Who owns an emperor 280/400?

[crazie.eddie]

I have an Emp 280, 400, and Eheim Canister. The canister beats all of them for sure. One thing I do not like about the Emperor filters is, there is some water that bypasses the filter media. Also, when you put the media in the tray, there are still open gaps so not all the water will pass through the carbon/zeolite chips I use.

FYI, when using the Emperor filters in a saltwater tank, remove the biowheel, since the wheel can cause an excessive amount of nitrates

 

[Adrinal]

Ew nice catch there CE.

Gah I wish I hadn't ordered that then

Well, I have been looking for an excuse to do a betta or 2...

Thanks again CE... It would have taken me months to figure out that mess!!!

 

[canarsie11]

B) B) B) B) Iam thinking of putting 2 400's on my tank! What do you think?

I heard they are the best HOB's out!

 

[crazie.eddie]

B) B) B) B) Iam thinking of putting 2 400's on my tank! What do you think?

I heard they are the best HOB's out!

What size tank do you want to use it for?

For 50/50 gallon tanks or greater, canister filter are better filters, unless you plan to keep the tank understocked or want to keep fish under 3"-4" or so. I would use an Emperor 280 for a 10/20 gallon and Emperor 400 for a 30/40 gallon. Doing so allows plenty of room for mistakes, such as overstocking, or skipped maintenance week.

The Emperors also do not support enough media. If you look at the media tray, you have 2 halves. You put the media (carbon, zeolite, peat, etc.) in one half and then lock it with the top half. As you stand the media tray upright, you notice the media only occupies the bottom half of each the compartments in the media tray. Therefore, as water passes through, it will flow through the area with less resistance, which is the portion of the media compartment that has no media. So not ALL the water is being processed through the media.

 

[Hazmat]

you can get media trays that have small compartments built in and the spreads the media evenly to get full coverage. I have them on my 400 and it works great.

 

[crazie.eddie]

I'm sure that's what I have. The media tray is divided into 2 halves. Both halves have individual compartments. You can only pour the media into one of the halves. You then lock both halves together. As you stand the media tray upright to put into the filter, the media, only occupies part of these individual compartments. I'm sure if you look through it, you can see what I'm talking about.
For those who don't, I can take photos of how the media looks.

If you have been able to put media on both halves, without spilling any media as you lock them together, please let me know. I haven't been able to figure out how to do it.

 

[Nina7777]

Hey there,
I have a emperor 400 that i used on my 30 gallon when nothing else would keep the water clear! Now I moved it to my 55 gallon and I absolutely Love it. Right now I use the regular filter cartridges, and I fill the media baskets with black diamon amonia/carbon chips. Works great for me. But what is this I hear about using aquaclear sponges? Where do you put those? In the media baskets?

 

[Hazmat]

what I did to fill it was open the media tray fill both sides, cover one side with some foil, close the side with the foil and then gently pull out the foil and lock the tray. It might take a few try's but i got it to work and the compartment where full.
Hope that helps

Hazmat

 

[crazie.eddie]

That's some talent. Becuase even just filling up the half, I have to make sure all the media is inside the little compartments. I found that if I have excess media outside those little compartments, when I close the tray, the excess media makes it wider. I then have a hard time fitting in the filter. Then some of the media spills outside the into the filter and once even got caught in the impellers. I then had to pull the filter out from the back, dump out all the water, take the impeller apart and remove the debris.

 

[BobTheDog]

I've been running a 400 for about 6 months now and LOVE it. I can see where the extra media containers would be difficult to fill with something "particulate" in nature, but seeing as I just use filter floss in mine, I haven't had that problem. My only complaint would be that the filters it comes with tend to get really filthy and they don't seem to rinse real well. One other note... I'm running this on a 55 gal aquarium. I seem to have been having problems with low oxygen levels and ended up having to add an air pump and airstone. But, overall, I would recommend this filter to anyone.

 

[crazie.eddie]

I had mine for about 9 years, and still have it. I, too, thought it was great. When I bought it, I asked the guy at the LFS what the best filter for a 55 gallon tank. He pointed out a canister filter, which was too expensive for me. Then he pointed out the Emperor 400, which I bought.

After my years of experience in the hobby, I realized it really wasn't that great for a 55 gallon tank. As I pointed out, there is not enough media to support for a tank that large. The 400 is probably more appropriate for a 30/40 gallon, while the 280 is appropriate for a 10/20 gallon. I recently purchased an Eheim 2128 for my 55 gallon and moved the Emperor 400 to my 37 gallon, and the Emperor 280 to my 10 gallon. I'm not impressed on the filtration on the Emperor 400 on my 37 gallon, so I plan to replace that with an Eheim canister filter. I plan to get a 40 or 50 gallon tank for a pl*co breeder tank, so I will definitely get a good filter...Definitely will not use the Emperor.

I wrote Marineland a letter regarding how they rate their filters...whether the media trays are filled and the filter sponge inserted. They have responded a few times, but appears to be stalling, and not really gave me a detailed answer.

 

[Socrates]

I think the media basket is designed intentionally to be only half full.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Keep an eye on the filter floss. I'm thinking it might be too thick to allow the water to flow through properly, therefore, causing a dam effect. Basically since only very little water can flow through, the water rises and flows above and around the filter floss.

 

[vantgE]

did you see this article



http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/powe...er_tricks_v.php