Review on 🐠 SeaChem Tidal 55 Gallon (200 Liters) Large Fish Tank Filter - Sicce Brand by Catherine Dierdorff

I'm always looking for the latest and greatest products to satisfy my many passions. This HOB filter hits the spot for my aquarium obsession. The construction is solid and well thought out. Despite its patented shape, the large media chamber is easy to fill and remove. With a little effort, any media can be resized, no problem. This filter comes with many Seachem Matrix media. I've read in other reviews that the heater holder is useless, I disagree that it holds the heater in the perfect position for ease of adjustment. I use Aqueon Pro style heaters and both the 250w and 50w heaters stay strong and look great. Now for the best part of the filter: no shading required. I used to have Emperor 400s and refueling can be a hassle. Connect and done. The lid also cleverly doubles as a carrying platform when removing the media basket. Another plus is the adjustable water flow. I have two Tidal 110's on my 110 gallon tank set wide and one Tidal 55 on my 10 gallon shrimp set low. Both settings work great. Adjustable screw for optimal angle is another great feature. I've been promoting this product for anyone who would like to hear it, but there are a few things I've shared with Seachem and Sicce that I think could improve this HOB.1 filter a bit. Just make all the pieces black - I understand they were made blue, since these are user customizable controls they made them blue for easy finding. Not necessarily, for those not trying to make their gear stand out, black is best. 2. The surface skimmer must be capable of being bypassed or disabled. Shrimp farmers could lose part of their livestock. I personally wrapped the opening of the skimmer with a piece of styrofoam for my own safety.3. The inlet pipe needs to be able to extend further into the depths of deeper tanks, I have a 110 height tank setup and I liked the Emperor 400.4 extended pipe option. Some may lack the bio-wheel on other HOB filters, time will tell, but biofilm and good foam seem to form fairly quickly on the provided matrix media. That's it, I believe this pump solves a lot of problems in the HOB area and I recommend it to anyone replacing a broken/worn out filter or putting in a new tank. Of course, I can't comment on the long-term reliability of these devices as they only last a few months.