Aquatop CF400-UV

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I think I'm gonna get one of these for extra mechanical only. Here in NY I have pretty hard water and quite often I have hard water deposits always floating around in my tank. Also I have a Nast collection of cichla poop after one day of feeding haha. I heard the intakes are kinda small I might have to rig something better up and the UV is a bonus. Even though it won't put a dent in my 250 gallons of water volume it can't hurt. I was thinking about just buying as is and loading it with filter floss. My sump has a PVC over flow at 1 1/2" and it doesn't do a very good job at collecting debris even with power heads blowing around. Sumps are great for bio but ime they stink for mechanical when using a PVC overflow.


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The intake attachment is way too small for my pbass poop! I'm thinking about removing it entirely instead of breaking off some of the slits, just in case this filter will be used on a different tank someday. The UV seems ineffective as most of the experts thought. I guess as a cannister filter, I'm getting what I paid for. At least it's quiet and somewhat easy to maintain.

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aclockworkorange said:
Oh I don't think they're doing much in the way of sterilizing anything, it's a dinky little 9w bulb in a decent sized canister. But it does clear the water a bit. :)
Click to expand...

CONFIRMED
See attached file. I was being conservative on my guess-imate of the dimensions since no one could provide them.
As you can see at r=2.2225 (surface of the quartz sleeve) the UV dosage is very weak 3.6mJ/cm^2. As you move away from the sleeve it gets weaker as it should because you are moving away from the bulb. What's not shown on the chart (I deleted to fit the attachment) is as you move towards the bottom of the filter dosage goes to .03mJ/cm^2.

To summerize, if you use this filter on a 75g tank at 300gph you are turn the water 4 times. 4x2.618606 = 10.47mJ/cm^2 TOTAL DOSAGE. Keep in mind you need 22mJ/cm^2 for algae control and a lot higher for stage I and stage II sterilization. So yes, this UV is doing something but not a whole lot. You gotta admit that this filter is priced right.

CF400.JPG

CF400.JPG
 
Mahaloz Kendragon, sorry I was too lazy this weekend to take apart the damn thing to measure for you. I was just about to turn off that UV switch!
 
Priced right for sure when it's cheaper than comparable canisters that don't have UVs at all. I was just worried about longevity but I have not had a problem at all with two 400's and a 500 in a couple years running continuously.


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So I cleaned out my Aquatop yesterday, after roughly three weeks of running, and to my surprise only the fine floss in the bottom basket was heavily soiled. I was expecting to see a lot more crap in the entire cannister. Perhaps the restricted intake prevented more stuff from getting into it. I think I could have waited to hit the one month mark for the first cleaning. I dont like the quality of the replacement fine floss, it seems rather cheaply made and could be a lot better. Perhaps cutting out the pattern myself from better quality floss would great improve filtration, but at a higher cost. I guess with any mass produced, low-cost product, there is a lot of room for improvement.
 
I can't say I'm too thrilled with the FX6 either. I set it up last night and suction to say the least is weak. There's literally poop sitting right under the intake and won't get picked up. May be returning this. Just for your thread if lookin for a poop cleaner this item may not be your answer as well.


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