Just Traded my Penguin 350 for an Emperor 400 and WOW!!!

[Frank Castle]

I never realized how much better the EMP4oo's were than the 350s.....I can save sooooo much money on filter cartridges, since they give you a slotted plastic case for carbon, I can just buy Carbon and Filter pad in bulk and put the $$$ I save towards something else. That's easily $15 per month, I could practically buy a new tank after a year.

Long story short, I have an older 75g w/ a 1" border that the 350 wouldn't fit, so I called and explain the situation and she said bring it back in the box w/ receipt and we'll swap it out plus the difference in price for the bigger filter, so the EMP400 fits and has all types of cool new features I never had on my numerous Penguin models, including three of their 350 models.

My advice, if you are going to get a Penguin 350 which is rated to 75 gallons, go ahead and pay the extra for the Emperor 400. Even though it's only rated to 80g, it stil has "auto-shower pipes" that keep the Bio-wheels moving no matter how clogged the outflows/filter pads get, a more durable plastic cover, less splash, much longer intake pipe, bigger "everything" basically, and then some.


Ignore the that it only does 5g more.

 

[JasonsPlecosCichlids]

If you used sponge filters you can save a heck of a lot more on energy, time, maintenance and what you mentioned in your post

 

[FishNCash]

The only reason why people buy Penguins is bcuz it's cheaper. Emperor400 out perform a penguin any day.

 

[Frank Castle]

If you used sponge filters you can save a heck of a lot more on energy, time, maintenance and what you mentioned in your post

I'm doing both, I have an order coming in tomorrow for 2 Lee's Triple Flow Large corner filters ALREADY ON IT BROTHER!!!!

The only reason why people buy Penguins is bcuz it's cheaper. Emperor400 out perform a penguin any day.

Yea, I wish I knew that 10 years ago. it's way cheaper to spend MORE on the 400. Ironic.

 

[JasonsPlecosCichlids]

I wasn't referring to those, referring to the large, full scale, top to bottom corner matten sponges

 

[knobhill]

Emperors are great but can be noisy! I'm kicking myself for selling my emperor 280s since they stopped making them. Had to go with a penguin 200 and it sucks. I'm going to cut to top of my 29g to accommodate an emperor 400.

 

[tiger15]

I prefer Penquin design over Emperor and own a dozen Penquin 350 and 200. The simpler Penquin design restarts more reliably than Emperor and the slimmer box takes less space behind the tank. I run my Penquins for mechanical only and don't install the biowheels, so the Emperor spray bar does no good to me except for consuming more energy and making more noise. If you like Emperor because of the filter basket, you can buy Penquin filter baskets from Big Al for $2.99.

https://www.bigalspets.com/refillable-media-container-for-penguin-200b-350b.html

 

[ECW]

I prefer Penquin design over Emperor and own a dozen Penquin 350 and 200. The simpler Penquin design restarts more reliably than Emperor and the slimmer box takes less space behind the tank. I run my Penquins for mechanical only and don't install the biowheels, so the Emperor spray bar does no good to me except for consuming more energy and making more noise. If you like Emperor because of the filter basket, you can buy Penquin filter baskets from Big Al for $2.99.

https://www.bigalspets.com/refillable-media-container-for-penguin-200b-350b.html

Agreed. I use 4 of those baskets for mines. You can pack it with whatever you want. I do filter floss and bio. To me the bio wheel is a gimmick. FYI aquaclear 100 < marineland anything in all aspects.

 

[fishnatics]

I prefer Penquin design over Emperor and own a dozen Penquin 350 and 200. The simpler Penquin design restarts more reliably than Emperor and the slimmer box takes less space behind the tank. I run my Penquins for mechanical only and don't install the biowheels, so the Emperor spray bar does no good to me except for consuming more energy and making more noise. If you like Emperor because of the filter basket, you can buy Penquin filter baskets from Big Al for $2.99.

https://www.bigalspets.com/refillable-media-container-for-penguin-200b-350b.html

My emperor 400's were so noisy and it did take a little longer to restart than the Penguins. It's still a good filter imo but I switched all my filters out for canisters now.

 

[ECW]

Agreed. I use 4 of those baskets for mines. You can pack it with whatever you want. I do filter floss and bio. To me the bio wheel is a gimmick. FYI aquaclear 100 < marineland anything in all aspects.

Correction. Aquaclear > marineland... Lol. Agreed on emperor becoming noisy in the long run.