dizzied
Fish Addict
I've been wondering about this line of filters for the longest time, and couldn't find any reviews, so I just took a shot and bought one to try it out.
This is the intake tube, and basically what separates it from other power filters. As you can see, the pump is part of the tube - it basically "pushes" water into the filter chamber rather than "pull" it. Because it's submerged in the tank, it's very quiet and is self-priming. It also seems to give off no vibrations at all. It is of course quite ugly, but I'm pretty used to hiding intake tubes with plants and decor anyways.
Filter cartridge. The usual carbon-in-floss.
Biological filtration grid. It looks totally useless to be honest.
The bio-grid is also used to hold the filter's cartridge.
A removable second bio-grid, which is seated at the filter's lip and "oxygenates" the waters. Probably the same thing seen on Penn Plax's Cascade power filters. Again, looks rather useless.
A view from the top. The water is forced to travel from back to front with no bypass, unlike most filters which just "dumps" the water into the chamber. Easily the most annoying feature of the filter are the five blades (top-left of picture) directly after the intake tube. They cause the incoming water to splash and make a lot of noise. Some filter floss will stop the splashing, but I don't see why the blades were even added in the first place.
View from the front.
Oddly wide. That's a standard fluorescent light strip sitting on a Versa-top. They *barely* avoid making contact with the filter.
Overall, I like this filter. It should be good for mechanical filtration, though I'm unsure about the bio-grids.
They're also quite cheap because they come with rebates. Mine runs at 200gph and costs me $20 after rebates.
This is the intake tube, and basically what separates it from other power filters. As you can see, the pump is part of the tube - it basically "pushes" water into the filter chamber rather than "pull" it. Because it's submerged in the tank, it's very quiet and is self-priming. It also seems to give off no vibrations at all. It is of course quite ugly, but I'm pretty used to hiding intake tubes with plants and decor anyways.
Filter cartridge. The usual carbon-in-floss.
Biological filtration grid. It looks totally useless to be honest.
The bio-grid is also used to hold the filter's cartridge.
A removable second bio-grid, which is seated at the filter's lip and "oxygenates" the waters. Probably the same thing seen on Penn Plax's Cascade power filters. Again, looks rather useless.
A view from the top. The water is forced to travel from back to front with no bypass, unlike most filters which just "dumps" the water into the chamber. Easily the most annoying feature of the filter are the five blades (top-left of picture) directly after the intake tube. They cause the incoming water to splash and make a lot of noise. Some filter floss will stop the splashing, but I don't see why the blades were even added in the first place.
View from the front.
Oddly wide. That's a standard fluorescent light strip sitting on a Versa-top. They *barely* avoid making contact with the filter.
Overall, I like this filter. It should be good for mechanical filtration, though I'm unsure about the bio-grids.
They're also quite cheap because they come with rebates. Mine runs at 200gph and costs me $20 after rebates.
for $20 you cant complain.
