C4 vs Aquaclear

[Stacey W.]

Here's the deal, I know the specs on both. I think the C4 is super cool, but I know that the AquaClear through research is very reliable. What is a girl to do. I also have approximately 5"-6" behaind my 55 gallon will the C4 or AquaClear fit more comfortably. I need personal experiences to convince me to purchase one or the other.

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[Paul1792]

Go with the C4

You only need 4" behind the tank so you are good to go there. Both are made by Hagen/Fluval and use the identical motor (same part #). I have one C4, two C3's and an AC50. There is no comparison in terms of filtering ability and the ability to get canister quality filtration from an HOB. [Both have adjustable flow.]

If you check the official specs, you will see the A/C 70 is rated at 300 gph while the C4 is rated at 254 gph of flow. However, the AquaClear suffers from severe bypass issues due to holes on the side of the media basket so only about half your water is being filtered by mechanical filtration while the C4 filters close to 100%. See this:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f60/aquaclear-bypass-issues-292796.html

Out of the box, the AquaClear will not give you crystal clear and polished water because the mechanical sponge is too coarse. About the only way to get the AquaClear to give you crystal clear water is to add tightly packed filter floss.

For a full discussion on this including links to my custom media HOB filtration tab on photobucket.com, please go here and see my posts 29, 35, & 36:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f60/hob-filters-301925-3.html

[Edit: I see you've been on this forum for four months with 270 posts so I don't have to tell you probably most experienced members would not think a single C4 or AC70 is sufficient filtration for a 55 gallon tank unless it is lightly stocked.

On my heavily stocked 38 gallon, I run two C3's at maximum flow and an AC50 as an auxiliary filter at less than "half speed." On my moderately stocked 29 gallon, I run one C4 at about 2/3 maximum flow because angel fish and Dwarf Gourami seem to prefer less "flow."]

 

[IllusionX]

Paul couldn't have said it better.

 

[threnjen]

I've never had a Fluval HOB, but I recently retired my Aquaclear HOB because honestly I hated it. I hated that it had to be primed every time I turned the tank back on (and then I worried when we were on vacation). If I so much as nudged the intake pipe with my hand when I was vacuuming then the filter motor wouldn't start at all and I would have to take it all apart and put it back together, which is really messy and time consuming. Finally I just gave up.
I like the basket setup on the AQ and it's WAAAAY better than the crappy Aqueon that I put on there instead, but it's all I had hanging around.

 

[zer0signal]

I have both AC110 *2 and 4 C3's.

Both IMO are great filters, but with the C series you wont get the GPH Flow of an AC. But I give the C's the upper hand on filtration, being that is designed so that it ALL gets filtered, and wont bypass any media. This observation and opinion is based on factory design, I know there is aftermarket baskets that improve the efficiency of the AC's. But too me its a little pricey.

 

[IllusionX]

I've never had a Fluval HOB, but I recently retired my Aquaclear HOB because honestly I hated it. I hated that it had to be primed every time I turned the tank back on (and then I worried when we were on vacation). If I so much as nudged the intake pipe with my hand when I was vacuuming then the filter motor wouldn't start at all and I would have to take it all apart and put it back together, which is really messy and time consuming. Finally I just gave up.
I like the basket setup on the AQ and it's WAAAAY better than the crappy Aqueon that I put on there instead, but it's all I had hanging around.

Actually, restarting after a power failure is never an issue. Water the get sucked out past the motor if your tank stays full.

 

[ImACoolguy]

I own a c4 on my JD species tank and AC on all my other tanks. 0 problems out of all of them. Love the space on the aquaclear but love the space on the c4 for how compact and organized it is.

Honestly I couldn't decide if I had to pick one both are wonderful and do a great job.


Caleb

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[Paul1792]

I have both AC110 *2 and 4 C3's.

Both IMO are great filters, but with the C series you wont get the GPH Flow of an AC. But I give the C's the upper hand on filtration, being that is designed so that it ALL gets filtered, and wont bypass any media. This observation and opinion is based on factory design, I know there is aftermarket baskets that improve the efficiency of the AC's. But too me its a little pricey.

*****
That is mentioned in my link above to "AquaClear Bypass."
I was able to fix the bypass problem with duct tape over the holes on the side and the goofy "half moon" slot on top that lets water bypass ANY and ALL media. I stuffed mine with floss and bio media since the water flows bottom to top instead of back to front, water velocity is too high through fine media to run at full speed.

Mine "maxes out" at about 100 gph (vs 200 flow capacity) which is why I ordered a second Fluval C3 for my 38 gallon tank three days after installing my AquaClear50 to run along side one C3 that had been operating for months along side my old Aqua-Tech. Within 24 hours of installing the AquaClear (which was fully "seeded" with media from my old Aqua-Tech that was loaded with micron polishing pads) the water lost all its "polish" and the water went from "stunning" to only "crystal clear." I run AquaticLife non-woven cut to fit 1/12" thick 50 micron polishing pads in all three of my C's in addition factory pads and or other cut to fit media and found it is is impossible to get the same result from an AquaClear.

