The Puffer Forum

Here is a really cool canister filter that I think is a heck of a deal for people on a budget and not bad for a silent and effective canister. It has many names like Aquatop CF-300-500, SUNSUN, Perfect, and afew more. I own one and some people also mentioned it so I thought I would post a video that I found on them. Can find them all the time on ebay and afew dealers for alittle of nothing compare to the big brand filters. Btw, I think Im going to buy a CF-500 ( near 530 gph with 4 baskets) next. It comes with a built-in uv and an on and off switch. Now I think the built in uv would really help with taking care of ick problems people have been having here lately. UV 's have done wonders with ick out breaks in my tanks in the past but a filter with a built in uv would be space saving, imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUvZeRaF3BU

If you want a UV, buy a UV. If you want a filter, buy a filter. Routine use of UV on a healthy tank is wasted power and upkeep and can be detrimental to the non-nitrification microbes that are part of any operating system.

Purchase price is only one part of the lifetime cost and utility of a filter. Ease of use counts, reliability counts. power use counts big time - you will spend at least as much and likely more in power over the filter's lifetime as you did on the purchase price. Total life cycle costs are very important on affordability. and so is efficiency.

HTH

Wow, did'nt know I was going to get bashed for posted a canister filter with a built-in uv.

He's just posting his opinion, I wouldn't consider it bashing. I'm glad you can turn it off though. Sounds convenient.

Yeah I mentioned that and the video also stated it can be turned off and on. Now I would never keep a uv on all the time, just during ick outbreaks. I think I stated that too. I do have a seperate uv though. But like alot of the pond outside pressure filters with the built-in uv for green water and such, I think the same features for aquariums is a plus and space saving too. It's nothing new because built-in uv filters have been out for along time like in those in-line pressured filters. Like I said, some other members mentioned something about these canister filters so that's why I posted it. Plus around $119.00 free shipping at some places is awesome for us poor folk that cant afford high priced canisters. Now not saying If I did have the extra money to spend on something like those bigger ehiems or fluval fx5's I would buy one of those in a heart beat. But with a budget problem, I think this canister is great, thats all.

ya Fade, RTR was just saying his thoughts on that set up. Dont take any offense to it

Looks like that filter is based on the Marineland C series filters, one of the better canisters on the market for the cost IMHO. Glad the UV can be shut off though. I'm not a huge fan of UV because they aren't organism specific and can kill off necessary microbes that get sucked through the filter. What I like about this filter design is that there is very little water bypass, almost all of it goes through the media, you can also take out that carbon junk and add more bio balls or some bio-bale.

I know and an opiniun is just that..lol. Now RTR I know what you are sayin if you want a uv buy one and if you want a filter then buy one but it's just a combo nothin more. Many people that I have talked to that owns one really likes them with very alittle dislikes but mainly because of the cheaper parts. But for the money you can't really beat that though.

Dadof4 wrote:Looks like that filter is based on the Marineland C series filters, one of the better canisters on the market for the cost IMHO. Glad the UV can be shut off though. I'm not a huge fan of UV because they aren't organism specific and can kill off necessary microbes that get sucked through the filter. What I like about this filter design is that there is very little water bypass, almost all of it goes through the media, you can also take out that carbon junk and add more bio balls or some bio-bale.

See now thank you Dad...lol. I was not pushing this filter or anything. And I do own one but it was one without the uv built-in. They dont make those models anymore from what I was told, the ones without the uv. Btw, they are more like the Marineland C serious in many ways but more of a cheaper version so to speak. I will not even compare them though because I have seen the Marinelands C serious and they are built like a tank.

Actually my point was that purchase price alone is a very poor way to shop for any equipment which is designed to operate under power 24/7/365. Total cost per year is what matters and makes the difference between cheap and expensive. A low initial cost filter may or may not have high operating costs, Lifetimne purchase price plus media replacements and parts and power usage are all part of the total costs of operating a filter. Over the life of many filters, the power cost is the highest cost of the group of costs involved, although for filters with many disposable elements, those can be heavy as well. An inexpensive initial purchase price on a high operating cost filter is poor economy. Paying more for an efficient unit can actually save you significant money over the life of the filter.

