Seachem Tidal filter ...real improvement modifications!

This is video is about making your Tidal filter better and more practical. It will also void the Warranty...so you've been warned.

[@MikeSmith-ub5xy]

great ideas ! ... thanks so much for taking the time & effort to record and share cheers

[@etcet-Era]

Ahh, the ol Jedi mind trick. 'Dont subscribe, first and last video'. Well played sir, well played

[@Thunderfoil]

Just a one month update, using 2 filters, connected in line. Yes, they work great. I am able to do a full clean-up of both filters using one single hose. So far, maintenance have been cut to about 15 minutes, with full clean up of both filters and all dumped in a 5 gallon bucket. If you only have one single filter, well that should be so much easier. Cheers!

[@Matt_4444]

Great video dude. But at the end of the video, you mentioned you show us your tank, and would show us this 2 filter setup in action! Your video was very informative and showed 3 great ideas, keep it up!

[@Thunderfoil]

All worked, but I had to unlink the 2 filters and make them work independently. The flow of water is better from independent hoses to an exhaust point or bucket. Filtration is excellent. I can do complete filter cleanings weekly and my giant dirty goldfish are happy. I live in an apartment and I had to invent something to make my life easier for weekly 60% water changes without drilling holes etc. Stay tuned....I hope to make another video soon that will incorporate my full system....poorman's options...LOL

[@LGPhotoArt]

Great ideas mate.

[@joec2174]

The bulkhead fitting is a nice idea. Adding two filter pads will accomplish adding more surface area especially egg crate foam at the bottom first.

[@Thunderfoil]

I used the most coarse filter pad that I found and they are working great. Just finished doing a 70% water change and cleaning both filters. Takes me around 25 minutes.

[@joec2174]

@@Thunderfoil that’s good to hear . Course pads when sandwiched do a great job of trapping debris and with the least back pressure

[@LitoDequina]

Great informative video! Can you list the parts, I want to do this to my tidal too.

[@johnmaude5065]

I don’t understand why you would want to destroy a perfectly good filter????

[@Thunderfoil]

For the sake of convenience and maintenance. Yes, out of the box it works perfect. Now you need to clean it. How about 2 filters? Filters are only as good as long as the maintenance is kept up with. The same applies to canister filters, wet-dry's, etc. The whole idea is to make the maintenance of these filters less of a chore and a lot easier.

[@Thunderfoil]

Besides, the filter is not destroyed....just made better.

[@JewessChrstnMystic]

@@Thunderfoil I'm not understanding, because the maintenance on the filter is easy breezy right out of the box.. from the start, it's honestly the easiest filter I've ever had to clean and take care of.. on the other hand I LOVE what you did with the holes in the filter basket, that was brilliant. To each his own I guess.. what works for one may not work for others and I guess this was just your preference, and if what you did simplifies your cleaning process then more power to ya, that's awesome. I myself already find the filter to be the easiest HOB filter I've ever had. You dont have to remove the filter or take it to the sink very often for cleaning.. not often enough to make a big deal over it at least. Thank you for your video, it was super informative even though I'm happy with mine. This was very creative! God bless and happy fish keeping. ❤

[@kenjiro2676]

So what are your go-to filters now? I have a 20g long and need a good amount of flow to minimize dead spots. I’m looking at aqua clear 50.

[@Thunderfoil]

Actually the Seachem is not bad and it comes in different sizes, depending on your needs. To minimize dead spots, I would suggest using powerheads just to move the water column as you see fit.

[@Joalse]

What I’m thinking of doing is cancel the skimmer

[@softaco3088]

The 110 has cuts in the side already.

[@dolphinliam888]

Sorry to say but the side holes have destroyed the way the filter works. It's one of the best hang on filters if cleaned every week. 10 min easy job. Better to keep one layer of sponge then fill with small diameter bio balls to make an excellent biological filter.

[@Thunderfoil]

Why would you say the side holes destroyed the filter? It only increases the water contact flow with whatever filter material you are using.

[@dolphinliam888]

@@Thunderfoil the surface area pressure on the sponge has been decreased. Water is supposed to be forced by pressure through the bottom of the sponge.

[@Thunderfoil]

@@dolphinliam888 Sorry for the late response. I found that the stock filter would try to force the water through the bottom of the sponge, as you say. This works to a degree. If the sponge gets full of waste or even if it didn't, there was more water pressure than the few slits in the filter basket can handle. As a consequence, the unfiltered water is forced through the sides and out back to the tank. Creating more holes gives the sponge and other filter material more of a chance to do their work. Not perfect, but much better.

[@meanderingmarnochs]

The water flows bottom to top so all those extra holes are wasted. All you've done there is let the water escape from the media basket before it has gone through all the media, genius level 0

[@TheExcile009]

How hard is it to just take the whole filter off …that just seems like you over thought that one

[@Thunderfoil]

Sorry for the late reply. The cleaning of my filters is just part of my maintenance routine, which includes 65% weekly water changes. I manage to do everything in about 1/2 hour or so. I don't know how you clean your filters, but part of my routine is to make sure you don't kill the beneficial bacteria in the filter media. It works for me.

[@Chan-fi9bu]

Why don't you build a hof yourself

[@Thunderfoil]

I'm no longer going to vouch for this filter. It just doesn't work for me, after using two of them in real-life conditions for 10 months. It has 2 major flaws: 1/ the filter box itself is rather small, as compared to other hanging filters. This means less area to filter and more maintenance to keep up with the filter material in optimal performance. 2/ The motor housing is under the water level, on a separate box. All the water that flows into the filter box itself has to pass first through the motor box. It quickly gets full of detritus and uneaten food. If the accumulation of this is big enough and you have to stop the filter, it sometimes won't turn back on automatically, unless you take the whole filter down and clean up the motor housing, which is a pain. I think I tested these Tidal filters under the worst conditions: with 5 giant fancy goldfish in a 55 gal tank. These guys have the body size of a man's fist, not to mention the fancy tails and they eat like hogs. I feed them twice a day and clean the filters every weekend. All the mods I made have been to make the process easier, but the motor and housing under the water level is a deal breaker for me. Don't get me wrong, these filters might be good for somebody keeping fish with not such a big bio-load, but not for me. I'll be shopping for something else and I'm sure some of the mods I did here can be transfer elsewhere. Hope this helps somebody.

[@carrera2320]

RUINED EVERYTHING BUT MAKING UNESSASERIES HOLES