Hey guys, I was in the market for another filter since mine was on the fritz the other day, and I ended up buying a fluval... C2? (I think that's what it's called). Anyway, I wanted to share my experience.
Yes, it is a little more expensive than the ACs. For me, it was about 7 bucks. At first I thought it was too complicated. I looked at the packaging and I saw compartments here, arrows there, baskets here yada yada. I said to myself, this is a lot more complicated than my AC, but hey, they make awesome canister filters, I'll give it a try.
Well, in the three days I've been using it, I love it! Basically this filter has a pull out compartment for the sponge (which is big enough to fit generic sponges, not just fluval ones). That's awesome cause sometimes I want to rinse my sponge WITHOUT taking the rest of my media out. So, very easy access. Next, it has an area for carbon. Since I don't run carbon, I filled it with filter floss. It's a very versatile area, and you could probably fill it with whatever you wanted. Again, this area can be removed separately (kinda), so it's nice if you just want to rinse whatever you have in there. Next is the area for bio media ceramic things. Now, unlike ACs, the water passes down through this, instead of it sitting at the top of the water column thing. I think this is a better system because most of the time, some of my ceramic things stick out of the water in my AC, and I can't do anything to make them completely submerge. (Almost not enough room in the AC). There is also a mini filter pad to catch anything before it hits the ceramic disks. Mine surprisingly has caught a lot. The basket that holds the bio media sits on top of the basket containing the carbon (or whatever), so to remove the carbon basket, you first have to lift up the bio media basket (or then can be pulled out together). Not THAT much of a hassle, but still a much better system than the AC. I don't need those stupid white net looking bags anymore.
Also, apparently when you turn the filter down, instead of simply reducing flow, it "recirculates" the water through the filter, so it gets filtered a few times. Now, the design didn't look much different than an AC, so I'm sure it's just a marketing gimmick that they just say. (If you look at what water the filter does suck up in an AC or the fluval, it's just the water that has settled to the bottom. It's already been through the filter in both, but it just goes through it again.)
Lastly, this filter has SO MUCH MORE FLOW that my ac. Yes, the AC was built for less than 20 gallons, and the fluval was built for less than 30 gallons, but still, the difference is amazing. I actually keep the fluval turned all of the way down because it has SO much flow. It almost equals the max flow of the AC when it's turned all of the way down.
So in the end, was it worth the extra 7ish bucks? Heck yeah. It's a very well designed filter, and it makes rinsing media easier because the things that hold the media come out individually. With the ac if you want to rinse just the sponge, first you have to pull the entire basket out, then you have to remove whatever media you have on top of your sponge, then you have to remove the sponge from the basket. Not so with the fluval, you just take the whole thing, basket and sponge with you. Oh, did I mention it primed almost immediately too? Much quicker than the AC.
So there you go, my review. Does the AC get the job done? Yes. Does the fluval get the job done just as good if not better? Definitely yes, and it makes maintenance a whole heck of a lot easier. I LOVE IT. (Especially since I'm fighting some kind of algae and I rinse some of my filter media daily...)
EDIT2: Did I mention it has a telescoping intake tube? It's really nice to get the water at the bottom of the tank.
EDIT: Oh, apparently I can't find a single thing about this filter on the website... so, if anyone else has any luck doing that... please post a link.
Yes, it is a little more expensive than the ACs. For me, it was about 7 bucks. At first I thought it was too complicated. I looked at the packaging and I saw compartments here, arrows there, baskets here yada yada. I said to myself, this is a lot more complicated than my AC, but hey, they make awesome canister filters, I'll give it a try.
Well, in the three days I've been using it, I love it! Basically this filter has a pull out compartment for the sponge (which is big enough to fit generic sponges, not just fluval ones). That's awesome cause sometimes I want to rinse my sponge WITHOUT taking the rest of my media out. So, very easy access. Next, it has an area for carbon. Since I don't run carbon, I filled it with filter floss. It's a very versatile area, and you could probably fill it with whatever you wanted. Again, this area can be removed separately (kinda), so it's nice if you just want to rinse whatever you have in there. Next is the area for bio media ceramic things. Now, unlike ACs, the water passes down through this, instead of it sitting at the top of the water column thing. I think this is a better system because most of the time, some of my ceramic things stick out of the water in my AC, and I can't do anything to make them completely submerge. (Almost not enough room in the AC). There is also a mini filter pad to catch anything before it hits the ceramic disks. Mine surprisingly has caught a lot. The basket that holds the bio media sits on top of the basket containing the carbon (or whatever), so to remove the carbon basket, you first have to lift up the bio media basket (or then can be pulled out together). Not THAT much of a hassle, but still a much better system than the AC. I don't need those stupid white net looking bags anymore.
Also, apparently when you turn the filter down, instead of simply reducing flow, it "recirculates" the water through the filter, so it gets filtered a few times. Now, the design didn't look much different than an AC, so I'm sure it's just a marketing gimmick that they just say. (If you look at what water the filter does suck up in an AC or the fluval, it's just the water that has settled to the bottom. It's already been through the filter in both, but it just goes through it again.)
Lastly, this filter has SO MUCH MORE FLOW that my ac. Yes, the AC was built for less than 20 gallons, and the fluval was built for less than 30 gallons, but still, the difference is amazing. I actually keep the fluval turned all of the way down because it has SO much flow. It almost equals the max flow of the AC when it's turned all of the way down.
So in the end, was it worth the extra 7ish bucks? Heck yeah. It's a very well designed filter, and it makes rinsing media easier because the things that hold the media come out individually. With the ac if you want to rinse just the sponge, first you have to pull the entire basket out, then you have to remove whatever media you have on top of your sponge, then you have to remove the sponge from the basket. Not so with the fluval, you just take the whole thing, basket and sponge with you. Oh, did I mention it primed almost immediately too? Much quicker than the AC.
So there you go, my review. Does the AC get the job done? Yes. Does the fluval get the job done just as good if not better? Definitely yes, and it makes maintenance a whole heck of a lot easier. I LOVE IT. (Especially since I'm fighting some kind of algae and I rinse some of my filter media daily...)
EDIT2: Did I mention it has a telescoping intake tube? It's really nice to get the water at the bottom of the tank.
EDIT: Oh, apparently I can't find a single thing about this filter on the website... so, if anyone else has any luck doing that... please post a link.
