SunSun 303B Unboxing and Setup

[Fish Tank Travis]

I didn't want to use the spraybar but I have eels and I had a bad experience with them swimming up the intake of my old filter and then getting dumped out in the sink while I was cleaning the lines out. One of them actually went down the drain but I was able to get the drain catch off quick enough and get him back in the tank. He had a bit of temp shock for about a minute but has been fine ever since. I got super lucky.

 

[nossalucard]

I would highly DOUBT your eel could swim AGAINST the current coming OUT of the exit of the canister filter at all.

YMMV, just my opinion..

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Lol, I know that. But when I turn it off for maintenance, they tend to hide very quickly and last time they got up into the intake tube.

 

[nossalucard]

Simple solution..


Stick a small piece of filter sponge or other type filter material (that you can easily remove after maintenance) in the output tube elbow temporarily, to prevent them from swimming into the output tube.

Also, I don't maintenance my "cans" often, more like every 3-6 mos. Not advocating it for everyone, but it works for me. Average nitrate: ~30-40, with weekly 50% WC

Hope this helps...

 

[Chiapet29]

Hey all,

So, I got a SunSun 303B to replace my broken Fluval 204. It was about $88 shipped to my door.

You will definitely see that it is a knockoff by the poorly translated words and phrases. It starts with it being titled on the box as an Outside Filter as opposed to an External Filter.

So, here's the box
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Here's everything out of the box. Btw, I wear a size 13 shoe for size reference.
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And here's the filter media and sponges/floss that came with it (I bought the combo package that included media)

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Here is a picture of the lid with the UV lamp and cover installed.

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Next up is the media baskets and their order in the canister. Be sure to rinse the media to get rid of any dust on it. I chose to use the blue sponge in the very bottom of the bottom basket (first) and put the bio balls on top of it in the same basket.

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Next is a basket full of ceramic rings. The amount they sent was a bit pitiful and didn't even fill up half of the basket. Luckily, I had 10lbs of it that I plan on using in my sump for my 220 (if I ever get the time to get it set up).

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Last basket I used all three pads of filter floss. I did not use the carbon.

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Then I put the basket topper and the lid on.

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At this point it was ready to go. I already planned to do a water change while installing the filter so I siphoned some tank water into the canister before starting it up. With it being filled up with water, I found the large priming button on the top to work very well and a few presses of the button had it off and running. Se the picture of the spray bar with the flow below.

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It is rated at 370gph but I think that must be with a completely empty canister. My guess is after all of the media is added the flow is around 250gph. The media capacity is incredible though. If it were full of just ceramic rings then I think it could hold about 12lbs of them.

Last few pictures here. This first one is the badge on the pump head.

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Next picture is the SunSun 303B sitting next to my old Fluval 204.

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Lastly, a picture of the filter sitting in front of my 29 gallon tank, that it will be filtering.

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So, it is all up and running. Also, it is QUIET! I couldn't believe that I couldn't hear it at all over my air pump. It was extremely quiet.

The way the water flow works is the intake goes down through a tube that is built into the baskets, which also holds the UV tube. It gets to the bottom and then disperses and is drawn up through the filter media from the bottom to the top, and is then pumped back to the tank. The plumbing that came with it is pretty cheap but the vinyl tubing is pretty nice. I didn't use all of the plumbing parts that came with it because I thought that some of them were too restrictive.

It is very easy to use if you've ever use a canister before. So far, I would definitely recommend it.

Let me know what you all think or if you have and comments or suggestions.

Thanks all

I have the same filter running my 75gl for the past few years with no problems, the only thing I did different was fill the second media tray with crushed lava rocks instead of media balls, in my opinion they hold more good bacteria,

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Simple solution..


Stick a small piece of filter sponge or other type filter material (that you can easily remove after maintenance) in the output tube elbow temporarily, to prevent them from swimming into the output tube.

Also, I don't maintenance my "cans" often, more like every 3-6 mos. Not advocating it for everyone, but it works for me. Average nitrate: ~30-40, with weekly 50% WC

Hope this helps...

Thanks for the advice. I will probably do something like that if I ever put it on a larger tank. For now, I have it on my 29, along with a cheap 180gph internal filter, so the flow with the spraybar will be just fine. Plus, it does a good job at reducing dead spots since it puts flow across a wide area.

 

[William Norman]

I used to use the FLUVAL 307 & 407 canister. Very nice filters but very expensive as well.
I got out of the hobby about 6 years ago whilst using those two. Sunsun wasn't really a name back then but now, 6 years later and quite a bunch of really good reviews, I decided why not? Let's try something different - other than the household brand name (Fluval) and see where it goes!
Well, almost three months later, and a few extremely minor issues later, I'm super happy about the filter.
I specifically chose the MARINE COLOR 303B which we all know is the same as the Sunsun brand. This choice was for the 36 gallon bowfront aquarium freshwater system.
Commonly placed below the aquarium, I learnt that the 303B is best situated at level with the aquarium itself.
By placing the filter aside the aquarium, the filter doesn't have to work as hard as if it was placed below the aquarium at floor level.
I run the UV sterilizing system built in the filter for only 2 - 3 hours per day. Over the past 3 days, I've noticed a significant difference in the water quality.
I wouldn't recommend that it be run for a 24 hour period as uv light can reduce the stability of the internal filter parts (plastic trays) that are exposed to the UVC light.
Although these trays are designed to "lock" together when installed (stacked) properly in the canister, the UVC part of the UV light component apparently degrades the plastic composition of the trays that are exposed to the uv sterilizer unit. This includes plastic of which the trays are exposed for an excessive period of time to the uv light.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Wow, this was a blast from the past when I got the email notification for this thread. I figured I’d take the time to update this thread on my experience.

Since I posted this thread over 7 years ago I have downsized a lot in the hobby to the point where I only have my son’s 29 gal tank. I keep up with it, but not nearly as well as I should. Anyway, it’s still got the same SunSun 303B on it and it’s still going strong. I don’t clean it nearly as much as I should and I’ve had the suction cups come loose on the intake (was really my fault because I didn’t clean them off well some of the times I was putting them back on) to where it fell out and sucked air for a good part of the day a few times. Each time I was able to pop the top, fill it with water, plug it back in, and then get it going with the primer button. The primer never worked all that well, but it manages to get the job done.

I did modify the intake by adapting one of the Fluval surface skimmer attachments on it so I could get the surface clean. It works quite well when the skimmer stays floating.

The UV light doesn’t work anymore, but I haven’t tried replacing the bulb because I don’t really have much need for it.

Overall, very happy with the purchase of this filter.