Ebay External Filter Came Today!

[Betta5]

First of all, im impressed, its a decent peice of kit, esp for the money. Its huge and the flow is pretty powerful (its a 1000lph I think and was on a 120L tank) a cardinal was finding it hard to not get stuck to the intake. It comes complete with bio rings, bio balls and a carbon bag, along with floss pads. It has sterdy thick tubes, the only negative I can think of on first impressions is that the plastic bits that were in the tank were a little fragile but overall not to bad. The canister itself is thick heavy and sturdy, not at all weak or flimsey, so are the media baskets, nice a sturdy. It was easy to put together and once you push the bthe tubes had filled with water and it was fully going the noise was only a gentle buzz, you wouldn't notice it and would be fine for bedroom tanks.

The seller was great. I ordered it on sunday night, it was posted yesterday and I got it today, cant ask for more than that.

Here are some pics... because im over the top and felt like you needed to see this.

Just incase anyone was wondering the filter is called the sun sun, or the sun filter.

Came to me like this

Sliced it open

Here is what was in the box

Bits

Top of canister

Rings

Bio Balls

Carbon

I got water out! woo! I was running it without the media, just empty but still here is a pic

Overall I really like it and Im glad I brought it. Its only first impressions, but it seems great.

Thanky for reading and hope this helps anyone who needs it

 

[Liam50]

is this one of those filters that has a uv in the lid?

 

[Betta5]

is this one of those filters that has a uv in the lid?

My one doesn't as its only the 1000L, but its the same make as the ones with the UV in the lid. I think its he 2000L that comes with the UV. I would recommend them from the little time I have used it. WAY better than my internal already IMO.

 

[mini_matt]

I think the one with uv on it is still only £69 tho? lol so it looks good so far then, decided im going for a sump instead but was looking to get this before tthe sump idea came up, keep us posted because £45 seems a good investment do you know anyone with a tetra ex? they look to be a copy of those so would be good to see a comparison on build quality

 

[Betta5]

Yeah, I would always recommend a sump, the extra gallons alone make it a good idea. I dont know anyone with the tetra ex and im thinking it would be pretty hard to do an online comparison. I have read somewehere that SunSun manufacture for some of the big filter name brands.

 

[bobross]

I have that exact same filter as the OP. Had it for about a year now & everything seems to be just as fine as the day I got it. A surface skimmer is included(optional) but I quit using it after realizing my syphon broke every time I did a water change. Good filter, for sure. It was worth the $70 I paid for it. The one concern I have with it & maybe tetratec(marineland) filters have the same problem, since these are basically knockoffs of them. Is the top part of the filter(the filter motor housing) came all greased up to help form an even stronger seal once the filter was closed. What happens once that grease dries up? Where do you get more? Anyways, good filters for the price if you can get them to last a year or two.


BobRoss

 

[mini_matt]

i think basically use vasiline but then thats oil based so might wither the seal so silica grease? i have come accross a problem with my tetra you might find with yours need to take another look but don't be too rough when you tighten the hose on because I had to get a replacement tap when I 1st got it as the previous owner had snapped the clips off the tightening ring and now I have done it too! rubbish! its good to hear that it still works after a year of use, for that money you cant't grumble!

 

[bobross]

I was gonna say something about the taps on it but since my experience with canisters is limited, I wasn't sure if it were an issue or not. You're right about being careful with them, I can see how someone could break one under the assumption that they're tough, because they look tougher in a picture, right? I've been fortunate enough to not have them break, but I've only moved the filter once & torn it down three times in the year I've had it.

I was skeptical when I first bought about the seals & build quality & all the other stuff I guess, but again, I think as long as a person doesn't fiddle with it too much, like overcleaning it, they should be fine.

The one neat thing I thought was that the spraybar comes in two pieces. You can sort of control the flow depending on whether or not you use one piece of it, or add the second piece. I thought this was nice because if you only use one section of it, you can control where the outflow goes more. Simply because the spraybar isn't that long(what, 7 inches maybe?) and allows you send the flow across the tank. My XP2 spraybar isn't short enough to do that.

I guess that's not the best description of that, but anyone who owns one of these will know what I mean.

If I remember right, I think I may have seen Fluval making some sort of seal lube? or grease for canisters on ebay, but I can never seem to find any. Anyways, good buy there and it should last you at least a year.


BobRoss

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

Just ordered myself the 1400LPH one
give you a review when it arrives

 

[Betta5]

Just ordered myself the 1400LPH one
give you a review when it arrives

Cool. I dont think you will be disappointed. It will be a great filteration boost for your tank.

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

Well it Came today.

Took me about an hour to get it going perfect.

Can really find any faults at all except the inlet and outlet pipesare a little flimsy but that no problem.

Really chuffed the outlet from the tank is extenable my is pretty much at the bottomof my tank which is 2ft deep.

Decent flow rate too i've got the 1400l/h model and it will surely be a decent boost for my tank.

 

[Betta5]

Ahhh cool! I think its a really good filter for the price bracket and even more. I would defoo recommend it to anyone thinking about it.

 

[brixhampaul]

i thought i would join in, i got the 1000lph one yesterday and set it up. i think i've done something wrong though as i dont seem to be getting the kind of suction/flow as others have. i'm sure this is down to me rather than the filter though as its the first external i've set up i'll probably start from scratch again when i finish work later and see what happens.

 

[Betta5]

Its become the thing to have. Is the pipe going down to the filter full up? I found at first it was only half full at all times but I pressed the big blue button again and it filled the whole tube with water which i think made the flow faster. Also I would make sure everything is tightly connected (im sure you know this but still).

 

[raptorrex]

I got water out! woo! I was running it without the media, just empty but still here is a pic

if this is at full power, and with no media. i would say you are running at a lot less than 1000lph. at a guess, say 500lph? i would expect 1000lph to clear the tank, with no problems. should be ok for a 100L tank though.