Like most of you, I did a lot of research before I choose a filter. I have a saltwater 90 gal tank and has been going for three years. I won't get into what kind of filtration I had, but I needed to clean up the green haze in the water. I was not to fond of canister filters because of all the mess you have to go thru, but the Fluval G3 caught my eye. So, after hours of reading all that was available, AND reading all the reviews, I choose the G3. It arrived in two days and well packaged. I had downloaded the instructions on-line and carefully read them. BUT, the best thing I did was to go on YOU-TUBE and watch three vids on the installation of the filter. Before I started with the installation, I did a complete cleaning of the tank along with the standard water change. It was a mess. This would be a challange for ANY filter to take on this project. OK, here we go. I started at 3 pm and was ready to plug it in at 4:45PM. After reading a few reviews about a few problems with the PUSH BULB, I was a bit nervous, BUT I pushed it in a few times, saw the air bubbles come out the return, and plugged it it. AND ..... WALLA. It worked the first time, and with 100% flow. Impressive. I was going to write this review right away, but thought i'd wait for a few days to see if there were any issues. When I got up in the morning, the tank was CRYSTAL CLEAR. I was impressed. Its been four days now and the screen shows a small dip in the water flow. So, I said what the heck, lets pull the filter and clean it. I shut down the filter, lifted the handle, pulled the filter, cleaned it out, put it back into the G3, closed the handle, pumped the button two or three times, and plugged it back in. PRESTO, its back working again with NO mess. Pretty sharp if you ask me. My tank was a mess when installed the G3, so in the four days its been running, I expected to clean the filter sooner than later. Its going to be interesting to see how far the next will take me. OH YEA -The G3 is way quiet, my computer makes more noise than the filter. Am I happy with my decision??? You bet. Good luck in your quest for your next filter. The G3 has been a fine purchase for me.
I've been in the hobby more than 2 decades, and changing canister filters was always a PIA. No more. This little gem makes it easy easy easy, and DRY with its ingenious engineering. Plus, it offers a lots of add-on filter medium options, with 100% flow through. Add to that the cool built in computer read out that tracks with an easy to read line chart over the days the temp, ec, and flow rate flucuations and! blinks to alert you when the temp or ec falls above or below entered ranges... Well, nothing compares to it. My only regret is that it took so long for a company to finally figure out how to make a really good canister filter.
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There's no doubt this filter clearly stands alone as the best filter on the market. The three complaints I've read are cost, flow rate and the pre-filter clogging after days of operation. The first, we'll it's been several years now since release and the cost has come down considerably and it's now cheaper than an Eheim Pro 3e and IMHO a better filter when you compare the prefilter option of foam vs Fine polishing media. Flow rate, Hagen's responded to this and claims its superior when you actually consider loaded flow rate, not just what a motor can pump. With regards to the filter clogging, think about it. Muck that was in your tank is now in the filter where it should be. On the other now antiquated filters out there maintenance, if they actually were trapping it, would be a pain, on this filter it's a 2 minute swap with a new pre-filter or 5 minute clean and replace if you prefer. I have a 46G Bow front with 4 African jack Dempseys and do find I need to clean the pre-filter every two weeks to maintain 100% flow rate. The flow rate graph is really nice for letting you know when to do maintenance, there's also programmable schedules for each media to help track and each with optional alert.
Easy maintenance is a key feature, but it's also allows you to quickly changes out your chemical filter to meet a specific condition. Algae starting to take foot, grab your phosphate filter and run it for a few days, nitrate to high grab the nitrate filter. Maintain them all with the triflex filter or use the optional replaceable media filter to use the media of your choice.
EC, time will tell but for now I'll take some indicator over the alternative of no indicator.
The lady that had a priming issue... make sure you prime before you plug it in..it makes ALL the difference as stated in the manual. Priming never been a problem for me, only takes two pumps. She either has a defective unit or didn't read the manual.
On the negative side I'm not thrilled with the suction cup intake and output tube fixtures. I have a film backing on my tank which precludes use of the rear suction cups and I don't want to cut it. I actually found reversing the clamp and putting the large plastic piece in the inside of the tank provides a more stable mount considering only one suction cup is used. I'd also prefer the output y-adapter to be a T-adapter if you planned to use the spray attachment. BTW, the filter comes with the nozzles attached to the y-dapter, you simply pull them off and push on the spray bars or you could have one nozzle and one spraybar if you like. You can get an inline alignment but it would work a bit better with a T then a Y. Both of these are really minor complaints, but they're the only negatives I have. I simply love this filter, it's made fish keeping a joy and a bit more fun as well.
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-The G3 is an amazing filter. It is by far the easiest canister to maintain as the cartridges are removed and cleaned w/o even getting your hands wet w/ the brush.
-Dead quiet, and I mean it. You will not even be able to hear it running unless you stick your ear to it.
-LCD screen provides useful information as temp & conductivity, plus reminds you when its time for maintenance.
-Lots of included bio-media (G-nodes)
-Flow is stronger than you think, don't go by just the GPH. I would recommend this filter up to a 55 gallon max. by itself.
-Separate cartridges are sold, such as the Nitrate cartridge which is supposed to help lower and maintain nitrate.
The only thing I will say is that the intake tube isn't that strong, so in terms of picking up waste, it isnt that great by itself. However, an easy solution would be to add a powerhead (I used the aquaclear 50), and it really helps push the waste on the floor into the intake.
Before I purchased the G3, I was comparing/researching numerous amounts of canister filters.
The main problem that seems to be pretty common with many canisters (including some fluval products) is leaking.
The G3 is near impossible to leak, and it is sealed tight.
Just add a powerhead and this will be one the best and high-tech filters you've had.
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I have bought two of these filters, the pump failed on one within six months, and the other is limping along until I can find a replacement. Forget about customer service, it's designed to make you give up trying. The pumps are a nightmare to prime, sometimes it takes more than an hour pushing the priming button and reseting the filter by uplugging it again and again before the "microprocessor controlled" pump decides to work. I have had to disassemble the pump probably more than two dozen times when the filter inexplicably shuts down and a "Check Impeller Rotor" message comes up, and yet nothing appears to be amiss. That's followed by the usual priming nightmare. In fact, getting the filter primed is such an unpleasent experience, you are reluctant to clean it. What fun! Then the delecate plastic "ears" on the mechanical filter snap off without any mishandeling, and it really doesn't keep the water that clean anyway. To all this is added the fact that the GPM is seriously overrated; I am sure it doesn't aproach half of what's advertzed.
The Fluval G3 is a clever concept, very, very poorly executed. Beware! Whay pay twice what other pumps cost for that? I never will again.
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I am using this light with a planted fresh water tank and it puts out a lot of light. The instructions are easy to understand and the programming pretty intuitive--it is about as good as it gets. The fixture is easy to mount, and sits securely on the tank. It comes with some bulbs that for freshwater purposes need to be replaced.
