My biggest issue with my Aquaclear HOB is the cascade effect you mention...which I don't think they changed in the new Fluval design, nice to see a company take that into account.
Thanks George for an informative video! ❤ Back in the day, I used AquaClear HOB’s, mainly for community aquariums or breeders, so it’s nice to see how you’ve adapted the Oase HOB with CO2 and a heater. Incidentally, I do also agree with you that the ‘bazooka’ style diffuser is still one of the best for small aquascapes. Also, I must admit that the Aquael heaters are such a game changer from the typical glass test tube style. I currently have the smallest Seachem Tidal HOB on a 12 litre yellow neocaridina tank. Works well and shrimp seem to be breeding there no issue. I haven’t yet seen the Oase HOB here in Australia, but I’d like to use this one some day. PS: Your Dutch scape is looking great and coming on
Great idea, George implementing a CO2 diffuser and a heater to the HOB. In fact I realised the same combo years ago into the filter compartment of my cheap nano (which looks similar to the UNS All-In-One tanks). I even have introduced a small lime wood diffuser to the compartment for increased O2 amounts at night. I suggest everyone to think about improvements of any sort to correct the mistakes, imperfections and bulkiness of devices most companies usually supply the aquarist with. Dealing yourself with issues makes a lot of fun and you always learn something new.
Der Hangout-Filter ist dem Aufbau nach vergleichbar mit dem Juwel Bioflow Innenfilter. In diesem Filter kann man auch alles integrieren (Heizung, CO2) und er hat noch mehr Filtervolumen als der Oase Filter. 😉
Hi George. Very good ideas for pimping that filter up. I use Aquaclear on most of my tanks now. Tried the Oase canister but overall i find HOB easier to maintain. TY for sharing your ideas.
This is a very cool idea for small aquarium, thank you for sharing this! I will see if I can use a Biostyle filter with these hacks on my Dennerle 35 litres scapers tank 🤩
Tank looks fantastic George. Have had great success with bazooka diffusers (using two currently) if placed in the flow of the filter return output back into the tank, otherwise the bubbles do tend to rise and an inline will in those circumstances be more efficient. I think the heater and diffuser in the filter is great, neat and effective, and on a cheap filter, I would forget the warranty and melt/cut a slot. HOB are fine in my experience so long as they are not full trickle filters, but my one reservation is the limited volume of filter material, looks like a weekly or fortnightly job to keep the flow working on this model.
Nice one George. I've been considering these to replace the standard Superfish HOBs on a couple of my tanks but had a few misgivings regarding flow direction and if a heater could be fitted in. This video has cleared up all of that for me so thank you. Keep on scaping! p
Thanks for sharing the HOB hack with CO2 and heater in there. I’ve had an HOB on my tank for ages and just swapped it out for an external canister filter because I did notice dead spots in my tank.
Regarding the cascade effect, if you raise the waterlevel to meet the lip of the filter the flow will be projected forward across the surface instead of downward. I know for sure this will work with Seachem Tidal and old style Aquaclear.
Because of CO2 you need downward flow or the co2 just escapes via gas exchange.. downward flow keeps co2 in the tank longer, there is method to George’s ideas..
Really nice video, I love the Aquael Ultra digital heater, works really well. There must be a niche in the market for an all inclusive HOB filter such as the one you 'designed'? i.e. Filter medium Heater and CO2 diffuser neatly included and ready to couple to any existing CO2 system.
3:30 - How loud, does it resonate? I had this issue with Aquael and Blau HOB filters. Quiet enough for an office or a living room, but not a bedroom. Currently I keep Aquaclear HOB on one of my smaller tanks and it's practically silent. Great filter for a nano-tank. Other than that I have several different Eheim canister filters (quiet enough to fall asleep next to it) and internal Aquael "Pat" power-head filter in a paludarium.
I had this filter on my tank for a day. Disturbingly loud to the point, that I didn't want to continue using it. Now using Dennerle Scaper's flow, which is silent and has a better arrangement for filter material. But co2 diffuser (and heater if needed) must be in the tank.
Hi George, really nice video thank you. So grateful for these little snippets of info and your view. While I’m firmly in the external filter club, it’s good to know what’s about. Ps, the large aquarium is looking amazing behind you. Would love an update on that when you have the time.
