I just ordered the SunSun 304B off ebay for $92 shipped for my 55 gallon. Claimed 530 gph and the UV sterilizer and the equivalent to the CF500. Maybe you should take a look at that option also.
$100 Canister Battle! (Poll)
Hope I didn't mislead you thinking you were going to win a 100$ for having a kick ass canister filter lol
So here's the deal, I have about 100 bucks to spend on a Canister filter for my 55 Gal African Cichlid tank and was wondering what would be the best for my buck. (Keep in mind I have an additional HOB filter on the tank rated for a 55gal)
Cascade 1000 vs Aquatop CF400UV
To the stats:
Cascade 1000
100 Gallon rated
265gph
Price: $94.99
Reviews: 4.5 Stars
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Cascade®-Cani...8&qid=1347153176&sr=8-1&keywords=cascade+1000
Aquatop CF400UV
100 Gallon Rated
370 Gph
UV 9W Sterilizer
4 Stage
Price: $99.99
Reviews: 4 Stars
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Aquatop-CF400...ie=UTF8&qid=1347151789&sr=1-4&keywords=sunsun
Obviously by looking at the stats Aquatop is clearly the winner due to it pushes more GPH and has a 9w UV included. But, i'm a high believer on reviews and the Cascade has tons of great reviews all over. So i'm looking for advice from you all, some of you may even use one of these.
Let me know what you think! Who's the winner in your eyes?
So here's the deal, I have about 100 bucks to spend on a Canister filter for my 55 Gal African Cichlid tank and was wondering what would be the best for my buck. (Keep in mind I have an additional HOB filter on the tank rated for a 55gal)
Cascade 1000 vs Aquatop CF400UV
To the stats:
Cascade 1000
100 Gallon rated
265gph
Price: $94.99
Reviews: 4.5 Stars
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Cascade®-Cani...8&qid=1347153176&sr=8-1&keywords=cascade+1000
Aquatop CF400UV
100 Gallon Rated
370 Gph
UV 9W Sterilizer
4 Stage
Price: $99.99
Reviews: 4 Stars
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Aquatop-CF400...ie=UTF8&qid=1347151789&sr=1-4&keywords=sunsun
Obviously by looking at the stats Aquatop is clearly the winner due to it pushes more GPH and has a 9w UV included. But, i'm a high believer on reviews and the Cascade has tons of great reviews all over. So i'm looking for advice from you all, some of you may even use one of these.
Let me know what you think! Who's the winner in your eyes?
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
The UV light is something that gets a lot of complaints about in the SunSuns. I'd suggest getting the non-UV model. The older model, the 302/3/4 is cheaper than the newer 402/3/4, and they run fine. There's a 304A that I saw with a quick search for $90 shipped via Evilbay.
Well the cascade is made by Penn-plex, a decently known company and supplier for a while with a good rep. The aquatop are Asian knock off filters and yes looks better on paper, and for the most part usually are. People report getting them with missing parts, broken connectors, etc. Not all the time, but does happen. The aquatops are all over ebay in a variety of different names, direct shipping from overseas.
In reality, the aquatops and the knockoffs are probably made in the same factory that other big name filters are anyways. Their are a few knock offs that resemble name brands rather closely. I think the biggest difference is quality control in terms of making them and parts checking, etc. If the company is making cheap filters to flog off on ebay for $45 a piece, they put out any filter they can. If the same company is making a filter for Eheim or Penn-Plex or Fluval or whoever, they have better quality control in place when Eheim is going to sell the filter for $300. Parts are double checked before going in, the units are actually tested for XXX number of minutes according to their contract with whatever company and have to produce XX percentage of non-failure, etc.
Most of the things we buy are all made in the same factory. Buy a Samsung tablet or a Pandawill tablet, $400 in price difference, and to some extent that extra money gets you quality. Samsung gets the best, fastest flash chips. The no-name tablet gets the flash chips that work fine but fail the speed Samsung wants them at, so they use them and make $99 tablets. The zero dead pixel screens go to Samsung. The LCD's that have 1 or 2 dead pixels, well Samsung doesn't want them. Do you throw them out or sell them off for cheap to use in cheap tablets. I've had/seen lots of those cheap tablets. For the most part, good, but I can't say I haven't seen one yet that didn't come with at least 1 dead pixel spot on it. lol. Few with card readers that need to have the card taken out and back in all the time to work. Again, that's not good for Samsung, good for no-names. Same goes with anything. I could see them pressure testing a whole 10,000 yard spool of filter tubing. It fails at xxx gph, which Eheim won't buy, therefore it doesn't get the Eheim stamp and not used in their filters. It does test fine a XXX - 20 gph. That's still more than twice the filter power anyways and fine for filters, but can't go to Eheim, so now the no-name filters get green tubing with no Eheim marking on it until they use up that 10,000 yards.
