whats up with the emperor 400

[Ali1]

Although I don't have an Emperor 400, I have both a Penguin 330 and 350 running and they have at least 3X the flow of that. That filter looks clogged. How does it flow if you take the filter cartriges out?

Burt

EXACTLY!! i had the penguin 350 and waterflow was ATLEAST 3 times that. i sold the penguin becuase i heard nothing but good news about the emperor400, so i purchased one of those and the water flow is like the picture you see.

 

[Ali1]

What type of media are you filling the filter up with? That could have an effect on flow rate. I have used emperor 400 for years. How fast do you expect the flow to be? Do you expect it to shoot out like the Niagra waterfalls?

I have owned a few Penguins. Personally, I would never buy Penguins again due to their noisey impellars.

i've personally never had a problem with their impellers. the media is the same that came with the package. I thought the filter was clogged as well, until i thoroughly rinsed it and found no gunk

 

[Wolf3101]

I have over 10 E400's in servace at the moment and one penguin. You can't alter the flow rate with the media. The design of the waterfall is differant between the filters and that makes it LOOK like the penguin has a higher flow rate...It dosent...

Keeping the intake pipe clean and keeping it close to the bottom of the tank along raising the water level to a point just above the bottom of the waterfall will improve the flow. Make sure you also remove and clean the impeller housing every couple of months.

As far as media..scrap all of the factory media and pick up a pair of supercartrages. (pictures below) along with the added bio-capacity..this design has two removable and cleanable pads so you don't have to purchase anything else....ever. The supercartrages take up the entire media chamber so you can also scrap the gray media baskets.

 

[joxer]

Where do you buy the Forever supercartridge?

 

[Wolf3101]

You can pick them up on Ebay.

Note of caution....Judys fish is one of the places that sell them. Avoid her like the plague...She ripped me off for over 80.00 on one order (never arived and no refund) even when the filters from her DID arive (on previous occasions) they took WAY too long and she always had excuses. This time she made excuses so long that it was too late to fial a dispute with either paypall OR Ebay.

The filters themselves are fantastic however and there ARE other places that sell them so don't let this keep you from picking them up.

By the way they also have supercartrages for the penguins and also for Wispers...You can read all about that on my ***this old filter*** blog

 

[FishGoneWild]

How are the supercartridges different from the media packages? Any other pics of the supercartridges so we can get a better understand what the advantages are? I'm interested in these supercartridges if I don't have to clean as often. I am currently using the blue bonded media stuffed in the grey media basket.

 

[Wolf3101]

I posted a picture of one of mine in my previous post along with a picture of the package. It's a single cartrage that takes up both sections in the E400 and has a pair of slots in the center for sheet filter media that you can clean and re-use. It comes with carbon impregnented pads but you can use whatever you like. Once installed you don't have to remove the cartrage. Thats the part with the bio-filtration beds. The pads simply lift out...one at a time and can be rinsed in the sink.

One thing...they catch MORE junk than the factory pad so you have to rinse them off at least as often if not more so...however you don't have to buy new pads. I still servace my E400 every three months or so to make sure the pick-up tube remains clear and the bio-wheel spray bar hasn't clogged. how long the pads last depend on what other filtration you have on the tank.

 

[Behemoth]

There is a difference in flow rate with lower water levels. However, even with the raised water level...it probably won't be what you expect. I took mine completely apart...scrubbed it down...checked everything...my wife finally said why don't you raise the water level. So I tried it and it improved things...she won't let me live it down.

 

[Wolf3101]

Not just the water level...I know that on tanks with an E400 using a single section of pick up tube...the flow is slightly less than the ones with full tubes on 30" deep tanks.

The reason the media makes no differance by the way is that if you restrict the water flow through the pads the filter will bypass in the center the way it's designed to tell you that the filter pads need cleaned.