If you do cut a notch do it to the lid, NOT the filter because if the water level in the filter goes up you run the risk of over flowing and making a mess.
I like mine (Oase BioStyle 115) but had issues with it stopping, the propeller gets jammed up and doesn't restart after 3-5 months of ownership. Same with two separate brand new units. I regularly clean the prop/magnet too.
Could you give details and links for the co2 bazooka diffuser. I want to improve the CO2 dissolution in my 350 juwel tank and think this solution is also great to add to the juwel bio flow filter. Any suggestions for the diffuser from anybody? thanks :)
I had this filter and no doubt it's good, but it is sooooooooo noisy. I sent it back the first time as I thought it was faulty!! The supplier was very good with me sending it back a second time. I'm still waiting for that silent hang on the back for the bedroom!!!
there are 2x problems with this filter, 1x you have no media there at all (with this setup), one thin foam is nothing and 2nd is only for final cleaner water. 2x its to noise and bulky. There are much better filters for similar price.
I have the smallest version of this filter on a 30 Liter dennerle cube. My very first move was to throw away the cartige with the thin foams and the active carbon filter. I'm packed it with bio media and different foams. Works sweet like a charm. And it's silent.
I wouldn't say they're popular here in the US... More like a necessary evil. 😅 I finally bought a 75g (280+L) tank & a canister filter. Just waiting on getting the stand built to get it up & running with a lava rock scape & tons of plants. The rest of mine from 5g up to 20g all have hob filters & 1 9g tank that just has an airstone.
My biggest issue with my Aquaclear HOB is the cascade effect you mention...which I don't think they changed in the new Fluval design, nice to see a company take that into account.
Thanks George for an informative video! ❤ Back in the day, I used AquaClear HOB’s, mainly for community aquariums or breeders, so it’s nice to see how you’ve adapted the Oase HOB with CO2 and a heater. Incidentally, I do also agree with you that the ‘bazooka’ style diffuser is still one of the best for small aquascapes. Also, I must admit that the Aquael heaters are such a game changer from the typical glass test tube style.
I currently have the smallest Seachem Tidal HOB on a 12 litre yellow neocaridina tank. Works well and shrimp seem to be breeding there no issue.
I haven’t yet seen the Oase HOB here in Australia, but I’d like to use this one some day.
PS: Your Dutch scape is looking great and coming on
Very impressed with the Dutch - so surprised by the transformation in a week!! 👍
great ideas george! gonna recommend this setup at the shop
Great idea, George implementing a CO2 diffuser and a heater to the HOB. In fact I realised the same combo years ago into the filter compartment of my cheap nano (which looks similar to the UNS All-In-One tanks). I even have introduced a small lime wood diffuser to the compartment for increased O2 amounts at night.
I suggest everyone to think about improvements of any sort to correct the mistakes, imperfections and bulkiness of devices most companies usually supply the aquarist with. Dealing yourself with issues makes a lot of fun and you always learn something new.
I use an inline diffuser in my all in one aquarium. Might not work well with really small all in one's though.
Der Hangout-Filter ist dem Aufbau nach vergleichbar mit dem Juwel Bioflow Innenfilter. In diesem Filter kann man auch alles integrieren (Heizung, CO2) und er hat noch mehr Filtervolumen als der Oase Filter. 😉
Hi George. Very good ideas for pimping that filter up. I use Aquaclear on most of my tanks now. Tried the Oase canister but overall i find HOB easier to maintain. TY for sharing your ideas.
This is a very cool idea for small aquarium, thank you for sharing this! I will see if I can use a Biostyle filter with these hacks on my Dennerle 35 litres scapers tank 🤩
Tank looks fantastic George.
Have had great success with bazooka diffusers (using two currently) if placed in the flow of the filter return output back into the tank, otherwise the bubbles do tend to rise and an inline will in those circumstances be more efficient. I think the heater and diffuser in the filter is great, neat and effective, and on a cheap filter, I would forget the warranty and melt/cut a slot. HOB are fine in my experience so long as they are not full trickle filters, but my one reservation is the limited volume of filter material, looks like a weekly or fortnightly job to keep the flow working on this model.
