Marineland Magniflow C220 Canister Filter - 55G

So I was browsing Petsmart and saw this canister filter was on sale for $80, which seems to be a great deal for a canister with that GPH rate. Reading reviews, some of which are good while others are horror stories. I bought a Aquaclear 70 HOB but have not used it yet for my 29 gallon that I am working to set up. Thinking about swapping it out for this Marineland canister, but worried that the price is so low because it has issues and they are trying to clear inventory. Most of the reviews are from many years ago.. Any current thoughts on this filter from users?

 

I would invest in the canister. You will have more freedom to customize and overall be less obvious and quieter. Just making the suggestion......

 

Download the PetSmart app and play the in-app game to earn a 25% off coupon.

Get that Marineland 220 on sale and stack the coupon, and get it for $60.

I did something similar a few months ago, and scored a Marineland Magniflow 360 for $48 !

Prices go low because they are just clearing out old/slow moving merchandise, that's all.

There are a lot of bad reviews on the Marineland, but most are from the old C-series version which had inherent issues. The current version (Magniflow) has some updates on the design, but still isn't bullet proof.

On the 360 I bought, I slathered extra food grade silicone lube on the orings of the quick connect hose block. This was to ensure there were no leaks.

I also opted to make my own DIY intake and discharge pipes made some 3/4" PVC and hose barbs. I painted it all blackn with Krylon Fusion paint.

The issues of some Marineland canisters spewing out micro bubbles can be traced to how the hose connects to the intake pipe's barb fitting. I've seen YouTube vidoes of owner cutting off the stepped part of the bar, so the hose slips over only thr straight part of the pipe. Also, they discarded the stock plastic hose clamp and opted to use stainless steel hose clamps for a more secure fit. This seemed to fix the common problem of the filters and microbubbles .

If you pick one up, I advise to place the included plastic bio-balls in the bottom of the canister so the bottom basket slides down on top of them.

That way, any heavy muck or sand substrate sucked up will get settled put down in that short but empty void space.

On our 360, I added a 2" thick sheet of 20ppi in one basket and a layer of 2" thick 30ppi foam sponge to another basket. I got the sheets from Amazon from the seller/ brand Aquaneat. The 30ppi especially traps a ton of muck. I was impressed when I cleaned it earlier today.

In my opinion, the included ceramic rings were very hard and not porous at all. I opted not to use them. I feel that a layer of sponge foam in a basket offers a tremendous amount of surface area for the beneficial bacteria to colonize on, versus the hard non-porous "bio-media" that's included.

 

Download the PetSmart app and play the in-app game to earn a 25% off coupon.

Get that Marineland 220 on sale and stack the coupon, and get it for $60.

I did something similar a few months ago, and scored a Marineland Magniflow 360 for $48 !

Prices go low because they are just clearing out old/slow moving merchandise, that's all.

There are a lot of bad reviews on the Marineland, but most are from the old C-series version which had inherent issues. The current version (Magniflow) has some updates on the design, but still isn't bullet proof.

On the 360 I bought, I slathered extra food grade silicone lube on the orings of the quick connect hose block. This was to ensure there were no leaks.

I also opted to make my own DIY intake and discharge pipes made some 3/4" PVC and hose barbs. I painted it all blackn with Krylon Fusion paint.

The issues of some Marineland canisters spewing out micro bubbles can be traced to how the hose connects to the intake pipe's barb fitting. I've seen YouTube vidoes of owner cutting off the stepped part of the bar, so the hose slips over only thr straight part of the pipe. Also, they discarded the stock plastic hose clamp and opted to use stainless steel hose clamps for a more secure fit. This seemed to fix the common problem of the filters and microbubbles .

If you pick one up, I advise to place the included plastic bio-balls in the bottom of the canister so the bottom basket slides down on top of them.

That way, any heavy muck or sand substrate sucked up will get settled put down in that short but empty void space.

On our 360, I added a 2" thick sheet of 20ppi in one basket and a layer of 2" thick 30ppi foam sponge to another basket. I got the sheets from Amazon from the seller/ brand Aquaneat. The 30ppi especially traps a ton of muck. I was impressed when I cleaned it earlier today.

In my opinion, the included ceramic rings were very hard and not porous at all. I opted not to use them. I feel that a layer of sponge foam in a basket offers a tremendous amount of surface area for the beneficial bacteria to colonize on, versus the hard non-porous "bio-media" that's included.

Thank you so much for the feedback! I got the coupon and it expires next week but I have not pulled the trigger yet on the canister filter because I'm so indecisive lol. This review helps persuade me though. I went back to aqadvisor and realized with what I want to stock I will need the 360 as well. The lowest price I can find is $109 at Chewy which would make it $82 with the coupon. May I ask where you found it on sale that allowed you to get it for $48?

 

Yep, so PetSmart cashier will price match Chewy website prices since they own them.

That's how I got the 360 for $48 + tax. It was on clearance on Chewy site for $60, then I priced matched it and stacked a 20% off coupon from the in-app game.

That AqAdviser site is good to point you in the right direction, but it's not 100% accurate. There is no way their algorithm can get it nailed down every time, way too many variables.

To make a long story short, I removed our Hydor 600 canister from our 55g African cichlid tank and put the Magniflow 360 on it. In my opinion, there is too much flow currently. I haven't tried drilling out the spray bar holes again, because I'm going to put the Hydor back on it and put the 360 on another tank. Our 55g also has a Aquaclear 70 + a sponge filter.

