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

I bought this pump because I thought I would improve the filtration in my aquarium as the filter provided was not suitable to pollute the fish and the environment. I bought this 55 gallon pump as too big to run at the minimum flow rate in my 20 gallon. The idea of a much larger medium container was attractive, and the smaller unit doesn't have much range for a tall tank. My confidence has also increased thanks to all the great reviews and enthusiastic YouTubers. Problem 1) As many other reviews imply. The media provided is not suitable and a sponge will not provide adequate mechanical filtration. No problem, there's plenty of room for more. The moment you add something thinner the filter starts to bypass the cartridge as I have a bigger block than I need and I calculated that I only have to run the filter for 20% to get that Turning the water about 10 times an hour. This ended the bypass problem but created a new one. Problem 2) The filter has 3 inputs! You've heard a lot about the questionable skimmer, but there is actually a 3rd under the pump motor itself. So now I have to run the filter at 20% power to prevent overflowing. I divide the suction power into 3 air inlets. With my cloudy tank with particles flying everywhere, I noticed after a few days that I could literally see things going straight through the bottom air intake instead of being sucked in. My guess is that the top skimmer, which is gravity assisted, takes precedence when the filter is off. What should I do to improve the situation. - Drill more holes in the white bottom material basket to allow free flow into the material hopper. - Blue filter removed. Wheel everyone together and block this space with a piece of plastic to block the inlet in the middle. - 90% of the skimmer inlet blocked with a black piece of plastic cut from a food container. - Maybe not required for a regular low tank, but I also took the inlet tube from an old cheap pump and replaced the inlet tube, which made for a much longer reach that gave a much larger gap size over a larger area. As a result, I saw how mechanical filtration cleans the tank in just 2 hours. While I'm no expert when it comes to filters, I definitely wouldn't recommend this product, which is advertised as a top-of-the-line device, but also at the highest price point.