Seachem Tidal Series HOB's (Seeking reviews)

So, I've always been a huge fan of the Aquaclear HOB's (The 110 in particular). I've started to piece together everything to get back into discus...and I came across the Seachem Tidal HOB filters that came out in the past year. Some people are saying they are the new replacement for the Aquaclears. Some features look nice, but some I don't think I'd care for with discus (The skimmer in particular). Have any of discus keepers who were Aquaclear fans switched over to the Seachem Tidals? If so, I'd love your feedback before I start purchasing filters for my growouts.

Thanks!

This thread got a good amount of views but no replies, so, I thought I'd give my personal review of the Seachem Tidal 110 after about 2 months of use.

As I stated above, I'm a longtime user and fan of Aquaclears, I'm also naturally a skeptic....so all of the hype that came with the Tidal filters had me weary.

Down to the nitty-gritty, I basically had 2 tanks setup with similar bio-loads, 1 tank with an Aquaclear 110 and 1 tank with the Tidal 110 (Neither were Discus setups). So, if you don't already know, the Tidal has 3 water inlets, vs the 1 inlet on the Aqualcear....this is good and bad. It will pull water from 3 different areas of the water column, however, if you are like me and tend to use a pre-filter sponge..this complicates things. I found it necessary to have a pre-filter on the inlet tube, as well as one around the skimmer, I attached the one on the skimmer with fishing line. However, this leaves the middle inlet open, and I haven't found a good way to attach a pre-filter to it....so if you are feeding worms of any kind, they will get into the filter and you will have to clear it more frequently.

Basically, if you have a tank where you are feeding mostly floating pellets or sinking, this filter is very very good and I recommend it (As long as you have a prefilter on the skimmer). I see a very big difference in water clarity in my Tidal tank compared to my Aquaclear tank. If you have a tank where you are feeding a lot of worms, FDBW or bloodworms, or even a beefheart mix that tend to dissolve...I would stick to the Aquaclear. All in all, if you are a discus keeper and you have been using Aquaclears, I would stick to them...just my 2cents.

Cheers!

Great post Mike.

I recently changed all my filters ( I had Eheims) and have used everything from the Fluval cannisters to the Aquaclear HOBs.

I agree because the Tidals can suck in water from 3 different spots it does suck in food easier...but overall there are amazing filters. Will never go back to canister and other HOBs. They are well made, quiet, and they have put so much thought in the design. The way they have created the waterfall outlet so you can put the water line right on the edge and creates waves in your water is great...creating allot of DO without having allot of noise. The large amount of space allows you to customize what you want to do, and they also give you a bag of matrix. The 5 year warranty is amazing.

I am using these for discus, arowana, plecos...great filters.

I keep going back and forth on the Tidal filters. As I type this, my Tidal 75 is in the garage and my Aquaclear 70's are running on my 55 gallon African Cichlid tank. I find the basket tends to overflow with the filter turned all the way up. I use Filter Max IV prefilters on all filters and just could not find a good way to cover all the inlets on the Tidal 75.I only clean my Aquaclears every two months and found myself cleaning the Tidal 75 constently. It is a good filter, just not for me.

Just bought a tidal 75 to polish the water on my south american cichlid tank. So far so good. Media basket is easy to remove and put in whatever you want. Super quiet. Excellent water movement. No priming after maintenance. I have not your problems with it yet.

I've been using my Tidal on my flowerhorn's tank since May, i have it packed with matrix and prefilters on the inlet tube and the skimmer...i havent needed to clean it except for the prefilters once.
I wouldnt dare use it on my discus tanks tho

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 0Dgreen

I wouldnt dare use it on my discus tanks tho

---

Why so?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by danotaylor

Why so?

---

I feed a varied diet of Blackworms, Beefheart, Flakes and Aquabites (small pellets) - feeding 3 to 5 times a day. The tidal has 3 different water inlets, only 2 of which I was able to get a prefilter on, because of this, smaller bits of uneaten food get into the inlet without the prefilter and cause it to get very dirty, very very fast. I clean my Aquaclears on my discus setups maybe once every other week or once a month (because my prefilters are catching most of the debris) If I were to be using the Tidal on the same setups with the same feeding regiment, I would be cleaning it out every other day if not more.
I think it is a great filter, and I don't plan on taking it off of my flowerhorn's setup anytime soon, but I have found it is not well suited for myself in a tank with a large bioload or lots of feeding going on that you typically see in a discus tank (especially in a growout situation). Just my opinion based of my own experience with it, If there's someone using these filters on discus setups without having to clean them religiously, I would love to know their tactics.

Gotcha Mike, thanks for the heads up 👍