What makes the Magnum filters good?

Honestly, the things you mention are why I got a fluval... I actually bought a magnum, but it just seemed cheaply built, so I took it back. I've had Marineland products before and loved them enough to deal with the extra effort they require, but I am definately glad I got the fluval instead for the canister filter.

I think people like them for their price...with a bigger budget I wouldn't even mention a magnum.

I own 10 I run them with the water polishing cart covered in the blue foam sleeve. They are great filters if my water isnt always crystal clear i am not a happy camper. when time to swap cart out with clean one i just drop the used cart in bleach water over night and its sparkling clean to reuse over and over. my main filters are wet/dry's or FX5's. and if i am in a real anal mood i use my system 1 diatom filters i have 2 they are great for that fish floating in air its like the water is soooo clear it doesnt look like you have water in your tank.

my friends fill the media basket with NANO sized bio balls they fit inside the basket perfect.

The 250 hot is a good secondary filter on a 55. Like Rod I swap out the micron cartridge weekly. It cuts down on the times the Mag 350 with bio balls is cleaned. The micron filter are re-useable (some of mine are four years old). I have six 350's and four 250's and several older 220/330's. Most of mine have been found for $25 or less, depending on included parts on craigslist and aquarium society auctions. Extra pieces are ready as backup. They have been customized with DIY spraybars for my planted tanks. Don't get me wrong, I also have fluval 104, 304 and 404's in service, but the Magnums are work horses. I also like them because they have semi-clear bases to see the debris buildup.

Iv discussed the Magnum before on this forum and based on its circumference filter designed it has the largest bio mechanical filter capacity for its size, the only other filter out there with an industrial circumference design for aquarium home use is the FX5. stackable filters were designed for two things and two thing only, convenience and marketing. And they are very convenient, I just received and put together a used Fluval 404, and while it was easy, convenient, and less messy then a Magnum to set up with media, by comparative size it is very inefficient, but that’s OK if you don’t mind having a filter that takes up twice the space to do the same job. If Magnum didn’t hold the Paton for the bottom self priming motor design, every canister filter model would have one. The Fluval with all its convenience is a bugger to prime with the little pump handle while the magnum you just turn the power on and it self primes every time. The reason the Magnum and FX5 canister is a better design is just basic hydraulic theory which meet the 3 rules for all high efficiency filter design and they are surface area, surface area, surface area. My magnum 350 has 96 square inches of un obstructed filter surface area, my Fluval 404 has about 35 square inches and it twice as massive and with its top motor design which requires a hand priming pump, about twice the parts of a Magnum. Why did I buy the 404, I want to try out a tower and its a tower I tell you. But it was fun filling it with all the fashionable media like carbon (the only one the matters), lava rocks, some free ceramics, and pot scrubbies I bought at Walmart, but I just hated the workout having to pump that handle so fast to get it started lol, almost went blind.

Having said all that, buy what makes you happy that is all that matters, Im an engineer so im critical and objective, so much so I own both LOL.

Pro's
Great water polisher
Cheap
The H.O.T model is portable

Cons:
Cheap
noisy
Clunky
The bottom mount motor can attract small amounts of sediments and ruin the housing and impeller.
Not much in Bio filtration without the wheel attachment. I don't care what Mr.gunner say's I would never run it as a stand alone filter.

See Red:

mott said:

Pro's
Great water polisher
Cheap
The H.O.T model is portable The 350 is, also.

Cons:
Cheap Cheap is good in my book
noisy Maybe you need to clean yours once in a while?
Clunky Maybe you need to clean yours once in a while?
The bottom mount motor can attract small amounts of sediments and ruin the housing and impeller. Maybe you need to clean yours once in a while?
Not much in Bio filtration without the wheel attachment. Put some bio-whatevers in the media container.
I don't care what Mr.gunner say's I care.
I would never run it as a stand alone filter. I don't see any problem with doing that on a 38g.

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Mags Rule! :headbang2: