SeaChem – Large Aquarium Fish Tank Filter, Tidal 75 Gallon (300 Liters) by Sicce

I had another brand HOB filter that uses filter cartridges. I tried to reuse them, but they're too fragile and would practically fall apart cleaning and the filter would stop up quickly.I then started looking and found this Seachem Tidal 75 HOB filter, there we're high praises for this being one of the best of the HOB style filters. This filter is easy to service. The filter has a filter basket. To do media changeovers, you unlock the filter basket by pulling the blue lock button towards the front and lift basket out. The lid has a detail on the bottom side to snap the bottom of the basket to the lid to keep from dribbling water on the floor as you carry it to a sink to setvice the sponge and bio-media.The sponge and Seachem Matrix comes included. I added some sintered ceramic rings into the zippered mesh bag (included) to fill the bag and have bio-media bag on top of the sponge inside the basket. Your options are endless in regards to filter media. I plan on using Purigen or something similar later to crystalize the water and make appear like there's no water.The water is pumped by a pump on the intake submersed below the waterline, so it never needs priming, power outage, no worries because it will start back up immediately when the power comes back. The Tidal 75 has 2 intakes, the intake tube on the bottom and the skimmer. Then it has a intake control valve that controls the flow between the 2. I have the most of my intake coming from the intake tube on the bottom and the least amount of flow possible on the skimmer intake.It has a flow control on the outake to control how fast water is pumping through. All the way down will slow the flow to a trickle, all the way up gives you 350 g/h. I have mine on a 40 gallon and it is working extremely well. It is very quiet. I highly recommend the Seachem Tidal HOB filter. I have absolutely no regrets, excellent filter for the price point.

I tend to overfilter if there is such a thing. On my last 55g I ran 2 tidal 110s and they kept the water pristine. I'm setting up a new 55g and am going to run 2 75s. They've got a lot of room for biomedia and filter floss and the self priming feature is very nice. My 110s were super quiet and I'm assuming these will be too. The surface skimmer isn't really needed imo, but some people like it. I don't like that you can't turn it completely off, just slow it down to its lowest setting, but that's not a huge deal. Overall I highly recommend.

I have had this filter for a year (next month) so 11 months. I feel like I’m qualified to write a review on the quality of it at this point.For starters I had a Marineland penguin 200. Constant issues. The impeller kept going out making a loud LOUD grinding noise. $20 a pop for an impeller. I bought 2 within a few months, When the filter itself is only around $30. Both impellers went bad quickly.I ordered this filter and threw my other one away. It’s been 11 months and I haven’t had a single issue! It’s super easy to clean, I don’t have to pour water back into it after water changes, it’s silent, it cleans my 36g bowfront like a charm. No filter cartridges. Worth every penny!

I bought the Tidal 75 unit from Amazon about a month ago. I was very excited to try it on my 55-gallon tank that houses mostly platies and black neon tetras.As far as HOB power filters go, this thing is feature rich. There are two adjustable flow controls. The first blends in or turns off flow through the intake, which in the off position leaves only the skimmer operational (more on this later). The other adjusts the flow from the pump itself, slowing total water flow through the unit by 80%.Personally I leave the intake wide open all the time and turn the flow down to a small trickle during feedings. The intake screen has large openings that could easily suck up fry. I may suggest an intake pre-filter for breeder use.The pump is powerful, and below the water line so priming is totally a non-issue. The filter never needs to be primed!The lid has a small bobbin that supposedly pops up when the mechanical filter sponge is full. I have serviced this filter twice and, while I may clean my filters more often than I need to, I have yet to see that bobbin move. I believe when that bobbin pops up, it will be beyond time to perform filter maintenance.Underneath the lid is a cavernous media basket that easily unsnaps from the housing. If you flip the lid over there is a secure way to interlock the basket and lid together. This provides a drip-free tray to carry to the sink. Excellent feature.The basket holds what must be 1.5 litres of media. It came with a sponge for mechanical filtering, and a large mesh bag filled with a smaller amount of Seachem Matrix bio rocks. I put a pound of Fluval ceramic rings in with the included Matrix media and still have room for a decent sized bag of activated carbon if needed.I replaced a Marineland Penguin 150 for the Tidal. And even though it was only rated up to 30 gallons, the Marineland was far more effective at biological filtration; likely due to the infamous bio-wheel. The Tidal filters only have provisions for submerged media, which IMO is less effective as bacteria need oxygen as well. I did manage to rig the old bio-wheel to this unit, and would recommend this modification to anyone who has a Tidal filter.The skimmer is powerful! Let's not even talk about protein film, it is non-existent. It pulled out every bit of duckweed that I was on-the-fence about. Any leaves or floating bit of whatever WILL be removed by the skimmer. Half of the skimmer weir is below my water line, which I often fear a wandering fry will fall into it. Generally they don't go near it but when they do they are strong enough to swim away from it. I did, however have my first battle with ich right after I got this unit. I had one fish fatality and the skimmer pulled the little guy right up to it.There is a place on the side of the housing to clip a heater to, but I don't care to have my heater set vertically. Luckily the clip is removable.Pros--Never needs primed-Extra-large media basket-Adjustable flow controls-A functional skimmerCons--Bio media is submerged, I like bio-wheels!-Skimmer is almost too effective. Very small fry are at risk.-Intake screen has large openings. Also a danger to fry-Throws a lot of debris after servicing the media basket. Only way to combat this is to remove the whole unit and rinse before putting back into service. Not cool.

It might be a little loud but not enough to bother me. Awesome design and easy to clean. It has a ton of room for whatever media you choose. It’s powerful and I’m glad the flow can be adjusted.