Guess the point of my rambling is, they are both probably assembled and made from roughly the same parts. One has went through better quality control and the best, highest test level parts, the other, not so much. Whether or not if that affects you, there a small chance, not huge, for the most part the Aquatops do well for people, but there is a bigger chance overall of problems with it.
In reality, the aquatops and the knockoffs are probably made in the same factory that other big name filters are anyways. Their are a few knock offs that resemble name brands rather closely. I think the biggest difference is quality control in terms of making them and parts checking, etc. If the company is making cheap filters to flog off on ebay for $45 a piece, they put out any filter they can. If the same company is making a filter for Eheim or Penn-Plex or Fluval or whoever, they have better quality control in place when Eheim is going to sell the filter for $300. Parts are double checked before going in, the units are actually tested for XXX number of minutes according to their contract with whatever company and have to produce XX percentage of non-failure, etc.
Most of the things we buy are all made in the same factory. Buy a Samsung tablet or a Pandawill tablet, $400 in price difference, and to some extent that extra money gets you quality. Samsung gets the best, fastest flash chips. The no-name tablet gets the flash chips that work fine but fail the speed Samsung wants them at, so they use them and make $99 tablets. The zero dead pixel screens go to Samsung. The LCD's that have 1 or 2 dead pixels, well Samsung doesn't want them. Do you throw them out or sell them off for cheap to use in cheap tablets. I've had/seen lots of those cheap tablets. For the most part, good, but I can't say I haven't seen one yet that didn't come with at least 1 dead pixel spot on it. lol. Few with card readers that need to have the card taken out and back in all the time to work. Again, that's not good for Samsung, good for no-names. Same goes with anything. I could see them pressure testing a whole 10,000 yard spool of filter tubing. It fails at xxx gph, which Eheim won't buy, therefore it doesn't get the Eheim stamp and not used in their filters. It does test fine a XXX - 20 gph. That's still more than twice the filter power anyways and fine for filters, but can't go to Eheim, so now the no-name filters get green tubing with no Eheim marking on it until they use up that 10,000 yards.
Guess the point of my rambling is, they are both probably assembled and made from roughly the same parts. One has went through better quality control and the best, highest test level parts, the other, not so much. Whether or not if that affects you, there a small chance, not huge, for the most part the Aquatops do well for people, but there is a bigger chance overall of problems with it.
At the risk of being flamed to high heaven I'm going to make a "bang for your buck" recommendation.
Look at the CFS500 from Aqua Traders
Now, I know what you're thinking..... all they make is junk. I would normally agree on this point, but this filter is a definite exception to the rule..... there is a catch however. The catch is that the filter needs a few easy mods to realize it's full potential. I would say that unless you are ok doing the required mods don't even bother with the filter.
I don't have the details on the mods, but if you search Google for CFS500 mods, you'll find a long thread on them. can give you a quick overview though. The top 4 are:
1. Cut a ring out of 1/4 plywood (this will require longer bolts which can be had from Home Depot to replace those currently used to tighten the lid) to act as a way to evenly distribute the load on the lid, thus providing a MUCH better seal.
2. Replace the o rings on the on/off ports, again to provide a better seal
3. Cut stock filter sponges into a cone shape, and cover with batting (sold at wal-mart or any fabric store)
4. Replace the corrugated hose with regular 1" hose (again, sold at Home Depot)
I know, it sounds like a hassle BUT it makes all the difference in the world! Now you have a cheap canister filter ($59 on the aqua trader site), that uses a cheap media (batting is like $25 for a huge bag). It works great for fine filtering, but I don't think it's the best for bio and chemical media. The other upside is the flow, this bad boy moves some water.
Again.... IF and ONLY IF you are ok with doing the mods, then totally look into this filter.
Another note on those canister filters with the built in UV, it's a hyped addition. The dwell time on the 9w UV lamp isn't normally good enough to make a difference on anything more then some suspended algae particles, but hey... maybe that's what you're shooting for.
Good luck with whatever you choose
Look at the CFS500 from Aqua Traders
Now, I know what you're thinking..... all they make is junk. I would normally agree on this point, but this filter is a definite exception to the rule..... there is a catch however. The catch is that the filter needs a few easy mods to realize it's full potential. I would say that unless you are ok doing the required mods don't even bother with the filter.
I don't have the details on the mods, but if you search Google for CFS500 mods, you'll find a long thread on them. can give you a quick overview though. The top 4 are:
1. Cut a ring out of 1/4 plywood (this will require longer bolts which can be had from Home Depot to replace those currently used to tighten the lid) to act as a way to evenly distribute the load on the lid, thus providing a MUCH better seal.
