which of the two filters is better?? im gonna put 2 emps or 2 aquaclear 110s on my 55 gallon which..i would like to now the goods an the bads.thanks...
Emperor 400 vs aquaclear110
- Thread starter corey24
- Start date
I use Emporers and have for 15 years or so. The bio-wheels are far superior for biological filtration than anything you can put in an aquaclear. I always set my Emporers up with Supercartrages in place of the factory pads that add to the bio capacity and also eleminate the need to buy replacement cartrages of any kind.
I've used AC's over the years and even have one on the 29 at the moment. Good reliable filters for the price but decidedly low tech. Another down side is that when you do clean them...because of the design of the filter... you dump a HUGE load of crap back into the tank. the junk tends to remain trapped under the sponge frame until you lift it out to rince the media. This happens to a degree with ALL filters but IMO it's excessive on AC's. (I maintain quite a few aquariums by the way so I never bother to turn the HOB filters off.)
One is about as quiet as the other as far as I'm concerned and if you maintain them properly should run for 10 years or more. We pick up Emp. 400's for an average of $50.00 each or so on Ebay so cost isn't really as much of a factor as you might think. Add another $15.00 for the Supercartrage and your still under the cost of the average AC110
I've used AC's over the years and even have one on the 29 at the moment. Good reliable filters for the price but decidedly low tech. Another down side is that when you do clean them...because of the design of the filter... you dump a HUGE load of crap back into the tank. the junk tends to remain trapped under the sponge frame until you lift it out to rince the media. This happens to a degree with ALL filters but IMO it's excessive on AC's. (I maintain quite a few aquariums by the way so I never bother to turn the HOB filters off.)
One is about as quiet as the other as far as I'm concerned and if you maintain them properly should run for 10 years or more. We pick up Emp. 400's for an average of $50.00 each or so on Ebay so cost isn't really as much of a factor as you might think. Add another $15.00 for the Supercartrage and your still under the cost of the average AC110
Bderick67;1047443; said:
The sponge is not for biomedia, it is for mechanical. The biomax is for biofiltration.
Also, I disagree that biowheel is superior to biomax. You can remove the carbon pack, and add another layer of biofiltration, whether biomax, scrubbies, ehfisubstrat, whatever. AC FTW IMO
Some of these responses are silly....AC110 is far superior...you could run one full of biomedia and one full of sponges. There is no way that two spinning wheels have more bacteria growing on them then a media box full of biomedia where the water flows directly through it.
It's not silly. But it does boil down to opinion and preference more than anything.
I use Emps because I think they're easier to maintain and I trust bio-wheels to house enough beneficial bacteria to keep my ammonia and Nitrite at (zero). I also find that they buffer and adapt well when you increase your stock.
I overstock non-monsters and I supplement all my tanks with either a sponge filter hooked up to a powerhead or a cannister.
I use Emps because I think they're easier to maintain and I trust bio-wheels to house enough beneficial bacteria to keep my ammonia and Nitrite at (zero). I also find that they buffer and adapt well when you increase your stock.
I overstock non-monsters and I supplement all my tanks with either a sponge filter hooked up to a powerhead or a cannister.