Fluval AQUACLEAR 20

[madmark285]

On 7/1/2023 at 9:53 AM, Val said:

Man, this is a depressing thread.  ACs have long been one of the bedrock products in this hobby. 

Maybe it's time for a redesign from Fluval. I had to set up an emergency tank, I bought an Aquaclear while i waited for a SeaChem Tidal to arrive from Amazon. Comparing the two, I didn't like the partial basket on the Aquaclear, it's not self priming, no skimmer feature and the Tidal has a cute little holder for a heater. 

The aquaclear seemed like an old design. 

[FishRKool28]

From what I’ve read and I could be wrong, Fluval has had this design for several years. When I first encountered the issue I found forums from 2013 talking about this. I mean I’m no engineer, but I feel like it’s a simple fix…. Design a better motor and impeller

[Peaceful Fish]

All manufacturers will produce a turd every once in a while. Vast majority of ACs probably work fine when maintained. Had a buddy that had some water damage from an AC because he didn’t clean it for many months but that was on him.  Some of the other designs of HOB will allow bypass for a clogged filter so as not to flood. 

[Galabar]

If I needed a HOB, I would *only* buy one with the pump in the tank.  It's too risky to deal with a power outage, where the filter doesn't restart properly.

[TheChosenOne]

I've seen many people mention the rattling over the years so I'm aware of it being an issue but I've had an aquaclear 50 in use since 2019 and it may have rattled once ever that I can recall. And when it did all i did was tap the top and it stopped.  I've since been experimenting with the Tidal 75  added to the same tank with the AC50 just to try it out and I think it's got some nice features but for me there's too many drawbacks. So i'll be splitting the difference and just getting a larger aquaclear.  Ac could definitely make some changes or updates but the question is what changes would make a real difference and be worth the R&D?  

On 7/3/2023 at 4:47 PM, Galabar said:

If I needed a HOB, I would *only* buy one with the pump in the tank.  It's too risky to deal with a power outage, where the filter doesn't restart properly.

I live in an area where the power goes out a fair bit when it storms. I've never had much concern about my filter not restarting.  Tho i can say I've never been gone the entire day with it running without water in it I did fail to notice it was failing to prime for several hours and i just added water and it continued to work.  Can't imagine it would be good for the filter if it ran dry for an extended period tho.

[Galabar]

On 7/6/2023 at 2:10 PM, TheChosenOne said:

 

I live in an area where the power goes out a fair bit when it storms. I've never had much concern about my filter not restarting.  Tho i can say I've never been gone the entire day with it running without water in it I did fail to notice it was failing to prime for several hours and i just added water and it continued to work.  Can't imagine it would be good for the filter if it ran dry for an extended period tho.

How many times has it failed to prime?

[Peaceful Fish]

I recently bought a Tetra IQ 30 HOBjust to add a little more flow to my 55 gallon that has a sponge filter. The Tetra IQ was $19 on Amazon. Pump is in the aquarium and the lid design is tight. It’s super quiet. I’m just running sponge in it.  I like it so far. I’ve had ACs but they do rattle and you can get a leak if you don’t stay up on your maintenance. I had a Tidal as well and I hated the surface skimmer. 

[Galabar]

I've noticed those Tetra IQs.  They looks nice.  How flexible is it for the sponge (and possibly other media)?

I wonder what the differences is between the various Tetra filters ("IQ" vs "EX"):

https://www.amazon.com/Tetra-78002-Whisper-Gallon-Filter/dp/B01NB1GCQY

https://www.amazon.com/Tetra-Whisper-Silent-Multi-Stage-Aquariums/dp/B001CHSJZS

Found this answer:

"The pf systems are our original, legacy ones and have an external pump/motor, a bio foam and a flow control knob on the intake tube. They take either the Whisper Bio Bag or the Tetra Carbon Cartridges, either will fit. The EX is our first filter system with a submersible motor and they come with a bio scrubber. They take only the Tetra Carbon Cartridges and do not have a flow control knob on them. The Whisper IQ series is our newest, just out last fall. They take the Whisper Bio Bag cartridges, have a new type of biological insert, a grid, and a flow control knob. Whereas the pf series will be reduced by about 20%, the IQ series can have their flow reduced to about 10% of the overall flow."

Edited July 6, 2023 by Galabar

[FishRKool28]

I’m no engineer so I can’t speak to how they would redesign but I’d start with the rattling noise lol. I’ve just ignored it and moved on

[Peaceful Fish]

For the IQ 30, I removed the bio grid and the media chamber is 2.75” deep and 4.5” wide and about 5” tall.  I just bought a semi coarse sponge off Amazon that was 2.75” thick and cut the width and length. 
 

It flows from back to front so sponge and filter floss would work well. Bagged media is probably not ideal. I think sponge is the best media personally because of the mechanical and biological filtration. If I ever needed to run carbon, I’d just pull the sponge and run a big bag of carbon. The filter isn’t really set up to run multiple types of media at once like a AC or Tidal that flow up from the bottom. 
 

[TheChosenOne]

On 7/6/2023 at 5:40 PM, Galabar said:

How many times has it failed to prime?

Idk. many times. Sometimes it primes sometimes it doesn't There have been many times when I find out the power went out while i was at work because my brother tells me. When I check everything is running fine.  I think often if your water level isn't too low the AQ will prime...eventually.  Then other times it needs some help. 

[Lennie]

I wonder if everyone who says they almost never prime have their filter basket way above the water line, so whenever the power goes out, as expected, it empties itself until it reaches water level in the tank. And if the water level is too low, then surely it dries out.

In none of my glass to glass aquariums I have issues with restarting because when the power is out, the water level never goes to zero. It directly restarts this way.

 

I would personally not like to use with something with a skimmer installed directly myself and the only problem Ive ever had with  different size aquaclears is only one AC50 of mine sometimes has its magnetic part stuck randomly so needs manual touch to start sometimes but it has happened only after maintenance times so far.

Also in their user’s manual they directly state this:

and this:

 

So basically they literally say dont run it dry. whether intentionally or unintentionally, if your basket goes dry due to an occasion which can be maintenance, water change, power out etc. then yes technically you are trying to run it dry I think so don’t expect to prime that way.
 

And it my experience it only goes dry on a power out occasion if the water level is lower than the AC basket.

to demonstrate I took a picture of my Ac50 and 70s before and after plugged off. They directly restarted after I plugged in. Dirty filter warning 🙂

 

ac50:

 

AC 70. Again, it drops to water level only and easily restarts:

 

I just think it is not fair to judge it for something they are not made to work for. The ones with the motor inside can be a good idea for those who prefer it or has to keep water line quite down

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Lennie

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/6/2023 at 5:10 PM, FishRKool28 said:

I’m no engineer so I can’t speak to how they would redesign but I’d start with the rattling noise lol. I’ve just ignored it and moved on

Well.... as an engineer.... 😂

1.  Replace the material so it's not so absolutely brittle.
2.  Replace the pump with one that is better quality
3.  Improve flow adjustment to work up to current industry standards
4.  Replace the tilt adjustment to work similar to seachem tidal (screw design)
5.  Improve ease of maintenance and basket design to function a little better for the user (VERY EASY)
6.  Improve the output design to better function for tank placement (shape of the waterfall and angle)
7.  Improve the uplift tube design so it doesn't have a grate in the middle of it.
8.  Fix the impeller shaft failure issue and improve the quality / design of the impeller.
9.  Fix the basket lifting so that the filter never has a chance to flow
10.  Ensure no bypass (probably the single most difficult thing because it requires testing over time)
11.  Fix the lid comments and the user feel when doing maintenance, consider vents, definitely improve the actual fitment of parts so they don't vibrate
12.  Fix the pump isolation / dampening so it doesn't vibrate the tank and filtration
13.  Make sure it doesn't fail after 1 maintenance session (looking at you AC110)
14.  Fix packaging so it doesn't arrive broken
15.  Fix bend radius so the pump has a much easier time starting.

Edited July 7, 2023 by nabokovfan87
minor typo

[FishRKool28]

On 7/7/2023 at 12:21 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Well.... as an engineer.... 😂

1.  Replace the material so it's not so absolutely brittle.
2.  Replace the pump with one that is better quality
3.  Improve flow adjustment to work up to current industry standards
4.  Replace the tilt adjustment to work similar to seachem tidal (screw design)
5.  Improve ease of maintenance and basket design to function a little better for the user (VERY EASY)
6.  Improve the output design to better function for tank placement (shape of the waterfall and angle)
7.  Improve the uplift tube design so it doesn't have a grate in the middle of it.
8.  Fix the impeller shaft failure issue and improve the quality / design of the impeller.
9.  Fix the basket lifting so that the filter never has a chance to flow
10.  Ensure no bypass (probably the single most difficult thing because it requires testing over time)
11.  Fix the lid comments and the user feel when doing maintenance, consider vents, definitely improve the actual fitment of parts so they don't vibrate
12.  Fix the pump isolation / dampening so it doesn't vibrate the tank and filtration
13.  Make sure it doesn't fail after 1 maintenance session (looking at you AC110)
14.  Fix packaging so it doesn't arrive broken
15.  Fix bend radius so the pump has a much easier time starting.

Yea I’ll leave all that to you lol, I turn wrenches for a living lol, I like  #12 though lol. Also noticed the noise is less loud than it has been so that’s been nice 

[Peaceful Fish]

ACs are expensive for such an old design and cheap material.  Out of the box, it looks absolutely cheap. 

[FishRKool28]

Yea I like the look of It but to your point it feels cheap holding it in my hands. I’m just gonna roll with it, maybe some point try out Fluval U2, anyone have experience with that?

[Galabar]

On 7/7/2023 at 7:22 AM, FishRKool28 said:

Yea I like the look of It but to your point it feels cheap holding it in my hands. I’m just gonna roll with it, maybe some point try out Fluval U2, anyone have experience with that?

I haven't used the Fluval U2, but, for internal filters, I really like the Sicce Shark ADV.  They also seem to be pretty popular hear.  They have extremely easy maintenance and are very flexible in the types of filter media that can be used.