2. Replace the o rings on the on/off ports, again to provide a better seal
3. Cut stock filter sponges into a cone shape, and cover with batting (sold at wal-mart or any fabric store)
4. Replace the corrugated hose with regular 1" hose (again, sold at Home Depot)
I know, it sounds like a hassle BUT it makes all the difference in the world! Now you have a cheap canister filter ($59 on the aqua trader site), that uses a cheap media (batting is like $25 for a huge bag). It works great for fine filtering, but I don't think it's the best for bio and chemical media. The other upside is the flow, this bad boy moves some water.
Again.... IF and ONLY IF you are ok with doing the mods, then totally look into this filter.
Another note on those canister filters with the built in UV, it's a hyped addition. The dwell time on the 9w UV lamp isn't normally good enough to make a difference on anything more then some suspended algae particles, but hey... maybe that's what you're shooting for.
Good luck with whatever you choose
I seen that too but its listed now at 118 and amazon 101 plus 15 shippedI just ordered the SunSun 304B off ebay for $92 shipped for my 55 gallon. Claimed 530 gph and the UV sterilizer and the equivalent to the CF500. Maybe you should take a look at that option also.
Why does the UV get complaints?The UV light is something that gets a lot of complaints about in the SunSuns. I'd suggest getting the non-UV model. The older model, the 302/3/4 is cheaper than the newer 402/3/4, and they run fine. There's a 304A that I saw with a quick search for $90 shipped via Evilbay.
Good points here... I consider them both knock offs, so I guess which one would be the best knockoff lolWell the cascade is made by Penn-plex, a decently known company and supplier for a while with a good rep. The aquatop are Asian knock off filters and yes looks better on paper, and for the most part usually are. People report getting them with missing parts, broken connectors, etc. Not all the time, but does happen. The aquatops are all over ebay in a variety of different names, direct shipping from overseas.
I had a pp 1000 and the build quality is much better than the sunsun but I had major bypass outside the baskets with the 1000 something I didn't see with the sunsun.
i have two of the aquatop filters; priming them for the first time is a pain, otherwise solid. I have no complaints other than the less than sturdy baskets. that goes double on the smaller unit, cf200 i think. the cf300uv is running as the sole filter on a heavily stocked 65 gallon with plenty of fish that like to stir up the sand bed, no problems with that, the wide baskets in this unit are great. the cf200 is tall and skinny. this unit moves water well. it seems more efficient than the larger unit for its size.
very tall units though, if you have a short cabinet, theyre going to sit outside of it.
however, go SunSun, they're cheaper at the moment. sunsun puts a sticker on "theirs," aquatops are naked.
very tall units though, if you have a short cabinet, theyre going to sit outside of it.
however, go SunSun, they're cheaper at the moment. sunsun puts a sticker on "theirs," aquatops are naked.
Yea I heard about this issue.. some said they resolved by simply putting filter pads on the side. But, makes you wonder why you would have to do the extra work when you're paying for it to do its job.I had a pp 1000 and the build quality is much better than the sunsun but I had major bypass outside the baskets with the 1000 something I didn't see with the sunsun.
How are you able to see this anyways?
So you think the CF200 is better than the 4?i have two of the aquatop filters; priming them for the first time is a pain, otherwise solid. I have no complaints other than the less than sturdy baskets. that goes double on the smaller unit, cf200 i think. the cf300uv is running as the sole filter on a heavily stocked 65 gallon with plenty of fish that like to stir up the sand bed, no problems with that, the wide baskets in this unit are great. the cf200 is tall and skinny. this unit moves water well. it seems more efficient than the larger unit for its size.
very tall units though, if you have a short cabinet, theyre going to sit outside of it.
however, go SunSun, they're cheaper at the moment. sunsun puts a sticker on "theirs," aquatops are naked.
Which sunsun do you recommend? There's many to choose from.
I could stick a pair of chopsticks down the sides of the baskets it was so bad.Yea I heard about this issue.. some said they resolved by simply putting filter pads on the side. But, makes you wonder why you would have to do the extra work when you're paying for it to do its job.
How are you able to see this anyways?
So you think the CF200 is better than the 4?
Which sunsun do you recommend? There's many to choose from.
I fixed the issue by stuffing floss outside the baskets but that got old quick. They may have fixed this issue by now but this was back in 06 but since then I switched to Eheim and never looked back
I seen that too but its listed now at 118 and amazon 101 plus 15 shipped
I got it off e bay not Amazon.
