SUNSUN HW-302 Outside Filter setup & test
- Thread starter CWO4GUNNER
- Start date
Oh good. One last thing I forgot to mansion, 90% of self-broken parts has to do with forcing, when it comes to placing the hose fitting remember to use Vaseline (on any movable part) and hand tight only snugly, no bearing-down and no tools! Also you notice I have excess hose looped only becasue this installation is temporary and I will be trimming my hoses later BUT I will still leave enough slack about 3 inches on each side allowing the hose to bow to either side behind the cabinet & aquarium.
I have been considering a DIY canister filter, but ran across the SUNSUN and figured for $50 it was a better route. I looked all over the Internet, and only found positive reviews...along with plenty of nay-sayers who were commenting based on speculation rather than actual experience.
I'll probably start up a new thread to follow how well this canister works for me over time, but for now wanted to quickly post here.
I purchased the 302 from ebay, of course. Filter arrived in about a week. Pulled it out first thing to inspect everything and check for leaks. Nothing arrived broken and no discrenable leaks. My initial impression is positive overall.
Points in favor of the unit:
- Cheap
- Three big media baskets as well as a small pre-filter basket. I can do just about anything I want with all this space.
- Overall construction seems good. Canister is thick, fittings tight, plenty of hose, and connections provided allow for a lot of adjustibility.
- Seems to have good flow.
- Priming easy if you do it right (as already noted). If you stick both hoses in the tank and start priming an empty canister might as well forget it though.
- Very quite.
Points against:
- No warranty (the seller has a 14 day exchange, but after that I'm on my own)
- Unit arrived damp inside, and had grown a bit of mold that had to be cleaned off. I saw that another person noted this as well. From what I can tell the unit was not used, just damp...and I clean everything before first use anyway.
- During initial cleaning I bumped the corner on the sink and one of the feet fell off. Didn't break, just fell off. Little bit of rubber cement made a quick fix. I have seen the same type of thing with other plastic-molded products so am not concerned at all about this.
- Input / output connections seem a bit fragile given the potential strain over time with normal maintenance. I am going to look at how to setup the hoses to produce the least strain on the unit possible.
- No media comes with the unit other than three floss filters. If you want to use commercial biofilter media, sponges, etc plan on adding $20-$50 for this.
- Replacement parts, if needed, will be hard to find. I've done a little searching on the Internet and not found replacement parts yet.
Why I bought this filter:
- It is in my budget range.
- A good DIY costs as much or even more than the SUNSUN, not to mention time involved.
- If it breaks, I can DIY retrofit just about anything with standard plumbing parts, o-rings, good glue, or even a new pump should it be needed.
I'll probably start up a new thread to follow how well this canister works for me over time, but for now wanted to quickly post here.
I purchased the 302 from ebay, of course. Filter arrived in about a week. Pulled it out first thing to inspect everything and check for leaks. Nothing arrived broken and no discrenable leaks. My initial impression is positive overall.
Points in favor of the unit:
- Cheap
- Three big media baskets as well as a small pre-filter basket. I can do just about anything I want with all this space.
- Overall construction seems good. Canister is thick, fittings tight, plenty of hose, and connections provided allow for a lot of adjustibility.
- Seems to have good flow.
- Priming easy if you do it right (as already noted). If you stick both hoses in the tank and start priming an empty canister might as well forget it though.
- Very quite.
Points against:
- No warranty (the seller has a 14 day exchange, but after that I'm on my own)
- Unit arrived damp inside, and had grown a bit of mold that had to be cleaned off. I saw that another person noted this as well. From what I can tell the unit was not used, just damp...and I clean everything before first use anyway.
- During initial cleaning I bumped the corner on the sink and one of the feet fell off. Didn't break, just fell off. Little bit of rubber cement made a quick fix. I have seen the same type of thing with other plastic-molded products so am not concerned at all about this.
- Input / output connections seem a bit fragile given the potential strain over time with normal maintenance. I am going to look at how to setup the hoses to produce the least strain on the unit possible.
- No media comes with the unit other than three floss filters. If you want to use commercial biofilter media, sponges, etc plan on adding $20-$50 for this.
- Replacement parts, if needed, will be hard to find. I've done a little searching on the Internet and not found replacement parts yet.
Why I bought this filter:
- It is in my budget range.
