Sunsun HW-404B filter? Any long term experience on these filters?

[eddyk]

I have seen the Sunsun HW-404B filter around the web. It appears to be a mee too version of a couple other filters.

Does anyone have experience with these?

I have read that they are 1/2 the volume flow as a FX 5, at 500/gph

Evidently it's HUGE.

Everything works great and looks great out of the box, but how does it work after 6 mos, or 9 mos?

Any experienced users please chime in.

 

[1998golfer]

I've got a sunsun HW-304A and I love it. I've had it for 8 months, it is still so silent that I cannot tell if it is even working unless i put me ear right up to the filter itself. from the cabinet, I cannot tell it's on. It works great, pumps a ton of water. It is huge! It has 4 trays, each is around 8 inches across and 3 inches deep.

What sized tank is it for?

 

[Mebbid]

I've had mine for maybe 6 months and am still really happy with it. For a size comparison the filter itself is the same size as a 5 gallon bucket. its quiet and holds a ton of media.

 

[eddyk]

I've got a sunsun HW-304A and I love it. I've had it for 8 months, it is still so silent that I cannot tell if it is even working unless i put me ear right up to the filter itself. from the cabinet, I cannot tell it's on. It works great, pumps a ton of water. It is huge! It has 4 trays, each is around 8 inches across and 3 inches deep.

What sized tank is it for?

Thanks for the feedback. What size tank are you running your 304A on? Are you satisfied with the water clarity? I have heard similar things, but longevity is important. Granted I doubt this filter will last as long as an Eheim, but for $100, it seems like a pretty safe bet.

To answer your question:

I have a 125g project. I will be running a Eheim Pro 3 120L and am looking for an addon. This is a

I like the price of the sunsun, but I do not know how well it polishes the water and how well it lasts.

I have a eheim 2215 on a 29 tall tank and the water is crystal clear. Crazy clean.

I bought a fluval 406 for the 125g and am not a big fan. The tank is basically a gravel bed with 10 neon tetras ( cycling it ) The tank is a bit cloudy, and has been so for 3 days. Granted the 406 is designed for a 100g tank, but with 10 neon tetras, I would think it wouldn't be a problem.

Again, I am just making an assumption

I appreciate you feedback.



Anyone else who can add their experiences, would be greatly appreciated...

 

[1998golfer]

Thanks for the feedback. What size tank are you running your 304A on? Are you satisfied with the water clarity? I have heard similar things, but longevity is important. Granted I doubt this filter will last as long as an Eheim, but for $100, it seems like a pretty safe bet.

To answer your question:

I have a 125g project. I will be running a Eheim Pro 3 120L and am looking for an addon. This is a

I like the price of the sunsun, but I do not know how well it polishes the water and how well it lasts.

I have a eheim 2215 on a 29 tall tank and the water is crystal clear. Crazy clean.

I bought a fluval 406 for the 125g and am not a big fan. The tank is basically a gravel bed with 10 neon tetras ( cycling it ) The tank is a bit cloudy, and has been so for 3 days. Granted the 406 is designed for a 100g tank, but with 10 neon tetras, I would think it wouldn't be a problem.

Again, I am just making an assumption

I appreciate you feedback.



Anyone else who can add their experiences, would be greatly appreciated...

For a 125g, I would not get just one canister filter. If you are going to get a sunsun 404 / 304, I would get at least two. I'd say one can effectively filter 75-100g. I am a major over-filterer, I have the 304A on my 27g cube. Plus a hob on it.
My water is extremely clean and I have never had a problem. The filter is amazing for the price. I've had it for 8 months, zero problems.
It is around the size of a 5 gallon bucket. If you buy filter pads, you will go broke. I bought this filter roll and cut my own filter pads. The roll of filter material will last me years. [link on ebay]

EDIT: Saw that you said you already had a canister filter and this was just an addon. I don't know what that filter is, I don't have any experience with eheim but if it's rated for 75+ gallon tanks I think it'll be fine with just one sunsun. Overfiltration is better than underfiltration!!!!

 

[eddyk]

Hey 1998,

Thanks for the note. Glad to hear about your success with the Sunsun, and thanks for the link to Pinky foam. Huge savings. I was looking at dacron pillow filler from the fabric store, but it seems like it would clog pretty fast. Maybe as a polishing pad?

Amazon does not have a Sunsun 404 but has a Zenblue 404 which looks like a Sunsun. here is the link

Amazon.com : ZenBlue HW404B 5-Stage 525GPH Aquarium Canister Filter with 9W UV Sterilizer : Pet Supplies


There is also a Pinkay, which looks similar to the above, sans the UV light. Amazon.com : Pingkay Free Media 5-stage External Canister Filter with 9-watt Uv Sterilizer, 525 GPH : Pet Supplies

At the higher flow rates will a 9w UV light make any difference? I've read that it's questionable on other posts.


I agree about the over-filtration. The filter I just set up is a Eheim Pro 3 120L ( or called a 2080) It's capacity is up to 320g tank. ( 450g/h output, which is exaggerated like most filters), but has done a great job cleaning the water after 18 hours. It's not crystal clear, but improving.

I have an Eheim 2015 on my 29g Tall planted tank. Its rated for a 92g tank with 116 gph That tank is crystal clear, The plants appear to help with some filtration as well.

On a side note. On my 125g tank I had a Fluval 406. Granted it was not the proper filter size,but I was not impressed. It did little to clear the water. The Fluval seemed cheap to me. ( Not meaning to insult Fluval users) The reticulated poly hoses were flimsy. The reticulations appeared to be a perfect area to hold algae and other gunk. It was quiet but did little to clear the water much. Again it was rated for a 100g tank. But My tank was a fresh fill with black gravel and a hand full of neon tetras
The eheim seems higher quality. Granted it is much more expensive, but it's hard to beat German engineering.

