Ok peeps I am getting bored so I come up with this little thread.
The topic is Emp 400 Vs AC 110, and the business goes as follows.
Last april I got myself an AC 110 and soon got it working on my 50 Gal solo Flower horn tank, to tell true I couldn't complain, AC 110 is a furious workhorse, it provides lots of flow and for moments it seems It can run forever even without cleaning the media.
At the beginning I used the brand "sponge brick" and then on top of it placed lots of ceramic rings, but still water wasn't that polished so I cut a floss pad of 1 inch thick to fit in on top of the sponge and then I placed back the biorings and "voila" cristal clear water in less than an hour!!!.
I have read some people complain about AClear's being kind of noisy HOBs but in my own experience, my two AC -70 and 110- are dead silence, if any at the beginning of it my 110 started with an annoying rattling noise -got it second hand to saVe some two or the bucks tho-, so striped it and saw the shaft was kind of uneven (I got two shafts thinking to replace the uneven one and save the other for latter, the two of them cost me 6 bucks each).
New impeller shaft did the magic, 110 got dead silence I have to stick my ear to the motor just to hear a very sublte humming.
Well now I became a filter freak and eventhough my AC was doing an excellent job I decided to get me an Emp 400 because I have read so many good things about it and besides I find the biowheels not only very interesting for how they work providing oxigen and denitrifiying the water but also fun to watch, however what had previously kept me from getting this item it was the cartridges "concept", which I don't like because they only bring you into a making money scheme: Endlessly buying over and over besides, no matter how good a cartridge turns out It simply cannot do the same job of a huge "sponge brick" (Aquaclear) that last more than a year and is easily customizable if you dont want to buy it again.
Nonetheless I decided to give it ago and then I got me one Emp 400 -at 42 bucks by the way cheapoer than AC 110- Soon I found out that you dont need those cartridges if you dont want to purchase them, you only cut your own floss pads or sponges or whatever you want to place instead, you could even reuse the cartridges frame only removing the blue pad and the carbon, you place a floss pad and fasten it with some rubber bands to the frame and thats it, you can even fill it up with some carbon, anyway it is only a matter of getting your imagination to work.
Filter has 2 customizable baskets too, that I filled up with matured ceramic rings and a thin layer of floss to help polish the water more, got it working and removed the aquaclear and stored it after cleaning it up perfectly well just to see now how my tank goes on emperor 400 from now on.
I am planning to swapp them every 3 to 4 months or when the time for a mayor cleansing comes: Yes, yes I know some of you would think why not to leave the two of them working all together, mnaybe I'll do it later, it is only now I want to evaluate Emp 400 about how it turns out.
This are some of the pros and cons on both filters.
Sturdiness: Emperor's 400 black plastic seems far more resistant than the transucent plastic of the Aquaclear which IMO is fimlsy, if you arent careful enough you brake it, so Emp 400 wins this entry.
Capacity: AC box seems capable to hold more media but not by far, Emp 400 is not what you can call small either, it can hold an interesting amount of media aswell, nevertheless I would place AC above Emp on this entry, not by far tho.
Outflow: AC110 provides a lot of flow, EMP 400 has a good flow too but I must say the ammount of water AC 110 delivers simply does not have a match. AC wins this entry.
Spare parts: You can get spare parts for both of them very easy and at fair prices so they are even.
Aesthetics: This entry has to do with your very own taste. Eventhough I like the EMP 400 I have to admitt that the translucen box in the AC looks nicer than the big black box of the Emp 400 so thums up to AC.
Security: We know that the risk of having a leakage in a hob is very remote but not impossible to happen, and given the fact AC motor is detachable there is a risk one day the O ring lets water to pass, moreover being the AC box plastic flimsier there's a risk it brakes easier and a leakage to ocurr(it is very rare but not impossible). Emp's motor on the other hand, is sealed and the plastic of its box is sturdier so leakage possibility is even smaller. Thubms up to Emp.400
Price: Brand new Emp 400 cost me $42 bucks while second handed AC110 cost me $50 bucks, Emp 400 wins entry.
Ease to clean: Both are easy to clean but IMO emperor 400 wins this entry. To remove cartridges or the floss pads and the two baskets on the Emp 400 is even easier than removing the whole basket in the AC, furthermore as Emp 400 is made of black plastic it "hides" the dirt so you can leave it on its place for longer before removing the full box to perform a mayor cleansing.
Special features:Biowheels are a plus so there's no much to say about it only Biowheels are a system that works well, no other hob counts on this system and besides they are fun to watch IMO. Another feature that I like about the EMP is that the intake tube is very long so it reaches the bottom of my tank and sucks all the dirt very well while AC intake tube is short, you can always buy some extension to make it reach the bottom tho.
On the other hand you can dismount the AC impeller and grease shaft up with some food grade silicone grease and it will make it ethernal while Emp's 400 impeller shaft is harder to lubricate.
Eventhough I give this entry to Emp 400.
Emperor wins 5 entries while AC110 wins 4 and one tie however, I have to remark tho, that AC110 wins two of the most important entries to this kind of filters which are outflow and media capacity.
