Power filters, how good are they really?

DarkSoul

DarkSoul

Mad Scientist
Mar 12, 2007
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London, Ontario
when I look at my penguin 200, and my eheim 2213, I notice a huge difference that goes deeper than just the outside appearance and the way they work.

Now maybe I should have gone with an aquaclear, as they seem to allow more in terms of media.

How good are power filters? the media doesnt look as if it has alot of surface area for bacteria to live, and those rite size cartridges have carbon built in to them, which seems a little counter productive to me. Not only that, if im not mistaken they are mostly all coarse pads correct?

there isnt alot of room inside of a penguin 200, but it allows for the addition of another filter cartridge.

would it be worthwhile to tear apart the cartridges, remove the carbon, and turn one of them into a fine filter cartridge with the use of some fine filter foam or something?

It would also allow me to put a few bioballs or some ceramic rings/rocks...

what do you think?

also, whats with the little grooves at the bottom of the penguin 200? it looks like it would just allow a small bit of water to bypass the filters all together?!
 
You could do any of the things you mentioned, along with the 2 cartridges in our 200, i also have a media bag stuffed in there full of carbon, as you know there isn't much carbon in those cartridges, i prefer the penguin type filters............:)
 
what im thinking is actually making a big wide cartridge from two rite size C cartridges.

if I open up the part where the carbon is, and put two catridges back to back, I could stick filter media in between the two cartridges, and have a fine filter pad on the last one for polishing.

gotta get another cartridge though, and im very very broke atm.
 
Sounds like it would work, FYI our 200 appears to have more flow than the ac 50, the stacking ability of the ac my make it more desirable for some, media bags can be found at pet stores to configure a particular filter the way the user wants.........:)
 
I have run an Emperor 400 for about 7+ years now. I hate the carbon. I have cut open the back grid to let me dump out the carbon but it is a pita, you never get it all out and it will dribble out over time, overn in the filter and may get into the impeller.

I rinse and reuse the blue carts until they fall apart. I hate having to put in a new one as the filter is on a well planted tank and carbon is generally not advised if you are dosing micros/trace especieally.

FosterSmith sells a house brand setup that uses a carbon filled pad. instead of using their par I use a stiff filter floss that can be cut to shape/size and replace it regularly. The floss is basically nylon batting. I run the floss carts in front of the blue carts which then dont need changing as often since the front setup gets most of the crap out.

The filter cart system in Emps and penguins and other filters is how the filter makers make their money over time. Why do you think AquaClear finally went to the bio max setup? It wont last nearly as long as a good sponge will :p
 
It just kind of ticks me off you know..... I spend $50 on this filter thats "oversized" for the tank its on, but upon really looking at it, its a fairly poor design.

There is little surface area for bacteria, aside from the bio wheel, and that doesnt seem like a whole lot really. you would also think they would be aware that carbon isnt beneficial 24/7

not only that, whats with those little slits below the filter cartridge... thats just a bypass and lets a small amount of water pass by unfiltered.

im also highly disappointed with how the cartridges seat.
they dont really "lock" into place, and for some odd reason, the extra media slot is larger than the other slot.

its a nice filter, and im sure it works very well..... but its just another thing for me to modify to get more out of it :)

perhaps i'll put an airstone in it as well.
 
im in the process of switching from penguins to aquaclears ATM. i vastly prefer the aquaclear because of the freedom it allows with choosing your media. i too cannot stand the cartridges. the emperors in particular are very bad. all of mine seem to tear easily after just one month of use. im going to be switching all of my tanks over to aquaclears in the coming months when my budget allows for it.
 
think that is bad.... I have a power 100 on my 15 gal fowlr filter does a great job but the media????I I STUFFED a 1/2 bag of chemi-pure in he bottom of the filter and cut my own course floss. I cut two of my own and one gets covered in pantyhose. Works well on keeping tank clean and polishes very well.
 
The power filters that use replaceable media are garbage in my opinion. Replaceable media is the hook the filter manufacturers have to keep the money rolling in. That's why I love my Aquaclears. Rinse out the sponge in tank water when doing a water change and put it back in. The sponges last pretty much forever. If you want to use chemical media, use chemi-pure or something like that on top of the sponge.
 
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