- A good DIY costs as much or even more than the SUNSUN, not to mention time involved.
- If it breaks, I can DIY retrofit just about anything with standard plumbing parts, o-rings, good glue, or even a new pump should it be needed.
Yes your absolutely right that to DIY your own medium size canister filter or aquarium for that matter (for 30-60 gallons) is not cost effective. However there are exceptions for aquariums that are 2-29 gallons a simple DIY sponge filter or even small canister can be cost effective. Also vary large aquariums in excess 100-500 gallons and filter requiring GPH in excess of 1000 can definitely be cost effective to build provided you know what your doing or have good associated skill sets with hand tools.
But the true value you cannot place on any well thought out and based on the premise of others that have been successful is the learned experience and skills that are gained, which can then be used repeatedly not only for a future DIY build but for repairs of existing systems and DIY modifications which are usually very cost effective. An example being my Fluval 404 I modified and call the Supercart in which using past DIY skill sets was able to modify and turn my Fluval 404 from an anemic 35 square-inch surface-area filter bypassing 30-40% of its unfiltered water, to a 30 micron polishing filter with 850 square-inches of surface-area with 2-5% bypass for under $20.
So yes the Sunsun 302 is an excellent buy for dedicated and reliable filtration that cant wait. But as part of an opportunity to learn new things, gain skill sets, studying up, and building confidence, the value of DIY home-built is pricless.
To be honest guys, I wouldn't touch the SunSun stuff for anything that 'matters'. Powerhead, wavemakers etc - fine, but large externals or tanks - no way. I had a 300L+ SunSun tank which was a piece of crap, leaked all over the place. Suppose it could happen with any tank, but you look at the quality of the joins, glass and bracing, and you can see why it failed. Not to mention the dirt cheap cabinet that was also ruined because of the leak that had been going on for some time. My advice is to keep you filters in a tray or bucket just in case. In the long run, it might not work out as well as you think. Just my opionion dudes, no offence intended.
Didn't know they sold tanks and haven't seen any here in the states, probubly due to product safety. The outer container by itself without a bilge pump-alarm wont help much but couldn't hurt. A tank is one thing but a canister is pretty strait forward if you know what to look for and treat it with care and inspection between cleanings. I have looked over the Sunsun 302 and cant find any reason why it would leak if assembled and cared for properly. However I will admit that the parts are more fragile and therefore more susceptible to those that are heavy-handed and perform no maintenance, inspection or lubrication between cleanings (wham-bam-thank-you-canister).
Don't own a C-series but one of the good things about basket canisters is the easy in making your own filters. The Sunsun comes with 3 Poly filter pads which can easily be used as a pattern with a pair of scissors. I recently received 10 fleet of blue-bond from an ebay buy-now and the price was ridiculously low and quality better them most commercial pads I have seen.
Just did exactly that
I received my SunSun 302 this week, and Saturday I used one of the white poly filter pads to cut leftover Poret filter foam for the lower two baskets. In each of those two baskets, I have one of the poly filter pads on the bottom, followed by 2" of Poret filter foam. Fills the basket perfectly, so there won't be any bypass.
I didn't have any spare biomedia lying around, so in the third (top) basket I have the third poly filter pad, some bluebond, and some Purigen. I assume that the Poret filter foam will be populated with bacteria soon, so I don't think I need any biomedia.
I also slipped a sleeve of Poret filter foam over the intake tube.
I found the assembly easier than I expected (despite the strangely translated instructions).
It's running nicely and quietly now, alongside an HOB filter on a 55 gallon. So far, I'm impressed, and think it is quite a bargain.
I received my SunSun 302 this week, and Saturday I used one of the white poly filter pads to cut leftover Poret filter foam for the lower two baskets. In each of those two baskets, I have one of the poly filter pads on the bottom, followed by 2" of Poret filter foam. Fills the basket perfectly, so there won't be any bypass.
I didn't have any spare biomedia lying around, so in the third (top) basket I have the third poly filter pad, some bluebond, and some Purigen. I assume that the Poret filter foam will be populated with bacteria soon, so I don't think I need any biomedia.
I also slipped a sleeve of Poret filter foam over the intake tube.
I found the assembly easier than I expected (despite the strangely translated instructions).
It's running nicely and quietly now, alongside an HOB filter on a 55 gallon. So far, I'm impressed, and think it is quite a bargain.
.