Which one is best? I have fantails. All comments welcome. Please state GPH of filter you choose.

How many fantails? My local LFS said you could do two in a tank that size, but I wouldn't try for more, no matter how strong the filter.

I've only ever used the penguins, by marineland, integrated into the hood. I've had pretty good luck with them, though you do have to maintain them pretty regularly. The one I had on a 20 had a 200 gph flow rate, which is said to be the minimum recommended. I think they sell penguin 200s as well as emperor 280s; you could probably do either. People here have gotten aquaclears, as well, and also had good luck with them, but I can't say more since I haven't used them personally.

Thanks Mary for being the first to reply to this post.

I have had awful luck with Marineland and Hagen. Hmmmm. What other choices do I have?

It will house 2 fantails.

I guess either Whisper or TopFin is what I will have to choose from. I would prefer someting that cartridges are cheap for. What do you think of a Whisper 60/30-60 at 300 GPH? Too much flow?

Maybe a Whisper 40/20-40 at 200 GPH. The aquarium is a 20 high.

I have an Aquaclear 20 in my 10 gallon tropical tank, it was reccommended to me when I still had goldfish.

I love that little filter to death. You can put whatever in it.

A million times better than any topfin/whisper filter (they are the same filter anyway, made by tetra.)

I used to have a Tetra filter. Bad call, that. They are sucky and run out of power really quickly.

In my opinion, the Whisper 60/30 would be fine on a 20 gallon with fantails. If the flow is too much and the fish seem like they're being pushed around by the curren, you could use plants or decorations to disrupt it. I have a penguin 330 (330 gallons or 16.5x per hour) on my 20 gallon high oranda tank and another penguin 330 plus an emperor 400 (730 gallons or 15.8x per hour) on my 46 gallon comet tank.

I have a 20 gallon tank with two orandas in it. I have a topfin 40. It is made for 20-40 gallons tanks and filters 250 gph. You need the extra filtration for the goldies. I like that it was less expensive than a tetra but you can use the tetra large sized biobags for it, I do. I think tetra makes them for petsmart and puts topfin name ( petsmarts housebrand) on there for them . They are essentially a tetra whisper at a lot cheaper price.They are less expensive and do a great job. They are easy to clean as well ( everything pretty much comes apart so you can clean).It also has the feature of being able to turn down the flow or up the flow depending on your preference . I always turn the flow down low when I am feeding my goldies and turn the flow back up when I am done.

I have Whispers, Penguins and Aquaclears. Whispers are quiet and you can try to squeeze extra media in but its kinda difficult, at least with mine, I have a couple 10s and a 20. Penguins have the room for the extra media but with the bio wheels you will always hear that waterfall sound no matter where the water level is. But my favorite would have to be Aquaclear, you can fill it with whatever media you want plus its pretty quiet and having all my tanks in my bedroom the quieter the better. On my 20 gallon long I use the Aquaclear 70/300, it pumps 300gph.

I have a Penguin 350 running on my 20 gal. Its rated at 350 gph. It has two bio-wheels and room for four filter cartridges. They are wonderful and easy to maintain. Very quiet too! It takes really good care of a 20 gal by itself!

I love the Aquaclear filters. 4 of my 6 tanks have them. They keep the tanks sparkling clean!

So what is the most GPH you would put on the tank? I like the Elite by Hagen, but the biggest one only pumps 145 GPH. Is that enough? The Elite 20 is fairly quiet. I use one on my 10 gallon that the goldfish are currently in.

Also, I put a TopFin 30 on the 10 gallon, and it was too much pumping 150 GPH. The most that they were okay with was the Penguin 125. That pumps 125 GPH.

I have Penguin 110s on my 10gal tanks - barely enough filtration for a small goldie. The 20's have either a Penguin 300 or an Emperor 280 on them, depending on goldie load and size of fish.

I an not fond of Aquaclear filters. Perhaps they have changed, but they used to be notorious for overflowing out the back when the media gets dirty.

Koko has Whisper filters, I think, and does well with those.

Cartridges are not necessarily a monitary problem, for I know of very few that need changing as frequently as "recommended". I generally knock the carbon from a filter and use the thing until it falls apart - for months at a time. I can also stuff more media into the cartridge where the carbon used to be, if I wish.

Many filters can also be used with generic cartridge media - cutting your own from large pads of material. This lowers cost substantially, also.

Duplicate post

So would a Whisper 60/30-60/TopFin60 be too much? I guess that I can turn down the flow if I need. Thanks everyone for stating your opinions. I currently have a Whisper 20 and a TopFin 30 on the tank that equals 250 GPH total and they seem fine with that. I will buy a TopFin or Whisper 30-60 in a couple of weeks.

I have several hOB filters, by far my favorite is my Aquaclear. It keeps my tank crystal clear! I rinse it out each week, when I do my water change. (I think that keeps the gunk overflow thing from happening....at least I HOPE so!) I have NEVER had a problem. I like that I can stuff the filter! I have one Aquaclear 110 on my 100 gallon tank (I have 3 smaller HOB's too) I am getting another 110 the end of this month! Then my extra filters will actually be EXTRA!

I have had bad luck with AquaClear. I have also had bad luck with Marineland Penguin (the older models) and Aqua-Tech. I really like whisper because they keep my tank clean, and are easy to clean. I just need a bigger model for my 20 gallon, right? So which model? A model 60?? I may get an Emperor 280. I will look on Ebay for a good used one.

It sounds like I may have had a stroke of luck with my penguins. They're the older models as well, yet I have never had a problem with them. What kind of trouble did you have with yours?

Well, I bought my first one and It worked great, for a day. When I woke up in the morning, the filter was barely pumping water, so I cleaned it, put it back on, and all was good, until I got home from school. It had completly quit pumping, so I packed it up and took it back to the LPS, they give me a new one, and when I got home with it, it didn't work at all. The motor was not functional because when I put the impeller on the outside of the motor and plugged it up, there was NO magnetic attraction. So I emailed huber@marineland.com and told him my problems and he sent me a new Penguin 150. It is on my 20 gallon right now, but it isn't enough because I don't have the 10x filtration. So would that filter be okay alone or do I need to get the 200 model?

I would definately get the 200 model. The 150 will only pump 7.5x per hour and would not be enough. If you have enough space on your tank, you could get a second 150 model and run both filters on the tank. That way you would get 15x filtration. Also as the filters clog up before cleaning time, the flow would reduce but the 15x would give you enough cusion so that you didn't fall below the 10x rule. IMO, that would be the better option, but a 200 model will work fine. Just be sure to clean it regularly.

I usually keep my filters pretty clean inside and out. Would the 150 be enouigh until I get a 200 or another 150? I can always put my old Whisper 5-15, or my Whisper 20, or my TopFin 30. Would that work? My fish hate a high flow.

That would be fine on a temporary basis as long as you keep your filters and tank clean of debris like you mentioned and keep an eye on ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and do a water change if any of the 3 readings get too high. It would be best if you put one of your old filters on the tank, either the whisper or the topfin will do fine.

Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for your help. I will get a Penguin 200 next time I go to PetsMart.