Hi Everyone,
I've been looking at ads for 40 gallon long tanks, to replace my 30 gallon tank, for a quite a while now, and realized they are not a very common tank being used. There is an ad now where someone is selling the exact dimnensions I am looking for, but included in the price ($200 Canadian) is a Marineland C-220 filter.
I only have experience with HOB filters and after searching online I found out that there seem to be some leakage problems that look to be a common occurance. I am now unsure wether I should just go for a brand new tank and keep using my Aquaclear filters since they have been working beautifully for me, or if this Marineland filter is actually a good thing to have!
Does anyone have any experience/suggestions they could share with me? It would be immensely appreciated!
I actually switched my filter from an Aquaclear to a Marineland Penguin 150 and I love it. Others would disagree with me, but I feel like the water quality is better, the filter is quieter, and the intake valve is much more efficient. But that's my my personal opinion. Either one would be fine, I'm sure
That's good to know, RobberyinCSharp, so are these 2 filters similar? Do you keep your filter in some sort of bucket in case it leaks? How does it handle coming back on if there were a power-outage? I'm only asking because one of my Aquaclear 50 filters comes on just fine, the other one I need to fill up with water again or it won't work!
One of the reasons I actually prefer the Marineland filter to Aquaclear is because I live in an area where power outages are fairly common. When my Aquaclear lost power, anything that was lose in the filter "spat" out into the fish tank as it lost suction!!!!
I've had to unplug my Marineland a few times (it's less forgiving to sand floating around the tank, I will admit) when I'm moving some of my plants, and I've never seen it spit into my tank. It simply lets any debris on the intake valve that didn't fit through the grating, fall back to the floor of the tank.
Whenever the power went out, I always had to fill my Aquaclear back up with water or it wouldn't pump. The Marineland seems to not require that (or at least, mine hasn't). I should also note that my impeller has stopped on my Aquaclear a few times, for NO particular reason
One day it finally bit the dust, leading to this post of mine:
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/400460-aquaclear-filters/page__p__3368337__fromsearch__1#entry3368337
But as I said before - be warned that a Marineland will not tolerate sand movement like an Aquaclear will! It's no big deal, really. If you're going to get the sand really moving around the tank (so it could reach the intake valve) make sure you unplug the filter, first. It'll clog the impeller and it's a pain in the neck to clean!!!!
Another HUGE reason I like the Marineland filter better is because I always buy a filter that's 10 gallons more powerful than I need (so I have a 20gal. tank and I buy for up to a 30gal). The Aquaclear would push the water back into the tank SO hard that I actually had a concave "hole" in my sand!It caused all of the Laterite in that area to spread across the tank and I was never able to get ALL of it off the sand. It looks dirty now. The Marineland is very very gentle and actually can sit at or near the top of the water level and gently puts the water back into the tank. (And for asthetic purposes, creates a beautiful ripple at the top of my tank that looks AWESOME with my Marineland LED light
)
To be fair, and to not make myself look TOTALLY biased for Marineland
other members of the forum have had success with their Aquaclear filters.
