than that, I don’t know why. The impeller is dirty every time I open it. This makes this filter high maintenance.Now for the things I like -Pro #1 - StartupStarting the filter is so easy and quick. I don’t have to grab a cup of water to pour into the filter to get the impeller going. It just automatically kicks in when I plug it in. I assume this is because the impeller is already in water, since it’s on the intake side of the tankPro #2 - PurigenI love that this came with its own bag of purigen for bacterial colony to grow. There was some room in the filter to add some biomedia from a mature tank to help speed things along and then the new purigen took over after that. If you need to cycle a new tank, thats my recommended way to do it.Pro #3 - flow adjustabilityThere is a turning knob/stick on the top lid that allows you to slow it down for fish that don’t like flow, like a betta. A pretty awesome feature. And lip of the outtake bends out to create a nice surface flow instead of a swift drop off like many HOBs.