Nice one George. I've been considering these to replace the standard Superfish HOBs on a couple of my tanks but had a few misgivings regarding flow direction and if a heater could be fitted in. This video has cleared up all of that for me so thank you. Keep on scaping!
p
Thanks for sharing the HOB hack with CO2 and heater in there. I’ve had an HOB on my tank for ages and just swapped it out for an external canister filter because I did notice dead spots in my tank.
I was looking forward to this and you haven’t let me down brilliant idea with the co2 and heater I would defo use this filter looks amazing 👏👏👏
The Odyssea CFS130 is a hang on canister, even better imo
Beautifull....
Hello, George. Is this filter the 75 or the 115 version?
Regarding the cascade effect, if you raise the waterlevel to meet the lip of the filter the flow will be projected forward across the surface instead of downward. I know for sure this will work with Seachem Tidal and old style Aquaclear.
MD (MD Fish tanks) uses a piece of plastic bottle to redirect the flow.
Because of CO2 you need downward flow or the co2 just escapes via gas exchange.. downward flow keeps co2 in the tank longer, there is method to George’s ideas..
Really nice video, I love the Aquael Ultra digital heater, works really well. There must be a niche in the market for an all inclusive HOB filter such as the one you 'designed'? i.e. Filter medium Heater and CO2 diffuser neatly included and ready to couple to any existing CO2 system.
Very cool!
3:30 - How loud, does it resonate? I had this issue with Aquael and Blau HOB filters. Quiet enough for an office or a living room, but not a bedroom. Currently I keep Aquaclear HOB on one of my smaller tanks and it's practically silent. Great filter for a nano-tank.
Other than that I have several different Eheim canister filters (quiet enough to fall asleep next to it) and internal Aquael "Pat" power-head filter in a paludarium.
I had this filter on my tank for a day. Disturbingly loud to the point, that I didn't want to continue using it. Now using Dennerle Scaper's flow, which is silent and has a better arrangement for filter material. But co2 diffuser (and heater if needed) must be in the tank.
Hi George, really nice video thank you. So grateful for these little snippets of info and your view. While I’m firmly in the external filter club, it’s good to know what’s about.
Ps, the large aquarium is looking amazing behind you. Would love an update on that when you have the time.
If you do cut a notch do it to the lid, NOT the filter because if the water level in the filter goes up you run the risk of over flowing and making a mess.
Anyone know the light George is using for his Dutch tank?
It’s a Wio Slim 60.
My hang on the back filter makes a horrific sound when the lid is on, so I removed it a grew a peace silly out of it!
I like mine (Oase BioStyle 115) but had issues with it stopping, the propeller gets jammed up and doesn't restart after 3-5 months of ownership. Same with two separate brand new units. I regularly clean the prop/magnet too.
The water level inside this filter increases when the flow decreases. If you are going to modify it pls keep this in mind.
Could you give details and links for the co2 bazooka diffuser. I want to improve the CO2 dissolution in my 350 juwel tank and think this solution is also great to add to the juwel bio flow filter. Any suggestions for the diffuser from anybody? thanks :)
I had this filter and no doubt it's good, but it is sooooooooo noisy. I sent it back the first time as I thought it was faulty!! The supplier was very good with me sending it back a second time. I'm still waiting for that silent hang on the back for the bedroom!!!
Won’t be long before GF recipes his big tank I reckon 😂
there are 2x problems with this filter, 1x you have no media there at all (with this setup), one thin foam is nothing and 2nd is only for final cleaner water. 2x its to noise and bulky. There are much better filters for similar price.
I have the smallest version of this filter on a 30 Liter dennerle cube. My very first move was to throw away the cartige with the thin foams and the active carbon filter. I'm packed it with bio media and different foams. Works sweet like a charm. And it's silent.
I bought that filter, but I'm not satisfied, it's very noisy, cheaper and non-branded filters are very silent
I wouldn't say they're popular here in the US... More like a necessary evil. 😅
I finally bought a 75g (280+L) tank & a canister filter. Just waiting on getting the stand built to get it up & running with a lava rock scape & tons of plants.
The rest of mine from 5g up to 20g all have hob filters & 1 9g tank that just has an airstone.