Product Review: The Filter that would be on Picard's Tank for Livingston.

[DaiMasters]

Not sure if this is where I would put a Product review, but it seems like the logical choice.

About a month and a half ago, two months ago I ordered a Filter from ebay for my 75g Tank. It was $81 all together, and came with a lot of Media.

The Filter is the

AquaTop CF400UV

The Filter is actually cheaper by a couple of dollars from the website rather than ebay.

Physical Appearance:

I really like the way the filter looks. It's white with grey Locking handles, and a Blue Priming Button. It reminds me of something out of Star Trek. It also has an Indicator Light to let you know the UV Sterilizer is working.

What was in the box:
Filter, hosing, UV bulb, Media {Bioballs, Ceramic Rings, Bamboo Carbon.} Instruction Manual.

Ease of Use:

The Filter is crazy easy to use. It has 3 large Media Baskets in it. I have Polyfil in the first chamber, Carbon/Zeolite and Ceramic Rings and 2 bioballs in the Second. and In the last I have BioBalls. So far after setting it up I haven't had to touch it. They gave me too many Bioballs, I couldn't fit them all in the media Basket so I had to split them up among two.

Priming was easy, not as easy as the video makes it out to be, but that was to be expected. I'm suprised at how quite this Filter is. The only sound you hear from the tank is the Splashing of water from the spray bar. Even if I open the cabinet you cannot hear anything. The only way I was able to hear the filter motor was when I put My ear against the Canister.

Quality of Filtration:

Holy Crap. This thing is awesome. First off let me explain what's in my 75g. [I'm getting a 170g This friday and WIll have to get another Filter to add to this one XD lol] I have a Cumberland Slider turtle, Two Plecos, 1 is 4" the other is 5-6", two tiger Oscars both about 3", a Crayfish, and about 7 Rosy Minnows That refuse to get eaten.

The water is Crystal, I've yet to have a Bacteria Bloom or an Algae Bloom. I test my water regularly and everything is awesome. As of Last week, 0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite. And I do 10-20% water changes about once a week to keep Nitrates down.

I think this Filter, for what I'm using it for and the price is awesome. It's 370gph and rated for up to a 125g Tank. Personally I'd have at least 2 on a tank that size. I plan on Putting this filter, a CF500UV, and a Wet/Dry on the 170g tank and use the canisters as the return pump on the sump.

Afterthoughts:

I was so impressed with this Filter that I also bought the 200W Heater a couple of weeks ago from them and it heats my entire 75g like it was nothing. It is also made with impact resistant glass and is MUCH shorter than other 200W heaters I've seen, 11" long and was only $16!

I would definitely recommend this Filter and other Aquatop Products to a friend. I like it a lot and it does the job I want it to do and more. I plan on opening it up today and checking it out, if I do I'll snap some pictures of everything, otherwise it's just as it looks on the website and ebay.


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[supadave]

Thanxxx for your review . I have read a lot of reviews on other sites and they were all good .

[SunnyHouTX]

Got my AquaTop CF500-UV today from TruAqua. Set up was just as DaiMasters described, but I would like to add that the primer had a little more resistance than I anticipated but everything was OK. I like the black intake and spray bar which helps them blend into the black background. The spray bar is about 2.5 ft long which allows for a good spread and the intake can be set up to reach a good depth. Both come with multiple pieces that allows for a few options. I set it up for mechanical and chemical filtration. The CF500-UV comes with 4 media trays. I put the supplied activated carbon bag (reusable) in the bottom tray, floss in the next two trays and the coarse blue pad on the top tray. It is very quiet like the OP mentioned. Now to let it run for a couple of days and see how it performs.

[aquabee]

Yessssss for new toys. Let us know how it turns out!

[SunnyHouTX]

I think the CF500-UV is doing what I bought it to do:

FTS - Day 1/Day 3



Side - Day 1/Day 3

[TexSun]

Sunny-
That filter must be doing its job, the water looks super clear. I'm glad to see you finally found a canister for that tank. Did you decide against the 2262 for your 125?

[SunnyHouTX]

Thanks Rob. Yeah, not getting the Eheim for the 125. Happy with the filtration on that tank so why change it up now. Might do it later when my budget increases.

[aquabee]

Looks like it did what you wanted it to Suntown! Water looks beautiful.

[fishman1]

What are the dimensions of the CF-400 and CF-500?

[SunnyHouTX]

The 500 is about 11"x11"x18"

[fishman1]

alright thankyou

[DaiMasters]

I wanted to give a Quick update on the Aquatop CF-400UV. The first one I had inexplicably went out, the flow had reduced to a trickle. I called The customer Support, which is in California and they paid Shipping For me to send it to them after I was on the phone trying to get mine to work properly. They checked it out and sent me a replacement Very quickly, It only took about 4 business days from the call to recieve my replacement, again no cost to me. Their customer service was Wonderful. The new one has been running since then. It's only rated for 110 gals, and I have a 170 Gallon, So I made a Sump wet/dry filter out of a 10g aquarium and a small bucket that CF-400 works as the return pump and additional filtration. So far no problems, my water quality is great and my Oscars and turtle are very happy.

I would definitely recommend them to any of my friends, and I am still happy even though my first filter turned out to be a dud, but their customer service made up for that.

[armthehomeless]

Its good to see some people still have good customer service.