(upbeat music)
- Hey, it's Thomas here.
And today we're going to be taking a look
at Seachem Tidal Power Filters.
If you're looking
for an affordable filtration method
that takes up as little space inside
of your tank as possible,
but don't want to sacrifice any
of the features that reefers have come to love
like surface skimming,
flow control, and easy maintenance.
And one, what is the most feature rich
and quiet power filter.
I have personally ever seen from a collaboration
of two well-respected
and trusted companies in the industry.
Then checkout Seachem
and Sicce tidal power filters.
They took the hang
on power filter game to a whole new level.
Hang on power filters
are traditionally pretty basic.
They're essentially a box
that hangs over the edge
of the tank with an inlet pipe inside
of the tank and a wide outlet that hovers
over the surface of the water in the aquarium.
The pump is typically outside of the tank
and the filter has to be filled
with water manually
or primed before plugging it in.
They usually have some sort
of prefabricated filter cartridge
or media that just slides
into the filtration box and that's about it
which is probably
why they haven't been super popular
amongst the reefing community.
However Seachem and Sicce teamed
up to create the title filters.
They've taken the classic,
hang on filter and added surface skimming
a reliable self priming pump,
flow control, a removable media container,
maintenance indicator,
and a lot of convenient little features
that all come together to make
for a quiet, simple,
affordable and overall great filtration system
for smaller or budget reef aquariums
and quarantine tanks.
I've actually used these title filters
on a few tanks now,
and I really dig them.
So I'm going to get this one out of the box.
We'll take a closer look
and I'll show you why.
In the box,
you'll find the Seachem Tidal Filter,
the box of accessories,
That includes the telescopic intake,
the heater holder and the leveling peg,
the foam filter pad
and a bag of matrix bio media.
The tidal filters come in four sizes,
the 35, 55, 75 and 110
which are rated for aquariums up to,
you guessed it.
35, 55, 75 and 110 gallons, respectively.
With flow ratings ranging
from 130 up to 450 gallons per hour.
And they can hang on the edge
of a tank up to 1.375 inches
or two centimeters thick.
They all share the same convenient features
like an internal media basket,
heater holder, maintenance indicator,
flow control, surface extraction,
and more, which we're going to dive into shortly.
Set up is pretty simple,
attach to the telescopic intake tube
and strainer to the bottom of the pump cover
and install the optional heater holder.
Attach to the tank leveling screw
into the filter case
and remove the media from its packaging
and give it a quick rinse to remove any dust,
last but not least,
rote that pumps power cord
through the channel.
On the side of the filter case
I love that they included this channel.
It really keeps things looking nice and clean.
Even with the pump inside of the aquarium
having the internal pump
on the tidal filters means
that they are self priming.
Once it's set up and on the tank,
you plug it in and off.
It goes at first glance
that might seem like a simple convenience,
but in reality
a lot of hang on filters that use
an external pump can run
into issues with repriming themselves
after a power outage
which means that your tank,
even after a small power outage
might not have a filter running
or the filter is going to be running
but not able to pump water back and forth
which means it's going to overheat.
And if not caught quickly,
it could burn itself out.
The tidal's internal pump means
that it can always prime itself
and continue running after a power outage,
which can be a lifesaver.
One of my favorite features
besides the internal pump is the surface giving
that the tidal filters provide keeping
the surface of the water free
and clear of that oily film is great.
Not only because it doesn't look great,
but because it affects the gas exchange
and light penetration
which is why most reefers prefer a filtration
system that will remove
that film like an overflow box.
The tidal also lets you control the ratio
between surface extraction
and mid-water intake
so that you can get the best of both worlds.
Seachem includes both mechanical
and biological media with the filter
in the form of a core sponge,
and zip poach of matrix
which is all you need to get the filter running.
The media is housed inside
of a removable media container,
which is excellent.
It keeps things neat and tidy
and allows for more flexibility
with your media
and makes maintenance a lot easier.
The filter also has a lock
to keep the media container in place,
which is great.
Especially if some of the media that you're using
in the filter has a tendency to be buoyant
until it's fully soaked.
Seachem also has a few other prefab media options
for the tidal filters including a polishing pad,
carbon and zeolite.
But thanks to that big open media container
you can use pretty well.
Any media type that you'd like toss
it in a media bag and place it in the container,
or you can even
cut to fit your own foam or poly pads,
which is fantastic.
Ease of maintenance
was also a priority for Seachem.
And like I mentioned earlier
the media container makes it easy to swap out
and stock media without having
to move the filter itself.
They've also included a maintenance indicator
which is essentially a little blue peg
that will raise up as the water is diverted
from the clogged media
to the auxiliary water port
letting you know it's time for cleaning
while making sure the access water makes
it safely back into the tank.
Another smart and simple little convenience
that they've added is that the filter lid
has pegs on the bottom
that slot directly into the media container.
So this way you can use
that lid as a sturdy drip tray
when it comes time to remove
and swap out the media.
It's a simple little detail that makes working
with the filter,
a pleasure and a great example
of how much thought Seachem and Sicce
put into this filter.
Currently I am using Seachem Tidal 55
just like this one
on my 20 gallon quarantine system.
I just really like
how easy it is to work with that
it adds surface skimming
and also holds the heater nicely
out of the way next to the water flow
which should help keep the temperature stable
throughout the entire tank.
And it's super quiet.
You may have noticed
the theme on my quarantine tank
not only is my filtration,
hang on but so is my UV sterilizer
and you can check it out right here.
There's an advantage to using
hang on equipment sometimes.
See what I did there.
Advantage, (laughs) check it out.
(upbeat music)