Emperor 400 or Aquaclear

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meili.harrison

Love my plecos!
I have a 46 gal bowfront that will be stocked with a few angelfish and 2 plecos (a King Tiger and a Gold Nugget). Which filter do you guys think is better. I thought it was the Emperor but there are all these good reviews about Aquaclear instead of the Emperor. I thought the Bio-Wheel was an awesome feature, but many people said it is unnecessary and is a pain to maintain. I am currently running an Emperor 280 and it is a little noisy but not too bad, will the Emperor 400 be much worse in terms of noise? Can someone help me out please?
 

catfish69hunter

AC Members
Feb 23, 2008
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I have a 400 on my one tank and i have no real problem with it. I do admit that cleaning the spray bar once in a while is required and a bit of a pain but i have had no prob with it yet.
 

Sploke

resident boozehound
Staff member
Oct 20, 2005
6,797
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South Windsor, CT
Real Name
Matt
I have a few emperors that I like. At the time, they were cheaper than the comparable aquaclear so I went with the emperor. You will find some people that absolutely HATE the biowheels, usually for the noise factor, sometimes for other reasons. I've never had problems with them. I've never used an aquaclear so I can't draw a direct comparison though.
 

Draal5

AC Members
Apr 23, 2007
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I was not a big fan of bio-wheels when I started in this hobby they have won me over I have bio-wheels on all my tanks they are all quiet as long as the water is the right hight.
I have 8 bio-wheels from the 100b to the 400.

People here like the aquaclear because of the different media you can put in them and they were fairly cheap.
 

meili.harrison

Love my plecos!
Well, I'm not too concerned about the cost difference.
Thanks to you, Draal5, I can now purchase the Emperor 400 for the same price as an Aquaclear at Petsmart. I am not big on using different media, I just want a good filter that would clean my 46 gal up well and not make too much noise to the extent where it is over-bearing. Like I said, I currently have a 280 and I don't mind the noise on it. I realize that it is very difficult when you are new to this as there is a massive amount of information which makes it very difficult to pick the right product. I do appreciate all the help that I get on this forum, though. Everyone here is very helpful and friendly! :)
 

Sarge_857

Iam the one under your bed. BOO
Mar 18, 2008
499
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Saline, MI AKA craphole USA
i have a biowheel 150 on my 29 gallon (need another but hey...) the only noise from it i get is when my water level drops alittle, mainly the water splashing. i love it, easy to clean, easy to maintain. the AC filters from what i hear are good, but never used em.
 
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