Your thoughts?.
The topic is Emp 400 Vs AC 110, and the business goes as follows.
Last april I got myself an AC 110 and soon got it working on my 50 Gal solo Flower horn tank, to tell true I couldn't complain, AC 110 is a furious workhorse, it provides lots of flow and for moments it seems It can run forever even without cleaning the media.
At the beginning I used the brand "sponge brick" and then on top of it placed lots of ceramic rings, but still water wasn't that polished so I cut a floss pad of 1 inch thick to fit in on top of the sponge and then I placed back the biorings and "voila" cristal clear water in less than an hour!!!.
I have read some people complain about AClear's being kind of noisy HOBs but in my own experience, my two AC -70 and 110- are dead silence, if any at the beginning of it my 110 started with an annoying rattling noise -got it second hand to saVe some two or the bucks tho-, so striped it and saw the shaft was kind of uneven (I got two shafts thinking to replace the uneven one and save the other for latter, the two of them cost me 6 bucks each).
New impeller shaft did the magic, 110 got dead silence I have to stick my ear to the motor just to hear a very sublte humming.
Well now I became a filter freak and eventhough my AC was doing an excellent job I decided to get me an Emp 400 because I have read so many good things about it and besides I find the biowheels not only very interesting for how they work providing oxigen and denitrifiying the water but also fun to watch, however what had previously kept me from getting this item it was the cartridges "concept", which I don't like because they only bring you into a making money scheme: Endlessly buying over and over besides, no matter how good a cartridge turns out It simply cannot do the same job of a huge "sponge brick" (Aquaclear) that last more than a year and is easily customizable if you dont want to buy it again.
Nonetheless I decided to give it ago and then I got me one Emp 400 -at 42 bucks by the way cheapoer than AC 110- Soon I found out that you dont need those cartridges if you dont want to purchase them, you only cut your own floss pads or sponges or whatever you want to place instead, you could even reuse the cartridges frame only removing the blue pad and the carbon, you place a floss pad and fasten it with some rubber bands to the frame and thats it, you can even fill it up with some carbon, anyway it is only a matter of getting your imagination to work.
Filter has 2 customizable baskets too, that I filled up with matured ceramic rings and a thin layer of floss to help polish the water more, got it working and removed the aquaclear and stored it after cleaning it up perfectly well just to see now how my tank goes on emperor 400 from now on.
I am planning to swapp them every 3 to 4 months or when the time for a mayor cleansing comes: Yes, yes I know some of you would think why not to leave the two of them working all together, mnaybe I'll do it later, it is only now I want to evaluate Emp 400 about how it turns out.
This are some of the pros and cons on both filters.
Sturdiness: Emperor's 400 black plastic seems far more resistant than the transucent plastic of the Aquaclear which IMO is fimlsy, if you arent careful enough you brake it, so Emp 400 wins this entry.
Capacity: AC box seems capable to hold more media but not by far, Emp 400 is not what you can call small either, it can hold an interesting amount of media aswell, nevertheless I would place AC above Emp on this entry, not by far tho.
Outflow: AC110 provides a lot of flow, EMP 400 has a good flow too but I must say the ammount of water AC 110 delivers simply does not have a match. AC wins this entry.
Spare parts: You can get spare parts for both of them very easy and at fair prices so they are even.
Aesthetics: This entry has to do with your very own taste. Eventhough I like the EMP 400 I have to admitt that the translucen box in the AC looks nicer than the big black box of the Emp 400 so thums up to AC.
Security: We know that the risk of having a leakage in a hob is very remote but not impossible to happen, and given the fact AC motor is detachable there is a risk one day the O ring lets water to pass, moreover being the AC box plastic flimsier there's a risk it brakes easier and a leakage to ocurr(it is very rare but not impossible). Emp's motor on the other hand, is sealed and the plastic of its box is sturdier so leakage possibility is even smaller. Thubms up to Emp.400
Price: Brand new Emp 400 cost me $42 bucks while second handed AC110 cost me $50 bucks, Emp 400 wins entry.
Ease to clean: Both are easy to clean but IMO emperor 400 wins this entry. To remove cartridges or the floss pads and the two baskets on the Emp 400 is even easier than removing the whole basket in the AC, furthermore as Emp 400 is made of black plastic it "hides" the dirt so you can leave it on its place for longer before removing the full box to perform a mayor cleansing.
Special features:Biowheels are a plus so there's no much to say about it only Biowheels are a system that works well, no other hob counts on this system and besides they are fun to watch IMO. Another feature that I like about the EMP is that the intake tube is very long so it reaches the bottom of my tank and sucks all the dirt very well while AC intake tube is short, you can always buy some extension to make it reach the bottom tho.
On the other hand you can dismount the AC impeller and grease shaft up with some food grade silicone grease and it will make it ethernal while Emp's 400 impeller shaft is harder to lubricate.
Eventhough I give this entry to Emp 400.
Emperor wins 5 entries while AC110 wins 4 and one tie however, I have to remark tho, that AC110 wins two of the most important entries to this kind of filters which are outflow and media capacity.
Your thoughts?.