I know a couple who have these and they were highly recommended (re-branded clones)

I have never heard a bad thing about the Aquatop Canisters. They are the "English" arm of Sunsun (the best Chinese aquarium filter manufacturer) and everything I have read about them is complimentary. They seem to have good warranty/replacement service compared to any other budget choice, good luck with a Jebo or Oddysea.

The energy demands given are with the UV running so when you calculate flow to power output it is not too far off the much more expensive Ehiem (factor of two to three times the cost on the high flow canister) options.

I would buy it from these guys truaqua.com, they seem to have a great shipping and return policy. I am about 20 miles form them so I know a few people who have used them and all of them are happy. They also seem to be cheaper then ebay etc.

http://www.truaqua.com/aquarium-canister-filters.html

Here are two comparison filters.

http://www.truaqua.com/aquatop-canister ... f-300.html

http://www.marinedepot.com/Eheim_Ultra_ ... 75-vi.html

I prefer the Ehiem on principle(German engineering),the power consumption difference and flow difference(Ehiem tries to account for head other companies do not) are minimal. The one downside I see is that it would take a very very long time to recoup the upfront cost of the Ehiem in energy costs. So going Aquatop makes sense for most people.

FADE2BLACK_1973 wrote: Now not saying If I did have the extra money to spend on something like those bigger ehiems or fluval fx5's I would buy one of those in a heart beat. But with a budget problem, I think this canister is great, thats all.

RTR, Like I stated above. I totally undersatand where you are coming from about ehiems and even other top brand canister being a better long run purchase. But these are the one of the better cheaper filters because they have alot of good reviews and not a bad filter for the money. I even heard from other people that really likes these filters even owning ehiems, Fluvals, and renas in their other tanks. Btw, I only use carbon in my filters for removing meds and maybe once in acouple of months or so. So I never spend much money on replacement media at all and my unit only uses 35 watts.

JP, yeah rebranded clones are what they are.

KJB, thanks for the links. I know another link too.

For me, I now count on my extenals lasting for ever - I have some running continuously for over 40 years now - so their costs are effectively entirely operational, power and replacements. I replace hoses at 10-20 year intervals, O-rings about the same. My media are permanent - I use no disposables. I seem to drop and break about one impeller every 2-3 years - not too bad for a klutz running several dozen canisters. The waste heat from tank lights and filters heats the tanks, so I require no tank heaters. I do have to replace cover glasses on planted tanks and/or their hinges periodically from etching and/or scratching, but that is at fairly long intervals.

Power for operating equipment and lights is my biggest expense (I do multi-filter my tanks). Replacement light tubes and]or water are likely the next two in costs. Spares replacement is trivial, less than foods.

My tanks are always set for ~10 year runs. Some operate less than that because they bore me early on, but many go well past that and get rebuilt at 8-12 year intervals to the same essential setup for several cycles because they do not bore me. At least one 55 has had the same set-up since well before we built this house some 26 years ago, just re-built thoroughly periodically. Others change radically because I want to try different operating systems or different fish. Keeping basically species tanks is a wonderful excuse for running more tanks. Using lasting, quality equipment means that you can do whatever you want with any given tank without significant new investment beyond the livestock. It does involve non-trivial capital investment (for me over a 50+ year period), but that operational costs are the only significant current expenditures. Some of the tanks are generally given over to breeding some of my current favorites, and that helps somewhat to off-set some of the current operational costs. It certainly does not make the hobby pay, but that is not the object of hobby. that wold be a small and labor-intensive business - not at all what I want from a hobby.

It's great to see a lively discussion on UV Canisters. There's an interesting article on UV in the 2011 Annual MF&R.