H.O.T filter

[retorres70]

have a HOT magnum for my 55 gal. got it at a Pet store going out of business. paid about $45 for it. was listed at well over $90. 250 gph. good buy or even worth it?

was given top fin filter. not a bio wheel.
the kind with the drop in filter bags. is this a good filter to use? have seen them at the PetSmart and they are just about the cheapest ones there. any opinions?

 

[grimlock3000]

You can get HOT Magnums online for $40, so $45 is not a bad deal. I think the HOT Magnum is a piece of crap, the build quality is bad, there are too many seals on it, it is a pain to service, and the media options are not so great due to how the filter is setup. The Micron cartridge works good, but it can clog fairly quickly...

Here is my review I posted on www.cichlidforum.com:

"Not something I would purchase again"
I purchased the Bio Pro version of the HOT Magnum and never had much luck with it. For what it does, there are a lot of parts involved. The whole thing goes together with a lot of O rings and snap fit seals designed to make the filter easy to use and maintain.

I got everything assmebled per the manual and it was leaking air. The parts for my unit seem very poorly molded and I had to keep trying re-lubricate and re-seat the ring seals to get everything working right. It took me almost two hours to get it going with no air leak.

Once running, it did a good job for a few weeks. Then when it came time to clean the filter out, and the trouble started all over again with air leaking into the water stream. Marineland sent me new tubes and O rings but I still had trouble and eventually gave up on the filter. Seems like the problem is now with the filter lid seal.

I put the filter back in the box and it went into the closet. I feel like keeping the thing running on the tank is like asking for a disaster =/

 

[TracyRee]

Hmm. I used HOT Magnum filters for years and have been very ahhpy with them. I've upgraded to the 350 Magnum now and like it just as much.

Never had a problem with air or noise.

 

[docrak]

I have a HOT Magnum as a supplemental filter on my 60-gallon tank. It’s a pretty good filter, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a primary on any tank bigger than a 30 gallon. I run it with the micron filter all the time and flow does become reduced after a while. It’s also pretty easy to clean and maintain. Just one thing, make sure you fill the canister with water all the way or any air that gets trapped in there will take a long time to come out. If there are bubbles coming out, you didn’t fill it all the way.