After using this polishing filter overnight, I can say this polishing filter is ok. It has a 3 in1 cartridge with little chemica/biol media space for regular tank filtering or a micron cartridge that may be charged with diatoms to polish the water. It filters 290 gallons in one hour per Marineland. This is unclear if this is with the 3 in 1 regular filter or the polishing micron filter. This would be equivalent to a Maxi-Jet 1200 powerhead. It is rated up to 97 gallons, which again is unclear if this rating is pertaining to it being used as a 3 in 1 tank filter or a polishing filter. Assuming, that this rating is implying that it is to be used as a regular tank filter we know to cut that rating in half. I still would not use it as the sole filter on a 40g breeder d/t lack of bio space. One should supplement the it with a sponge filter and use it for mechanical filtration imho.
Supposedly, it can be charged with 6 Tbsp of diatom powder; however, my generalized estimation is that maybe 2 Tbsp is more accurate. I followed the instructions and cleared 6 Tbsp within a 5 gallon bucket of dechlorinated water to charge the filter. When I transferred the filter to the tank. Poof, a white cloud of diatom powder in my tank. Of course, this cleared up after a bit. I am thinking if I could of somehow transferred the filter to the tank while running maybe this could have been mitigated to some extent; however, this would be very cumbersome and impractical. I honestly believe 6 Tbsp of diatom powder is quite the stretch. Next time, I will use half that and see if there is a difference. Which brings me to the question, is charging a filter with 2-3 Tbsp of diatom powder actually practical? I felt like the diatamaceous earth bogged down the powerhead to some extent, but it is hard to gauge the usefulness of its filtering ability...because I was simply using the pump for larger suspended particles. I would like to think it would help removing green water, blooms, tanins, etc.
Unfortunately, this is filter is fairly fickle ( say that 5 times very fast). It makes a lot of noise. Be sure to use the foam gasket/washer that comes with the unit and place it on the bottom of the canister. I found this greatly reduces noise. Another, thing I found causing unnecessary noise is that the powerhead does not snap into place on the top of the filter....it is easily moved. When the powerhead dislodges or is slightly moved...via nozzle or changing the placement of the actual filter the thing makes a racket. I was able to fix this easy by pressing down the on top of the powerhead and making sure the working parts were secure...unplugging...re-plugging etc. Although you can reduce and mitigate the sound to some extent, I believe this would rule it out for me using it for continuous filtration on a smaller tank for me personally.
Seemingly, it works okay as an intermittent polishing filter. Nothing spectacular, but it does it's job. I let it run from early evening to the middle of the night and my tank was pristine in the am. Since it is mounted by suction cups the internal canister can be moved to a sweet spot in the tank to filter where the particles are dense...or to augment/supplement flow patterns. One complaint I have is the cord could be 2-3 feet longer to add more convenience of placement in larger tanks. Since, the actual filter at 30 dollars on Amazon is cheaper than a Maxi-jet 1200 powerhead by itself, I would say it is worth the money.
Is it comparable to a Vortex D-1 Diatom filter in its ability to filter and clear the tank? I would say not even close. Is the filter easier to move, maintain, clean, and mount in an Acrylic tank like mine vs the Vortex D-1 (or comparable diatom filter)? I would say yes. Is the filter ridiculously cheap compared to a Vortex? I would say yes. Is the filter better than polishing than a DIY powerhead polishing filter (Maxijet 1200 with a plastic bottle attached with filter floss)? I think this would be a general no. I think for most suspended particles the DIY would be better, quicker, and more efficient. I think for things such as blooms, green water, and other turbidites causing cloudiness (which correcting the actual problem is always preferable solution) the internal canister would fair better. Is it worth the 30 dollar amazon price....why yes, I believe so.
