SeachemTidal Power Aquarium Filter - 35 Gallon Large Fish Tank Filter,black

Use it in my 20 gal and haven’t had any issues. Super quiet too and self priming works great.

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.

Setup was super easy, and it’s really simple to maintain. The media basket is a great size, and with Purigen added, the water is crystal clear, I’d even say healthy, considering how many planned and unplanned creatures are thriving in the tank.It’s sturdy and a bit on the bulkier side, but I don’t mind. It does its job perfectly and runs quietly in the background.Worth every penny.

I love their filter design. You can stack media as you see fit and some people do their own thing with this idea- search around YouTube and the interwebs for info on this but their recommended stack order is working well. I would recommend cleaning it occasionally as funk can and will grow under the basket and if months have gone by without cleaning- unplug it and take it off to clean. I made a mistake not doing this and removed the basket for the first time with it running continuously for a couple months- fish poo dispersed throughout the tank like a bomb went off. Lesson learned- but still a great design. Also, you can replace the pump without replacing the whole unit- very cool!

Great hang on back filter with plenty of media capacity and it is quiet, love the parts availability and the surface skimmer on it to keep the top free of biofilm and floating debris, only wish there was an adjustable intake on the tidal 35 but there is not

Works great, love the low flow for my Betta. However, be aware that you will need to cover the intakes for small fish, duckweed, and shrimps or they will get sucked in and turned into a smoothie. Lost one shrimp this way so now I super glued a mesh over them.

I really want to love this thing but it’s just ok. I’m running it on a 29g and have had it for almost a year now to replace my sponge filters.I LOVE that it self primes and that motor is underwater so it’s quiet. Do the fish like that? Who knows.I have a community tank with soil under sand and lots of live plants, drift wood and rock scaping.I have shrimp so I’ve had to do some modifying to keep them out of the system but that wasn’t hard. Used the toe end of some black nylons over the whole in-tank part of filter and it works great.What I don’t like is how noisy it is with water movement. Some say the water level has to be at right level which does help but I find the filter media itself keeps getting full of good bacteria and causing uneven water level pouring over the spillway. Doesn’t seem to matter what I do, it sounds like a water fountain is running. It fixes when I top off tank and rinse media but it comes back in a few days. I’ve tried all different water levels and even hotglueing a thin sheet of clear plastic to end of spillway to extend ramp but that didn’t help no matter what shape I gave it.I also wish the media compartment was bigger. Some might be happy with it but I’d say size up so you can tweak what you’re running in there. I have another 29 that is using an old larger Aquaclear with motor noise and that tank is crystal clear, needs almost no filter maintenance even though it has more water flow it is quiet.I do like the adjustable water flow dial overall design build of this thing and cleaning is easy. I think the adjustable dial for fitting it to different thickness of tank rims is pretty slick as well.Overall, maybe size up and power down would be my advice and expect some water noise.