AquaClear 70 Powerhead, 400 Gallons per Hour, UL Listed

I bought a Tidal 55 HOB filter for a 29-gallon aquarium but the flow was woefully inadequate. So I bought an Aquaclear 70 powerhead with their Quick Clear intake filter to fill with some filter batting and a filter sock over the inner compartments. Don’t just drop it in the tank without a filter or sponge over the intake as it will suck in almost any fish flat against the intake strakes. It sucks hard so pack the filter batting in LOOSELY so it doesn’t clog so quickly and check the flow every couple days so if it’s slowing down you can adjust it back up. If it gets real slow even though it’s set wide open then you know the filter media is clogged and it’s time to change it. I left the lower inner compartment empty but you can put carbon in it if you like. You wanna make sure your fish can get out of the current at night so they can sleep without getting blown around. Good to have some rocks and stuff to break up any excessive flow to allow for weaker fish to get out of the current. Angle it upward slightly and maybe bank it off the glass. You can also make your own simple intake filter for it with PVC pipe instead, see some of the pics of what others have done. Once you have the powerhead you’ll see how simple it is and how it works you’ll understand how to make your own intake filter or just buy the matching Quick Clear intake filter. Myself and my friends have been using these things for 35 years on many, many tanks and have never seen or heard of one with a damaged impeller straight outta the box. These things are tough and I think someone was ham-handed in getting his impeller outta the power head for a cleaning and broke one of the fins off of it. You only need to take the impeller out once or twice per year and it’s only held in place with magnets. Grabbing the impeller with your hands and squeezing the fins on the impeller to pull it out will break the fins off. Place a butterknife under two of the fins and gently lift it up and out – ridiculously quick and simple. SMDH. And this thing does not have a moving venturi valve with parts that break, it’s just a hose that attaches to the outlet on the powerhead and the water rushing by will draw in air from the other end and aerate your tank. And no one I know uses that feature because the air getting sucked into the hose is noisy and it fills your tank with freaking tiny bubbles EVERYWHERE. It makes the tank look cloudy. I’m sure there are occasions to use that feature but I have yet to find a need for it. Take it apart (might as well do the impeller, too, since it’s apart) maybe once every 3 months and use an old toothbrush to scrub the sludge out of it to keep it from clogging it up. Change the filter media every week (depending on your bio-load) and you’re good. My only complaint is that after awhile it will start to vibrate against the side of the tank and the “hum” may annoy you. (Imagine what that must be like for the fish!!!) I always stick it to the side of my tank using the suction cups because that’s the quietest way to mount it but moving it slightly may or may not eliminate the humming/vibration. Pulling up on the power cord will eliminate it, too, but you can’t stand there holding the power cord forever, so you have to move the mounting plate with the suction cups around until it stops humming due to vibration. Rubber bands can be use to pull the powerhead this way and that which may help. Whatever it takes to quiet the humming from vibration. Don’t misunderstand – it doesn’t vibrate like a chainsaw or anything, my mother never doesn’t even notice it on her tank, but I do. EVERY motor vibrates and will eventually settle down against the glass and eventually start to hum or make some type of noise. This is however not a deal killer, buy it and you’ll be very happy, despite what the naysayers post.