One other thing .... for the ultimate in perfection ... run seachem Purigen in the chemical chamber in lieu of carbon.

 

[zer0signal]

*****
That is mentioned in my link above to "AquaClear Bypass."
I was able to fix the bypass problem with duct tape over the holes on the side and the goofy "half moon" slot on top that lets water bypass ANY and ALL media. I stuffed mine with floss and bio media since the water flows bottom to top instead of back to front, water velocity is too high through fine media to run at full speed.

Mine "maxes out" at about 100 gph (vs 200 flow capacity) which is why I ordered a second Fluval C3 for my 38 gallon tank three days after installing my AquaClear50 to run along side one C3 that had been operating for months along side my old Aqua-Tech. Within 24 hours of installing the AquaClear (which was fully "seeded" with media from my old Aqua-Tech that was loaded with micron polishing pads) the water lost all its "polish" and the water went from "stunning" to only "crystal clear." I run AquaticLife non-woven cut to fit 1/12" thick 50 micron polishing pads in all three of my C's in addition factory pads and or other cut to fit media and found it is is impossible to get the same result from an AquaClear.

One other thing .... for the ultimate in perfection ... run seachem Purigen in the chemical chamber in lieu of carbon.

Yep, I run the Purigen in place of carbon on those C series HOB's.

Water clarity is great!

 

[Stacey W.]

*****
That is mentioned in my link above to "AquaClear Bypass."
I was able to fix the bypass problem with duct tape over the holes on the side and the goofy "half moon" slot on top that lets water bypass ANY and ALL media. I stuffed mine with floss and bio media since the water flows bottom to top instead of back to front, water velocity is too high through fine media to run at full speed.

Mine "maxes out" at about 100 gph (vs 200 flow capacity) which is why I ordered a second Fluval C3 for my 38 gallon tank three days after installing my AquaClear50 to run along side one C3 that had been operating for months along side my old Aqua-Tech. Within 24 hours of installing the AquaClear (which was fully "seeded" with media from my old Aqua-Tech that was loaded with micron polishing pads) the water lost all its "polish" and the water went from "stunning" to only "crystal clear." I run AquaticLife non-woven cut to fit 1/12" thick 50 micron polishing pads in all three of my C's in addition factory pads and or other cut to fit media and found it is is impossible to get the same result from an AquaClear.

One other thing .... for the ultimate in perfection ... run seachem Purigen in the chemical chamber in lieu of carbon.

I already have the purigen on hand just about to order the C4. I have researched this filter for months and canisters are out of my price range. I think overall the efficiency and compact/sleek look outweighs the AC. It doesn't mean I will never own an AC because Hagen makes awesome HOB's.

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[threnjen]

Actually, restarting after a power failure is never an issue. Water the get sucked out past the motor if your tank stays full.

Really? Because it seemed like if I didn't pour a cup of water in, it would just sit there grinding indefinitely... I mean I was scared to let it go for TOO long dry like that...

 

[ImACoolguy]

Really? Because it seemed like if I didn't pour a cup of water in, it would just sit there grinding indefinitely... I mean I was scared to let it go for TOO long dry like that...

All of my Filters do this... I've never had one fill itself backup without some help. I have almost the entire Aquaclear series and a c4


Caleb

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[Stacey W.]

All of my Filters do this... I've never had one fill itself backup without some help. I have almost the entire Aquaclear series and a c4


Caleb

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My Aqueon is self priming I thought I also read the C4 is too?

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[ImACoolguy]

My Aqueon is self priming I thought I also read the C4 is too?

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I dunno but mine have always needed my pouring some water into them to kick start them again.


Caleb

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[IllusionX]

Really? Because it seemed like if I didn't pour a cup of water in, it would just sit there grinding indefinitely... I mean I was scared to let it go for TOO long dry like that...

Dunno where my "never" went to. The only time that I need to prime my AC filters is when I do water change/clean the filter. Then you need to pour enough water to cover above the motor. Water stays at that level after a power failure, so restarting is not an issue.

Now, the Aqueon and Marina HOB have the motor submerged in the tank, so it NEVER needs priming since it can just pump the water into the HOB by itself.

 

[Paul1792]

All of my Filters do this... I've never had one fill itself backup without some help. I have almost the entire Aquaclear series and a c4


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

***********
I turn off all four of my filters (AC50 & C's) daily when I feed my fish by cutting the power with the switch on the power strips. I have never had a problem relative to priming on routine restart. If I take off the intake tube and all water is removed from the intake, then yes they sometimes (but not always) need to be primed.

Because they never seem "dirty," I have never cleaned any of my filters (meaning "tearing them down" and/or cleaning the motor and impeller as the instructions say to do). However, on my oldest C3 (20 months old - the others are 16 months old) I can tell I am going to have to clean the impeller soon because every few weeks or so the impeller won't start up after a shut down ... and I have to stick a chopstick down there to get it going again.


[For about four months, I have been using pre-filters on all my filters.]