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excuzzzeme
10-10-2008, 6:30 PM
I noticed that the water was down to a trickle in the "old" Emperor and since they had been on sale I bought one from Foster and Smith. I much prefer the AC110 but just didn't have the $$$ for it and felt a new filter was a must. I had transferred the media baskets and filters over from the old one and knew that wasn't the problem for the lack of performance. I took the old one down after I had the new one up and I about gagged!

I could not believe how much crud was in that thing! It took me an hour to get it cleaned up and surprise, surprise, surprise it worked like new. No wonder the tank never looked or smelled clean! The poor filter just couldn't do it's job due to being too dirty. I have never had any HOB filter have that much crud in it, ever! If the media cavity had that much dirt in it I can only surmise that they do a good job (normally).

For those with the 400 do you ever take yours completely down and clean it? Do they do a good job?

P.S. it came with the tank so no I never looked at it.

dirtydawg10
10-10-2008, 6:34 PM
Mine seems to do a great job keeping the tank clean. I haven't totally broken it down and cleaned it yet but I'm sure I will at some point. I've only had it running for 10 months.

wataugachicken
10-10-2008, 6:58 PM
i clean mine every 4-5 months, and clean the pads themselves every 2-3 months. it does seem like after a while though they never regain the same power as when they were brand new.

J double R
10-10-2008, 8:39 PM
what have you been feeding those fish? i cleaned that filter thoroughly less than a month before i gave you that tank. LOL

Becca12
10-10-2008, 9:11 PM
I am running 2 of the 400's on my 90. They have been going for about 4 months now. Only a month and a half after fishless cycle was complete. No slow down of flow yet, but I plan to tear them down one at a time soon! I just want to see how much gunk they have in them so far-probably not much.

Mgamer20o0
10-11-2008, 12:23 AM
lol always clean the filters when the flow is down.

excuzzzeme
10-11-2008, 2:13 AM
I had cleaned out the intake tube and the impeller hole. Just thought maybe it was worn out since it was used. It sure taught me to tear it down in the future like I do any of my others. Don't know why I didn't do the same for this one. My mind still firing on a sometimes basis I guess. . . . .

Mgamer20o0
10-11-2008, 2:21 AM
as long as you take care of them they should last years and years.

J double R
10-11-2008, 3:08 AM
and that particular one was WELL taken care of ;)

mostlycichlids
10-11-2008, 2:13 PM
Well now you have two excellent filters instead of just one!