Let me give you some info on the aquaclears. While they work great, they will not re-start after being down for a couple of hours. I had heard of problems with them, after a long power outtage, not being able to restart. But then all my friends swore by them so I bought some. I put an AC 30 on one of my breeding tanks. I would unplug it when I put the small fry food in the tank, so that the filter wouldn't pull it all in. I would leave the filter down an hour or two. During this time my sponge filters were still running. When I would go back to plug the AC 30 back in, all the water had drained out of the filter. It would never restart. I would have to refill the filter with water before it would run again! I know that some people say that they have never had problems with this, but I go out of town a lot. I can't afford to take a chance on coming back to a burnt up filter or even worse, dead fish. Also, let me tell you that my tank was full of water and the AC 30 was sitting perfectly level when this problem occured. It has happened more than once! I had two AC 70's that I had bought for my new 75 gallon tank. They had not been opened yet, so back to pet smart they went! Even though they work great when running, I'll not put another one on any of my tanks. I'll not take that chance with my fish! 
