Emperor vs A/C owners of both only...

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I like to add that our opinions are largely based on what we expect out of our HOBs. I could say that the major evaluation criteria are: solid waste filtration, bio-media capability, ease of cleaning/changing media, water circulation, reliability, and cost. Then we all apply a weighting factor for each of those criteria based on our own personal needs and knowledge.

At this stage of my fish-keeping knowledge, I no longer count (or care) about solid waste filtration. I have no driftwood or plants that decay, I feed my fish primarily 3mm NLS and have absolutely no food waste, and I vacuum the fish pooh off the top of the sand every week during water changes.

I don't expect my HOBs to be the sole source for BB production. I count on my sand substrate to be the stable bio-media source that doesn't loose any BB capability like my HOBs do when I clean them or change cartridges.

I do place a higher rating weight on easy of cleaning and restarting (if needed) during a water change. I have multiple tanks, work long hours, have kids, own a home, fix the four cars we own, workout daily, and walk the dogs an hour a day. Plus I have other hobbies and interest. I do NOT have time to waste on aquarium maintenance.

I do use my HOBs for water circulation. I rate the TetraTec very high in that area and the AC110 very low.

I do care about reliability, but I can't fairly rate my filters because I have such a small sampling (from a sample of one style filter to a maximum of five of the same type. We can only rate reliability effectively if we know the exact number of each HOB in use, how long each ran before something failed hard (e.g., motor burned out), and how many and often soft failures occurred (e.g., propeller jammed but was restored after reseating the propeller housing).

The weight I put on cost has changed drastically over time. When I was young and single (and had no life other than fish keeping) I would spend money on filters very unwisely. Now that I have tremendous financial obligations, I CANNOT waste money on filtration; especially over filtration.

So you can see from this long response I have my own set of rating criteria that probably matches only a small subset of people who have posted on this thread.
 
Well I used HOB filters, canisters and wet/dry (sump) filters and now back to HOB simplicity. I've found they all work well, but any filter that you have to pump the water below your water line (canisters n sumps) is just a disaster waiting to happen. I've had major spills and that's never happened with any HOB filters that I've owned n it's the only real concern I have with the A/C 110'S (leaking as mentioned).

HOB filters are the easiest to maintain and cost less to run n rarely if ever pour out your tank on the floor. I've had canisters and sumps do that and it's not happening any more, these are the reasons I switched back to HOB filters. That said, if the only difference between the emperor n the A/C's are that minimal then either one will be fine by me. I just wanted to know if there were MAJOR differences, but there aren't any...happy monster fish keep'n everyone n thanks for your input...:)
 
I run both and like them both. I also have canisters. As said in other posts I don't think you can truly go wrong with either and as far as defects go they are all man made so none of them will always be perfect.
 
bitteraspects;3912434; said:
Its a matter of facts, not opinion.
Feel free to check the stats on flow rate (500gph vs 400gph), power consumption (14w vs 25w), media volume (4L vs basically none), cost of replacement cartridges, and all the other stuff mentioned. The facts speak for themselves.

the only thing the emperor has over the AC is initial cost. But considering the price of replacement cartridges and the fact that the AC110 is known to last over 15years (you won't get that from an emp400) you're looking at around $1000 in savings over the life of the AC110.

it may sound biased, but that's because the pros of the AC110 far outweigh the emperor. The specs of each filter speak for themselves.
Click to expand...

Suuure.:ROFL:
 
irishfan;3912687; said:
youre telling me youve had the same replaceable cartridge in the emperor for 5 years? Thats impossible. The water flow alone would make those things dissolve or fall apart. The plastic ones yeah they last forever but not the blue ones. Unless you have no poop I just cant see one of those things lasting nearly that long
Click to expand...

Have you had an Emperor for 5 years with the same cartridge? I haven't but it's been a year with mine and same cartridges that came with the box when I first bought it.
 
Yea all you gotta do is rinse the cartridge off preferably with the sprayer from the kitchen sink real good in pop'm back in, then they're good enough to mechanically trap most debree and still have the biological benefits...
 
This is an ongoing discussion, I use basically 3 types of hob filters the emp 400, AC500, and tetra tec500 and they all do their jobs satisfactory. I've had my emps for the last 8 yrs and no problems whatsoeva but for that matter I haven't had any problems with any of them. Proper maintenance and they'll all last a long time. One interesting note is the flow rate, a few years ago this topic was being discussed on another site (WW) and someone presented some actual flow rates and the AC fell way short of its advertised 500 gph somewhere in the upper 300 the test was done by an independent source and reported in the consumer report so be careful about believing advertised flow rates by the way the emp was over the 400 gph that it advertised go figure. As far as gph the emp out performed the AC, does this mean its better not to me just an interesting piece of info. As far as the person using a filter pad for 5yrs i'm not challenging your claim, however i question the effectiveness of the pad but if it works for you why change. Currently I only use hob filters for individual situations as far as being cost effective and convient once you reach a certain amount of tanks non of them are the best option, i mostly take full advantage of a water changing system that is so sweet in my fish room. I only use hob filters on tanks that are not in the fish room, the tetra tec heater helps with those fish that cant stand heaters I had a Red Devil that would just ram heaters until they break the same thing with my Dovii in another tank so thats how the tetra tec got introduced to my collection lol.
 
Tornfins;3914284; said:
This is an ongoing discussion, I use basically 3 types of hob filters the emp 400, AC500, and tetra tec500 and they all do their jobs satisfactory. I've had my emps for the last 8 yrs and no problems whatsoeva but for that matter I haven't had any problems with any of them. Proper maintenance and they'll all last a long time. One interesting note is the flow rate, a few years ago this topic was being discussed on another site (WW) and someone presented some actual flow rates and the AC fell way short of its advertised 500 gph somewhere in the upper 300 the test was done by an independent source and reported in the consumer report so be careful about believing advertised flow rates by the way the emp was over the 400 gph that it advertised go figure. As far as gph the emp out performed the AC, does this mean its better not to me just an interesting piece of info. As far as the person using a filter pad for 5yrs i'm not challenging your claim, however i question the effectiveness of the pad but if it works for you why change. Currently I only use hob filters for individual situations as far as being cost effective and convient once you reach a certain amount of tanks non of them are the best option, i mostly take full advantage of a water changing system that is so sweet in my fish room. I only use hob filters on tanks that are not in the fish room, the tetra tec heater helps with those fish that cant stand heaters I had a Red Devil that would just ram heaters until they break the same thing with my Dovii in another tank so thats how the tetra tec got introduced to my collection lol.
Click to expand...
Nice bit of info there. I don't notice a bit of difference between my 5 year old emperor with the same pads to my couple month old emperor. As far as it letting debris by I don't ever notice this either no small patricles in the water. Right now I have that filter on a 75 with and adult green terror and its the only filter on there. Before I had an adult ocar and 5 clown loachs in there with a pengiun 350 on the other side which also is 5 years oold with same pads and don't see any flow rate restrictions or debris getting by.

For the OP you never want to rinse you filter media out with tap water tank water only.
 
erk419;3914321; said:
For the OP you never want to rinse you filter media out with tap water tank water only.
Click to expand...

I know lots of people do rinse their filter media with tank water only, but I prefer a really clean pad and less bb than a not so clean pad and lots of bb. Remember, your whole tank is a biological system not just the pads...:woot:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom