I was going to buy a SunSun but I saw a Cascade 700 on craigslist in my price range, and was wondering if anyone had any strong opinions about it. I have a cascade HOB and was really impressed by it.
I used the Cascade 1000 and do not recommend it. I found several problems which made it the first canister I sold. I just found it had several irritating design flaws. I judge when to clean my canisters by how the flow is holding up as my experience had been that canisters did not allow for the water to bypass the media like HOB often do. As I used the Cascade I found this too be less true. There was a space all around the baskets where water could go in under the bottom and move to the side to come up rather than go through the media. At one point on the forum I posted pictures of the space and how it was large enough to stick a wooden ruler down alongside the baskets. The tipoff for me was when I started finding plant leaves on top of the media stack. Those should have been strained out at the bottom.
Too little motor power, too much electrical use for the power, too easy to stop up the spraybar and not very user adaptable is my review but the bypass was the killer for me.
I have the Cascade 1000 on my 47G hongi tank. I agree with all @PlantedRich said. I bought mine Used as well. I needed a canister filter then and cheap as I had a filter fail and time was of the essence. I still use it but on a very very lightly stocked tank. I have it attached to a sponge filter on the inflow and a bio-wheel pro on the outflow. The cascade is also very proprietary and no standard fittings fit it. I had to attach my ATI sponge prefilter to the intake with rubber hose because none of the fittings are 'standard'. I would recommend to avoid and get something else.
I am running a Cascade 1200 & I LOVE IT! It is quiet, powerful, no issues with flow, holds lots of media, & priced right! I will agree with @PlantedRich and @thedood on the bypass though. I'm not sure how much is bypassing, but it is minimal on my filter. I would definitely buy another one.....& am actually considering it to replace a HOB filter I have.
As far as bypassing the media...are there any canister filters on the market that doesn't have bypass issues?
Marinaeland Magnum series. I dont think they make them anymore, they have been replaced with a different model. I use one on my 75g and I love it. I know a lot of people hate on the magnum because they can be tricky to assemble but when done right they rock. The one I have is quiet and powerful.
One other thing about the cascade. I think the bypass issues would be easy to fix with aquarium safe 'weather stripping' or something around the bottom to seal the bottom tray to the bottom of the canister. As much water as it moves there is no way there can be that much bypass up the sides but there is some for sure. I also agree with @bassbuster23 they are quiet and the 1000 I have does move some water, spins the hell out of the bio-wheel pro i have attached.
I will also add this.Petco has the 700 on sale for $81 and change. If you can get the 700 used and complete for say 50 or 60 bucks I would consider it. If you do this make sure all of the gaskets are there. Mine was in the box and had the two most critical gaskets missing. I am sure the seller was unaware the fell off. If they are there buy a couple extras to have on hand just in case.
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