Although the eheim on my 29g does not flow to the specs listed, the clarity is remarkable. I mean I am paying for results, not stated marketing numbers, right?

 

[1998golfer]

Hey 1998,

Thanks for the note. Glad to hear about your success with the Sunsun, and thanks for the link to Pinky foam. Huge savings. I was looking at dacron pillow filler from the fabric store, but it seems like it would clog pretty fast. Maybe as a polishing pad?

Amazon does not have a Sunsun 404 but has a Zenblue 404 which looks like a Sunsun. here is the link

Amazon.com : ZenBlue HW404B 5-Stage 525GPH Aquarium Canister Filter with 9W UV Sterilizer : Pet Supplies


There is also a Pinkay, which looks similar to the above, sans the UV light. Amazon.com : Pingkay Free Media 5-stage External Canister Filter with 9-watt Uv Sterilizer, 525 GPH : Pet Supplies

At the higher flow rates will a 9w UV light make any difference? I've read that it's questionable on other posts.


I agree about the over-filtration. The filter I just set up is a Eheim Pro 3 120L ( or called a 2080) It's capacity is up to 320g tank. ( 450g/h output, which is exaggerated like most filters), but has done a great job cleaning the water after 18 hours. It's not crystal clear, but improving.

I have an Eheim 2015 on my 29g Tall planted tank. Its rated for a 92g tank with 116 gph That tank is crystal clear, The plants appear to help with some filtration as well.

On a side note. On my 125g tank I had a Fluval 406. Granted it was not the proper filter size,but I was not impressed. It did little to clear the water. The Fluval seemed cheap to me. ( Not meaning to insult Fluval users) The reticulated poly hoses were flimsy. The reticulations appeared to be a perfect area to hold algae and other gunk. It was quiet but did little to clear the water much. Again it was rated for a 100g tank. But My tank was a fresh fill with black gravel and a hand full of neon tetras
The eheim seems higher quality. Granted it is much more expensive, but it's hard to beat German engineering.

Although the eheim on my 29g does not flow to the specs listed, the clarity is remarkable. I mean I am paying for results, not stated marketing numbers, right?

Yes that filter is the same as the sunsun. Also ones by gretch are the same. Keep in mind instructions are poorly translated into English. The numbers are what it's rated for, but you can look up what actual numberas are

 

[eddyk]

Yes that filter is the same as the sunsun. Also ones by gretch are the same. Keep in mind instructions are poorly translated into English. The numbers are what it's rated for, but you can look up what actual numberas are

Thanks,

I will probably get one in the next day or so.

Do you think the UV light on this model is effective or just a gimmic? After looking at other inline UV lights, flow rates and watts, the 9w on the 304B looks grossly inadequate to do much.

I found this chart:

SMART UV Sterilizer Water Flow Rates

Your thoughts?

 

[1998golfer]

Thanks,

I will probably get one in the next day or so.

Do you think the UV light on this model is effective or just a gimmic? After looking at other inline UV lights, flow rates and watts, the 9w on the 304B looks grossly inadequate to do much.

I found this chart:

SMART UV Sterilizer Water Flow Rates

Your thoughts?

It won't help with much, that's why I decided to get the one without the uv.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[eddyk]

Probably a good call. If you look at the specs, both filters use 55 watts. I don't quite understand that, if the UV uses 9 watts...

Oh well, too late now, it has been ordered.

 

[1998golfer]

Probably a good call. If you look at the specs, both filters use 55 watts. I don't quite understand that, if the UV uses 9 watts...

Oh well, too late now, it has been ordered.

You ordered the 404B? If so, I would turn off the uv lamp (there is a switch), mainly because it won't help, and the plastic baskets in the filter are NOT uv resistant, so it will break down / degrade the plastic. I'd only use it if your having a water borne disease or a green water problem. It still won't help much, but it'll be something.

 

[eddyk]

I bought the 304B same thing I gather. But great tip on the UV light. Other than carbon black in the resin, UV stabilizers are costly. Go figure..

Thank you for the tip on the UV light.

I just got a tip on some live bacteria from another thread.

Have you heard of this product?

MICROBE-LIFT :: Home

 

[schoeplein]

Aquatop, Sunsun, and Pingkay are all the same canister. I have the Sunsun HW-304B; it's 17" tall while the 404 is 19" tall. "Polishing the water" has more to do with the quantity of media, and type of media, than the enclosure. It's just a large cylinder with a water pump.

Don't waste your money buying "live bacteria" to cycle your tank. If you have any friends with tanks, ask if you can have some of their used media, kept wet during transit, to seed your own filters. You can do a cycle without any of that, too.

I have my bottom tray filled with mesh media, second bottom tray filled with cut up pieces of mesh media, the third tray is filled with Seachem Matrix between two mesh filters, and the top tray has a carbon mesh on bottom, and enough Purigen bags to fill the rest of the top bin.

As far as the UV not being effective, I wholeheartedly disagree. It removes floating particulate biological matter that is too small to be captured by the other media, and really helps to stave off algae growth in higher light.

I especially like the "dirty water intake", or whatever it's poorly translated term is for for skimming the top of the water. You need to extend the intake tube downward in order to open the "valve". The piece that fits on the tube floats on top of the water. It's exceptionally good at removing any film off the top of the water if your tank lacks sufficient surface agitation. It will gargle the water pump if the main intake gets blocked, by forcing too much air into the "dirty water" surface intake.

When setting it up, make sure you fill the tank completely with water before attaching the hoses. Prime by pressing the big prime "button" all the way down, hold, then release. Repeat two or three times before plugging it in.

Sent from my SM-T310 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[eddyk]

Good tips, Thank you.

I appreciate the help.