best bang for the buck

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
verbal said:
Hard to go wrong with an AC110
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Two things can go wrong with AC. AC is the only brand that you need to remove the motor to clean the impeller, and over time, the O ring will fail and leak just like any canister. When the AC foam get clogged up, pressure will build up and there is a risk that the foam will pop up and drip water from the top.

Penquin is the best bang for the buck, exceeding the performance of the more expensive Emperor. Emperor has the non-essential spray bar and double impeller design that creates more complications to go wrong.
 
Aqua clears are great filters. If you want a canister you can get a sun sun or aquatop for about the same price.
 
Cu455 said:
Aqua clears are great filters. If you want a canister you can get a sun sun or aquatop for about the same price.
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Sort of. The SunSun 403b 525gph goes for around $100 and actually filters around 350-360 gph filled with media, which you still have to buy.

Quality wise? I've run my 2 SunSuns for about 2 years, but alot of folks have been running ac's for decades.


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I've gotten emperor 400s for $35 off of kensfish.com a lot of the time. For $75 you can buy two and they will far out perform a single ac110. Just watch the site and see what they are running. Right now the are $42.


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Hard to beat ACs. Cheap, have few parts so repair(if needed) is easy, easy to clean, moves a good deal of water & holds a decent amount of media. I'll never buy another brand of HOB.
 
Also, prefilter sponges slide right over the intake tube of ACs. No need to cut sponges to fit the weird intakes of emperors.
 
L600 said:
im really lookin at mechanical filteration more than bio
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Then I'd go for the ac110. They are better at mechanical than emperors'. I hate canisters, pita to clean. I always go HOB on smaller tanks, but I mix between emperor or ac depending on the tank needs. Sometimes I've gone one of each on a tank too. All depends on the set up.
 
Here is the price comparison from Big Al: AC110 $122, Emperor 400 $38 and Penquin 350, $30.

For the best bang for the buck, Penquin can't be beat. In term of performance, AC is vulnerable to leak as I explained in post #11. Emperor has the complicated spray bar and double impeller design that makes it unreliable to restart. Penquin has the simplest design with almost nothing to go wrong (biowheel can make noise and is non-essential so I operate Penquin without BW).

When you use hobs, you are really looking for high flow rate and mechanical filtration and don't expect anything else due to small media volume. If you want high flow rate and media volume, you have to step up to wet and dry filter. Canisters are too pricey and problem prone that IMO the worst bang for the buck
 
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