marineland emperor filters

[Incisions072185]

Thoughts on marineland emperor filters?

 

[Supergummy]

I have one and works great!

 

[Incisions072185]

Ive read good reviews but wanted to see what people thought on here. I'm trying to choose 2 filters out of these 3 for my 75gal, emperor, aqua clear 110 or a filstar XP m. Obviously the later 2 are much more expensive

 

[Supergummy]

I also had an aquaclear 110, great filter. Heard good things about the filstar

 

[elephantnose]

The aqua clear is great but you have to buy three different types of media. So It gets a little more expensive.

 

[Incisions072185]

Ohh did not know that about the aqua clear

 

[Fresh2o]

I've used an emperor 280 and penguin 200 (both marineland HOB filters) and two things I did not like were:
1. Noise. Both were noisy. I used them for a few years. Perhaps replacing the impellers would have helped but I switched to the AquaClear HOB filter series
2. Inflexible media options. Cartridges can be somewhat limiting. Yes, you can mod the cartridges to your liking or even fabricate your own but I though the AquaClear HOBs out of the box were ready to go and you could omit the carbon portion and use the extra space for more ceramic media.

 

[dcutl002]

I bought a Marineland Emperor in 1995 and it is still going...noise and all.

 

[Laser]

You can put whatever media you would like into the aquaclears. I just put two of the sponges in there and squeeze them out in old tank water when they get dirty.

The Marinelands try to shoehorn you into buying cartridges that you don't need. That's the only thing I don't like about them. I cut open the cartridge and empty out the carbon. I fill up the cartridge with filter floss and rubber band a new cut out piece of filter media to the cartridge. The rubberbands degrade over time so it's kind of annoying.

Overall I like the aquaclears the best, but keep in mind I don't think they are perfect. I tried to use filter floss with them but I'm not able to. After a few days of brand new filter floss it begins to absorb particles and it physically lifts my filter basket upwards knocking the lid off.

 

[Fresh2o]

You can put whatever media you would like into the aquaclears. I just put two of the sponges in there and squeeze them out in old tank water when they get dirty.

The Marinelands try to shoehorn you into buying cartridges that you don't need. That's the only thing I don't like about them. I cut open the cartridge and empty out the carbon. I fill up the cartridge with filter floss and rubber band a new cut out piece of filter media to the cartridge. The rubberbands degrade over time so it's kind of annoying.

Overall I like the aquaclears the best, but keep in mind I don't think they are perfect. I tried to use filter floss with them but I'm not able to. After a few days of brand new filter floss it begins to absorb particles and it physically lifts my filter basket upwards knocking the lid off.

Thanks for the 2 sided AC review. I like them but they can get noisy as well (any HOB that gets fine gravel or sand in the impeller can become problematic). The Emperor is a workhorse; heavy construction in the body. I think you could throw it out the window and it would still work.
The biowheel can help with oxygenation via increased the surface area of the fins of the wheel, however, if you are injecting CO2 then that might be counter productive because of degassing. Increasing the amount of CO2 being injected should remedy this.

 

[Incisions072185]

Currently I have a marineland tank with the filter and bio wheel in the good of the tank so I'm aware of the impeller, but I have never had it make any noise or be loud at all. Could be Bc it's installed in the hood and not a stand alone filter. I've read reviews where some people say it's crazy loud and other great reviews on it. I'm just torn on which one to get Bc they all have their pros and cons

 

[dkmuller]

I have a small tank but I own a API super clean I read reviews and bought it. I is quiet and keeps water crystal clear.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[jlk]

Not a fan of the Emperors (400's) even though I own a couple. Noise is the number one issue as in comparable to a freight train running through your living room. They are also quite over rated for what they 'claim' to be capable of filtering (90g?). Worth noting that the impellers on the Emperors wear out fairly quickly (leading to even greater noise) and Marineland happily sends out replacements without even a single question leading me to suspect an inherent design flaw. Hope this helps a bit!