I don't have a UV version (just the basic 302), so I have no firsthand experience. But if you look through the review thread for the 302, some people post their experiences with UV-versions.Why does the UV get complaints?
In any case, I seem to remember reading that the lights burned out quickly, physically broke easily when installing and replacing, and reduced flow noticeably. And I'm not sure it's possible to tell if it's even on.
i have two of the aquatop filters; priming them for the first time is a pain, otherwise solid. I have no complaints other than the less than sturdy baskets. that goes double on the smaller unit, cf200 i think. the cf300uv is running as the sole filter on a heavily stocked 65 gallon with plenty of fish that like to stir up the sand bed, no problems with that, the wide baskets in this unit are great. the cf200 is tall and skinny. this unit moves water well. it seems more efficient than the larger unit for its size.
very tall units though, if you have a short cabinet, theyre going to sit outside of it.
however, go SunSun, they're cheaper at the moment. sunsun puts a sticker on "theirs," aquatops are naked.
i have an Aquatop 500 in my 55g and am not all that happy with the flow on it. I am using the stock intake and spray bar though.
What are you using steven?
To tell you the truth i actually priced a fluval 405 yesterday to replace the aquatop.
The Aquatops and the Sun Sun look identical in construction. It makes me wonder if they are actually one in the same.
I used to be a sunsun fan until my SunSun/Aquatop filter (HW405b) died a few weeks ago. Motor shorted and burnt a hole through into the impeller housing. Lasted about a year and a half or so. I would spend a little more and get an eheim/fluval. The aquatops are way overrated as far as their gph goes so you can get a less rated eheim and get the same performance.
Ive been using my eheim classics for a while now and really like everything about them, except that I bought one or two sizes too small for what I need. For $100 you could find a 2215, the flow is less than what your looking at, but maby with the HoB you dont need it? And I beleive the 2215 can have the impeller upgraded to the 2217s later on if you did want more flow. They are rated for much bigger tanks and they filter the water great, only thing is you have to get one rated for like 150 gallons if you want lots of flow and its the only filter in your tank.
The Eheim 2215 is on sale at Big Als right now for $99.99 with free shipping. If I only had a hundred to spend, that's what I would buy. The flow is only 164GPH, so it really depends on how much water you want to move. Combined with the HOB, I think it would be fine in terms of filtration...so it really depends on how much flow you are trying to achieve in the tank to determine if it will work for you.
I have 2 sunsun 302's and they've worked perfectly for over a year now. I bought a 403b 6 months ago however and the uv light never worked even with a brand new bulb and the motor died inside of 3 months. Can easily get a new top with a new motor and uv light for like $40-50 though. Either way, even with the problems of 403, I still definitely recommend them over fluval, marineland, and eheims. I hate the marineland c series I got to replace the 403 at twice the cost with half the media storage and less flow because that's what people have recommended before. I'd sooner take the chance on another sunsun.
I know you said you had $100, but if you could save an extra $20 then you would be able to get a Rena XP-3 from pet mountain with free shipping at the moment 
You get what you pay for, I tend to spend a little more for quality but if your tight on cash the sun suns are good.
I currently have five canister filters in operation. The one I WOULD NOT recommend is a Cascade 1000! It has many flaws.
Very difficult to get the disconnects to hold and still turn them to remove and clean the filter. There is a terrible amount of bypass which totally defeats my way of determining when to clean the filter. I clean my cans when the flow begins to drop off. In the Cascade, it just passes the media and runs up the sides. Looking at the Cascade, you will find there is enough space at the sides of the trays so that you can run a wooden ruler down along side them. I sometimes find leaves INSIDE the spray bar where they have bypassed all the media and were ready to go back into the tank if they had not stuck in the spray bar. I do not buy Penn-Plax as I know them for low quality rarely sold at other than the big box type operations.
Given your choices, I would have to try the knockoff, but my real choice would be to wait for the extra bucks to buy an Eheim 2217. They are real filters with known good quality. I hate working with junk.
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Very difficult to get the disconnects to hold and still turn them to remove and clean the filter. There is a terrible amount of bypass which totally defeats my way of determining when to clean the filter. I clean my cans when the flow begins to drop off. In the Cascade, it just passes the media and runs up the sides. Looking at the Cascade, you will find there is enough space at the sides of the trays so that you can run a wooden ruler down along side them. I sometimes find leaves INSIDE the spray bar where they have bypassed all the media and were ready to go back into the tank if they had not stuck in the spray bar. I do not buy Penn-Plax as I know them for low quality rarely sold at other than the big box type operations.
Given your choices, I would have to try the knockoff, but my real choice would be to wait for the extra bucks to buy an Eheim 2217. They are real filters with known good quality. I hate working with junk.
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
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