AquaClear70 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.

I used this power head for my homemade filter and it works great. I added filter floss, carbon, and ammonia chips to the four inch PVC pipe, drilled a hole on the top and of the cover and let it start doing its job. I also added the PVC screen on the bottom so it can suck the water through. It polishes the water very nicely.

Running 4 of these and love them. Only one with reverse flow .

Ok 1st of all this product does have the power of water movement it says! But I feel they could also throw an alert out warning on using it on salt water tanks using live sand! I bought it and it pushes an amazing amount of water! My issue is that it also moves so much so fast it sucks the sand up from the bottom lodging it into the magnet spinning wheel which freezes it from running. It then continues to run not pushing water getting so Hot I'm surprised it didnt catch on fire. I couldn't touch it, it was so hot. I took it apart found the issue and tried it again. Unfortunately it continues happening so I cant use it on the length up pipe coming up from my bottom.

The media could not be loaded. My first AquaClear 70 Powerhead purchase was satisfying...for a little while. The flow was powerful, and the Venturi valve produced solid aeration. However, this was not to last because the Venturi valve failed quickly- no more bubbles.Next, the unit began to intermittently stop, requiring me to “coax” it back to life by jiggling and eventually tapping the unit until it kicked back on. Why? Eventually, it ceased completely. Further inspection revealed a faulty impeller. After several futile attempts to locate a new impeller, rapidly clouding tank water encouraged me to make a business decision. I ordered a second unit while my inner voice begged the question: am I throwing good money after bad?Turns out- my inner voice was right! Second unit arrived and upon plug in I was disappointed immediately. The Venturi valve NEVER operated. The flow from the powerhead was a mere trickle when it actually worked, which was even less intermittently than its dud predecessor.So as of today I am $100 lighter, own two defective units, and have foul tank water.I have included a video of the current unit in its current state of (non) operation. The only thing flowing is my money out of my wallet!Unless you’re a glutton for punishment like me, my recommendation: DO NOT BUY!

I had to send the first order back due to broken yellow plastic flow control valve handle. I leave it on full flow, but I'm not going to pay full price for broken items. Still waiting on replacement unit while I use the broken one.I had to replace an old one not because it quit but because of a loud impeller. A new impeller was only 12 bux less and no 1 year warranty.The noise is like it's not even turned on now. I got the old one from my brother that had it for year's with another one on top of under gravel filter riser tubes. I took that out and use it.for current and o2 and added their plastic cage/tube style filters joined together to help polish the water.So glad I have a new one and I'm certain the fish are glad its quiet too.

These are some powerful Powerheads. I've been using them for sometime now and they are very well-made and dependable no complaints. For the money I don't think you can find better. I waited for a while before writing this review because I wanted to really put them through their pace and they are just a strong today as when I installed them. I have a lot of money invested in my fish not to mention emotional investment as well and I trust their lives with this product these are great little powerheads.