If you already have an Aquaclear 70, in my opinion your AC70 + a Magniflow 220 would be perfect on a 55g. If you can get a Magniflow 220 for $60 is a great deal, especially brand new w/ warranty!

If you want the Magniflow 360, then I would suggest to either make a DIY spray bar with PVC and drill out the holes to a size that makes the water flow good for your needs, or buy the replacement intake/discharge pipe set for a Penn Plax 1500 or Hydor 600 (they are the same) . The barbs on those pipe sets will match Marineland's hose diameter, and you can drill out the holes on the pipe's spray bars to reduce pressure jetting out.


By the way, what are you stocking in your 55g ?

 

Yep, so PetSmart cashier will price match Chewy website prices since they own them.

That's how I got the 360 for $48 + tax. It was on clearance on Chewy site for $60, then I priced matched it and stacked a 20% off coupon from the in-app game.

That AqAdviser site is good to point you in the right direction, but it's not 100% accurate. There is no way their algorithm can get it nailed down every time, way too many variables.

To make a long story short, I removed our Hydor 600 canister from our 55g African cichlid tank and put the Magniflow 360 on it. In my opinion, there is too much flow currently. I haven't tried drilling out the spray bar holes again, because I'm going to put the Hydor back on it and put the 360 on another tank. Our 55g also has a Aquaclear 70 + a sponge filter.

If you already have an Aquaclear 70, in my opinion your AC70 + a Magniflow 220 would be perfect on a 55g. If you can get a Magniflow 220 for $60 is a great deal, especially brand new w/ warranty!

If you want the Magniflow 360, then I would suggest to either make a DIY spray bar with PVC and drill out the holes to a size that makes the water flow good for your needs, or buy the replacement intake/discharge pipe set for a Penn Plax 1500 or Hydor 600 (they are the same) . The barbs on those pipe sets will match Marineland's hose diameter, and you can drill out the holes on the pipe's spray bars to reduce pressure jetting out.


By the way, what are you stocking in your 55g ?

Ahh I see, yeah that was an awesome deal!! Looks like its currently $109 on Chewy now.. I only have a 29g that I'm trying to set up, will maybe upgrade when we move to a larger house . I will be planting heavily with low/mid light plants, no C02. Hoping to stock 6 cherry barbs, 1 sword tail, 1 dwarf gourami, 4 leopard Cory, 10-12 cardinal tetra and maybe 1 dwarf cichlid. Will probably add a few nerite snails too. This setup with the 220 says my filtration capacity is only 97% vs 124% with the Aquaclear 70. I haven't set up the Aquaclear yet because the first one I picked up had a crack so I went back to the store and they aren't doing returns now so I just picked up another one thinking i would return the cracked one later. Then I got the sand, rocks and wood set up and I realized my table was not going to be strong enough to hold the water . So my hubby is building me a stand this weekend and hopefully I can start getting some plants in after I stain and seal the stand.

 

Gotcha, the title of thread said 55g. I read you had a 29g, but I was thinking you were planning on upgrading to 55g.

If your setting up a 29g, then the Aquaclear 70 will be more than enough filtration.

Here is a link to a thread in the forum that is sticky'd in the Filter Section your thread is in. It will has a lot of info for adding your own DIY media to a filter, with lots of pics .

Diy Media Guide For Top Fin Silenstream, Aquaclear And Other Hob Filters | Filters and Filtration 385506

Since you will have plants, I suggest to also check out the part on that linked thread about adding a "pre-filter" to the end of the intake pipe strainer. It will keep plant matter and also small fish (or fry) from being sucked in.


I am assuming the AqAdvisor algorithm only computes the filter with stock media included, and has no way of adjusting for when the fishkeeper adds their own media.

For example, if you placed a 2nd block of foam sponge on your AC70's media basket in lieu of the bag of carbon, you've probably doubled the filter's ability to catch muck (mechanical filtration) and colonize beneficial bacteria (biological filtration).

Add a pre-filter on the intake pipe, and you've further increased mechanical and biological filtration!

The linked thread shows many options for doing this, probably all for $10 or less.

 

Gotcha, the title of thread said 55g. I read you had a 29g, but I was thinking you were planning on upgrading to 55g.

If your setting up a 29g, then the Aquaclear 70 will be more than enough filtration.

Here is a link to a thread in the forum that is sticky'd in the Filter Section your thread is in. It will has a lot of info for adding your own DIY media to a filter, with lots of pics .

Diy Media Guide For Top Fin Silenstream, Aquaclear And Other Hob Filters | Filters and Filtration 385506

Since you will have plants, I suggest to also check out the part on that linked thread about adding a "pre-filter" to the end of the intake pipe strainer. It will keep plant matter and also small fish (or fry) from being sucked in.


I am assuming the AqAdvisor algorithm only computes the filter with stock media included, and has no way of adjusting for when the fishkeeper adds their own media.

For example, if you placed a 2nd block of foam sponge on your AC70's media basket in lieu of the bag of carbon, you've probably doubled the filter's ability to catch muck (mechanical filtration) and colonize beneficial bacteria (biological filtration).

Add a pre-filter on the intake pipe, and you've further increased mechanical and biological filtration!

The linked thread shows many options for doing this, probably all for $10 or less.

Thank you so much for the link! I just finished reading it and the pics are very helpful!!