# Qualtiy HOB filter?



## Dragonbeards (Dec 14, 2008)

My mom has caught the fish bug. She wants a small 10g tank with some tetras in it, and a HOB filter (she likes the noice it makes). What is a good quality HOB filer for a small 10g tank? Are the ones that come in the Aquarium kits good?


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

One of the Top Fin 30s out to do it. Top Fins are underrated in IMHO. They are extremely quiet and I have never had one die on me. Just do a water change every 2 weeks and replace the catridge and they'll be good to go.


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## aspects (Feb 1, 2009)

Aqua clear 110. Best HOB on the market. Amazing flowrate for the price. Large bio area you can customize to fit your filtration needs, doesn't rely on a faulty bio wheel for bio filtration. And best yet with the design of the filter and the sponge filtration element, you don't have to but replacement cartridges. I've had mine running fir years with no problems and never replaced the filter.
And they kast forever. I know people who have been running the same ac110 for well over 10 years (maybe closer to 15)


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

aspects said:


> Aqua clear 110. Best HOB on the market. Amazing flowrate for the price. Large bio area you can customize to fit your filtration needs, doesn't rely on a faulty bio wheel for bio filtration. And best yet with the design of the filter and the sponge filtration element, you don't have to but replacement cartridges. I've had mine running fir years with no problems and never replaced the filter.
> And they kast forever. I know people who have been running the same ac110 for well over 10 years (maybe closer to 15)


For large tanks, I agree.
For the little 10g tank the original poster is asking about, I would go with almost any of the commercially available hob filters in the 10-15g class - the topfin somebody mentioned (which is a re-labeled Whisper I think), Whisper, Penguin, Aquaclear (but just an AC20 not an AC110 ! ), Aqueon, Cascade, etc etc.
As long as the filter has a clear obvious and easy way to retain good bacteria when changing filter carts (and pretty much all of them do) - it should work fine.

Personally I've found Aquaclears to work great - but over the past 15 years that I've been selling filters, I've found that 80% of customers get frustrated with (or confused by) the alternating foam/carbon/ceramic stack of media and just want simple carts to change. So I mostly refer non-aquarists to the Whisper type filters - easy to change, easy to find carts, halfway decent biofilter if you don't clean the black biosponge. 
Not as good as a properly managed aquaclear - but way better than an aquaclear that a confused customer is completely changing every month (you wouldn't believe how often that happens)


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

:chair: <- that is what you would want to do to me if you only knew. I use to totally clean out my filter once a month and clean ALL of the filter out. My mom had been instructing me, and until I got on here, I really didn't know anything it seems about it. I'm still pretty new on this.


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## Dragonbeards (Dec 14, 2008)

redpaulhus said:


> Personally I've found Aquaclears to work great - but over the past 15 years that I've been selling filters, I've found that 80% of customers get frustrated with (or confused by) the alternating foam/carbon/ceramic stack of media and just want simple carts to change. So I mostly refer non-aquarists to the Whisper type filters - easy to change, easy to find carts, halfway decent biofilter if you don't clean the black biosponge.
> Not as good as a properly managed aquaclear - but way better than an aquaclear that a confused customer is completely changing every month (you wouldn't believe how often that happens)


The Whisper sounds good. The more simple, the better. I don't want mom having to worry about how do I change the filter? where does this go? why do I have an extra item? It might turn her off the hobby.


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