HOT magnum assessment

Each of my 100 and 120 uses two of these filters. Each month I would clean one--takes only a few minutes. This way the other filter is still running and have full BIO capacity.

PS--Even with a heavy fish load, lots of plants, cleaning the HOT mag every other month --The filter is not too dirty. I am thinking of cleaning the filters every other month. (Meaning each filter is only cleaned 3X per year).
 
I don't have much of a fish load right now in my 80 tall which is cycling with 3 feeder fish. However there have been the normal blooms associated with a new aquarium and new sand diatom bloom. Of course I judge a filter by its GPH consistency and I must admit disappointingly that the Hot magnum although continuing to run quietly, drops off in GPH extremely fast under these loads, I mean from fast pressure pour out when cleaned to little more then a trickle by the end of 2 weeks. Like I said partly due to its 11 watt motor compared to 35 watt canister filter. In the future I plan to run exclusively granular porous media like carbon and bio chips which should provide good biological and fair filtration but not cause the restriction that high efficiency sponge and poly filter media require in a more powerful pump. Don’t get me wrong for what it was designed for its great and I have no regrets, but in all honesty and In my opinion it no work horse, not by a long shot and not even close. However it does do good job cleaning the water for a short period as evident when cleaning out the sponge blanket provided which gets super clogged with dirt, it doesn't allow bypass of anything that is for sure and a strong point along with its portability and flexible use. But it is not a clean and forget floor canister, you have to keep an eye on the Hot magnum to make sure its not clogged early. Whereas a good floor canister (magnum 350) you can almost forget about until almost 2 months have past and you suddenly remember it time to clean the canister although still pushing good GPH.
 
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some have opted for the double intakes,.... for the out take,.. just angel it sideways or down,,. this mod is used for turtle tanks and the like but can be used for fish also,..
 
dixienut said:
some have opted for the double intakes,.... for the out take,.. just angel it sideways or down,,. this mod is used for turtle tanks and the like but can be used for fish also,..
Click to expand...

Wow Id love to see a pic of that. I do turn the outflow sideways, one thing I love about the Hot-mag out flow port which can be positioned to pour out like a power head and aerate the surface of the water. But it isn't too long under load before its just a trickle pour and if I try and install a poly layer like in my 350, the Hot-Mag really gets clogged fast to a trickle and I have to push the out pour spout down in the water to help it drain. Now I understand why the intake is so short because the extra effort to pull from deeper water would tax the small pump even more.
 
Sometimes I use a second intake tube complete with strainer as my outflow. This projects the outflow lower in the tank and in an omnidirectional flow. I also use tubing to extend or couple two intake tubes together for a longer reach.
 
i have these on my 10gal briggs tank and after about 2 weeks the flow is kinda slower i just cleaned it and there was a tread on here about using a mod for the 350 and hot mags,.. i did this on my 350 but can't seem to open up the hot, one to mad it they use the inside cylinder from the micron filter for the inside tube thing so that the holes are larger this is where i find the clogging it and it is hard to clean them unless you pick out each hole,..
this is the only flaw i seen,.. on it when clean its a whirl wind in a 10g but after it gois a while it settles down a we bit,.. its ok
the briggs love the out flow they all line up to get washed,..lol

here's and ebay extention for intake
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Marineland-...0?hash=item3ca25a3272&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
 
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Oh I understand, two outflow tubes in tandem for a longer deeper reach, I thought you meant two independent intake ports (where? lol).

I did the mod to the Hot Mag using the polishing filter strainer with big holes rather then the tiny slit strainer. The key is you have to insert your carbon into the filter basket inside small stretchy nylon stockings sausages sections using a chop stick to push it in a bit at a time and position in tight corners. This so the carbon doesn't leak out the holes, and then back fill those tiny tight spots you couldn't fit the carbon stockings into with loose poly fill. It works great on the Hot Mag as well as my 350 but as soon as the outer sponge gets a little dirty the small 11 watt pump motor slows down under load. If it had a 35 watt motor (3X power) it would force the water through that same filter at a much higher rate. Nothing wrong with the filter its just has less power like a 4 cylinder VS a V8 engine. With a small to intermediate size thank I don't think its a concern for full time use, but on a large tank 60 up I don't recommend it as a primary filter. Auxiliary yes, smaller tanks yes, portable yes, QT yes, use at a trade show display yes, transporting fish long distance with a 100 watt car inverter to run this small filter with a heater and air pump is perfect!
 
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CWO4GUNNER said:
Oh I understand, two outflow tubes in tandem for a longer deeper reach, I thought you meant two independent intake ports (where? lol).

I did the mod to the Hot Mag using the polishing filter strainer with big holes rather then the tiny slit strainer. The key is you have to insert your carbon into the filter basket inside small stretchy nylon stockings sausages sections using a chop stick to push it in a bit at a time and position in tight corners. This so the carbon doesn't leak out the holes, and then back fill those tiny tight spots you couldn't fit the carbon stockings into with loose poly fill. It works great on the Hot Mag as well as my 350 but as soon as the outer sponge gets a little dirty the small 11 watt pump motor slows down under load. If it had a 35 watt motor (3X power) it would force the water through that same filter at a much higher rate. Nothing wrong with the filter its just has less power like a 4 cylinder VS a V8 engine. With a small to intermediate size thank I don't think its a concern for full time use, but on a large tank 60 up I don't recommend it as a primary filter. Auxiliary yes, smaller tanks yes, portable yes, QT yes, use at a trade show display yes, transporting fish long distance with a 100 watt car inverter to run this small filter with a heater and air pump is perfect!
Click to expand...

how do you get the basket open in the hot,.. i turned the screw and nothing, the 350 comes apart good, but i don't want to break the basket,.. so i just left it alone,. any trick to it,.. i usually use media bag in the filters it easier to get it out,..
 
Well first off I only ever take the baskets apart for detailed cleaning only. IMO its much harder to install the sausages and try to put the basket together around the carbon. This is where the stretchy pantyhose cut stockings work so well because you can stretch pour them into the top opening with the basket assembled. I actually use rubber bans temporarily to hold the top to bottom of the basket securely while I'm push shoving the carbon into the top opening with the stretched stocking a little at a time until its all in there nice fat and tight, any open spots I fill with bits of poly fill using a chop stick or penile. Then I remove the rubber bands and assemble the filter back together.

Incidentally the Hot Mag basket comes apart from that bottom looking screw, which is actually not a screw head but a set of jaw tabs grasping the bottom plastic that need to be brought or squeezed together to let go and it pops loose and the long plastic pins comes apart with the basket exactly like the 350. To put it back together the plastic pin just gets shoved back inside and it grabs again. Use the rubber bands to hold the empty basket together and use nylon stockings on sale for $1 and cut them up to make about 6 to 8 four inch sausages links tied at each end because unlike those filter bags the nylon elongates thin enough to fit through the small top opening until its all in there. For the first cleaning I dont even take them out of the nylon stockings I just squeeze and knead rinse in old aqua water and place them right back for another round. After which I recharge the carbon in the microwave which makes it like new again.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193418
 
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