Aquatop CF400UV

I thought I'd toss up a quick review of the amazing deal posted the other day by MeganS. Please keep in mind while I am not entirely new to having an aquarium, I am completely new to using a canister filter. Go ahead and skip to the end for PROS and CONS if I write too much

To start with, the box arrived well packaged, and upon opening it everything was in pristine condition. Kudos for ensuring their product would arrive in the right number of pieces! I took everything out of the box and popped open the instructions to see how to assemble it. The instructions quite frankly were very lacking, especially for a canister newb. However between the instructions and the YouTube videos (thanks AmazonPassion for the tip) I could follow decently how to do it. I rinsed the components as required and was kind of shocked that each basket had a couple plastic slivers; I would have expected those to be gone at assembly and only rinse dust.

I reassembled the unit very easily without an issue, filling tray 2 with Fluval biomax rings. Snap the top on and then on to assembly of hoses, water inlet tube, and spray bar. This is where I ran into a wall. The inlet tube was fine, but the spray bar would not connect to the 90° elbow since both ends had male ends. I sent a quick email off to Aquatop to have them rectify this, hopefully I hear back soon. In the meantime I used a small piece of 1/2" ID 5/8" OD clear tubing to connect the two ends so I could use it. I didn't pay for next day shipping to let it sit around!!!

With everything hooked up I primed the filter with a few presses of the primer button on top, plugged it in, and listened to it run which is hard to do as it is VERY quiet. Overall I am quite happy with the setup and the ability to remove my HOB filter after the canister cycles.

PROS
- price - can't beat an Amazon price mistake ($17) but even full price it's pretty comparable
- runs very quietly
- nice long power cord and 5' tubes give you ample placement
- main canister assembly was pretty easy for a first timer

CONS
- missing parts - sorry but no reason for any company to have bad quality control, others write on the net having similar issues with missing parts
- plastic water inlet and spray bar components fit together a little on the lose side for my liking, prefer a much tighter assembly
- comes with filter pads, but it should come with at least 1 pkg of biological in my opinion

 

the avaiabliy of it coming with biomedia depends on the seller, the two canisters I got off ebay came with media

I will agree with the loose fitting parts, our elbows where there on our other canisters but fit so loose that the water flow blew them apart. Ended up super gluing them together.

 

Thanks for the review. I'll be on the lookout for missing parts when mine arrives. One question, do you think that a fluval prefilter sponge will fit over the intake strainer?

 

Looking at the intake thru the glass it appears to be roughly 1.25 - 1.5" diameter. I'm not sure how stretchy the fluval prefilter is, but from the pics it doesn't look to be wide enough as it looks 1/2", as if it was designed for HOB 5/8" type inlets.

 

Bummer. I guess I will need to improvise a new way to keep my rcs out of the filter then.

 

A piece of new panyhose should work

 

Good idea Lexi.

Anyone know of a guide on how to do maintenance to canister filters? As in, the proper steps to open it without water going all over the place lol

 

Thanks for the suggestion, Lexi. I will probably give that a try. The last time I did it got clogged almost every day, though.

I'm new to canisters as well so I have been watching various videos and reading up on them on the forum The end of this video covers canister maintenance.

 

that looks a lot like my cascade canister

 

Actually, it'll work. The plastic isn't exactly...sturdy so be careful. But before I decided to ditch it I was able to put it on. Other option is that the strainer is a separate piece from the intake tube, so you could always remove the strainer and just slip the sponge over the intake tube. I'd only slide about halfway up though so you aren't just sucking water through a small portion of the bottom of the sponge.

That said, I love mine and had no issues with missing or non-fitting parts. Instructions are slightly lacking but the setup is fairly straight forward. Also the intake and output do strike me a little on the cheap side, but they are serviceable and the filter itself seams solid.

I actually prefer the lower price and not having to pay for media I may or may not want to use. I'd rather purchase it separately so I can get exactly what I want.

 

Thanks, Lupinus! I'll give that a try! I really like the fluval prefilter sponge so hopefully I will be able to get it on without breaking anything.

 

Just be prepared for a lot of wiggling and take it slow if you try and stretch it over the strainer lol.

Or like I said, the strainer is it's own separate piece on the intake tube. Can always take that off and slide the sponge directly onto the tube. I wouldn't think it will cause any issues.

 

MeganS, you could also try taking a small exacto knife and cutting a couple slits lengthwise along the inside of the sponge to see if that helps it stretch around the intake strainer

 

Megan....If you just slide the pre filter sponge on the tube it will work for a while, but then pre filter sponge with collapse on itself. What I did was took the fish net material and wrapped it around the strainer held by a rubber band. I occassionaly have to clean it but only when I do water changes. It still gets clogged but better than using a panty house. I have RCS in my tank with the CF 400.

Good idea Lexi.

Anyone know of a guide on how to do maintenance to canister filters? As in, the proper steps to open it without water going all over the place lol

there is a youtube tutorial done by actual users ;-)

 

Good idea Lexi.

Anyone know of a guide on how to do maintenance to canister filters? As in, the proper steps to open it without water going all over the place lol

I have that filter. When you press the disconnect lever, where the tubes go in, the water stops. Lift that piece w/ the tubes and you may get a tiny drop, if that, when it's open. I've never spilled any water when doing filter maintenance. Bring the canister to sink and unlatch locks. Very simple.

 

I just bought some of these so its nice to hear a lot of positives about them. Thanks for the writeup and the links.

 

I got mine today. does the little intake outake chamber thing actually lock? bc I can just pull it off.

 

I got mine today. does the little intake outake chamber thing actually lock? bc I can just pull it off.

Yes it does lock. You have press down firmly unitl it can't go down anymore. Lock it, then you wouldn't be able to pull it up again if its locked.

 

@allaboutfish, did your spray setup come with 1 or 2 90° elbows?

 

Yes it does lock. You have press down firmly unitl it can't go down anymore. Lock it, then you wouldn't be able to pull it up again if its locked.

mine won't lock

@allaboutfish, did your spray setup come with 1 or 2 90° elbows?

2

 

oops nevermind it did.

 

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Thanks.
Got off the phone with Aquatop about an hour ago, they are going to send me my missing part.
Hope it doesn't take too long but at least I can still use it.

 

Thanks.
Got off the phone with Aquatop about an hour ago, they are going to send me my missing part.
Hope it doesn't take too long but at least I can still use it.

What's the phone number?

 

What's the phone number?

tel: 1-888-915-2782

 

Got mine today...it took 10 minutes to prime and is blowing bubbles like mad lol.

My surface skimmer attachment definitely won't lock. I pushed it on as far as it can go and nothing... Still works though.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Mine isn't blowing too hard but I also have full length tube on it coiled (waiting for canister to take over cycle from HOB). I'm figuring when I have hoses in the right spot at shorter lengths it'll be powerful (not that it's a slouch now)

 

Mine creates a nice circular current in my 29 gallon. I have the spray bar positioned so that it sprays the water upwards into the back glass.