Fish Mate 2000PUV Pressurized UV+Bio Pond Filter

So this fishmate pressurized filter burst on me after a few months. Have been using it with a 800 gallon per/hour pump from the beginning. The video shows my dead koi, and after about 1 minute in, you can see the actual busted filter with water streaming out. Heartbreaking. I'm staying from Fishmate products in the future. Sure, Sunterra's are not so innovative, but they wont crack open, drain your pond and kill all your hard bred Koi.

For two years, I've struggled to keep my 1,300 gallon pond algy free and clear since it gets a lot of direct sun light and has 6-12 gold fish (depending on the last visit from the racoons). In two weeks this filter made crystal clear the pond that was slightly clearer than fat free milk.

I also bought the Fish Mate 4000 Pond Pump 1000 gph which is just fair. It makes a very noticeable humming/vibrating sound and the flow is not as strong as I'd hoped after the filter was attached.

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After my old canister filter died, I started looking for a new filter for my 75 gallon tank. I have some great big old goldfish and they are messy.

Over the years, I've discovered that pond equipment is generaly cheaper, better designed, and more rugged than aquarium equipment. This filter is no exception. Since it's pressurized, it can go below your tank. I added a Little Giant 1000gph pump and some simple plumbing with 3/4" flex tubing and some valves (all from your local big box store) and I was good to go.

The backwash feature is GREAT. You don't need to tear the whole filter apart to clean it. You can just backwash the muck out into a bucket. The way it works is kind of silly the filter comes with a screw-on cap to keep over the backwash port. Even when not in backwash mode, water will come out of that port without the cap on. I just permantently attached a 3' piece of hose with a valve at the end. When I backwash, I can just open that valve and let the muck run into my bucket.

The other thing I did was to intall a T and a valve in between the pump and the filter. I put a quick-disconnect garden hose connection on there and I can use a garden hose running over to the sink to drain and refill the tank. The pump pushes water out to the sink and I can use the water pressure in the house to reverse the flow and refill the tank. No buckets!

After a month, the tank is crystal clear and I'm just thrilled with the filtration capacity of this unit.

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We purchased this pond filter in late 2008, and as of two years later it has just simply stopped working. We fortunately did not have the same issue as previous reviewers (cracks which lead to draining of the pond), but overall this unit is not worth the money. For $200+, you can most likely find a better filter that will last more than 2 years.

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I like to use this Pond Filter because it is easy to clean. I had another filter before this one and it was very hard to clean. This filter also keeps my pond clean.

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Fluval Ceramic Shaft Assembly, for Impellers w/Curved Fan Blades Only, 304, 404

I bought this with an impeller to try and repair my filter, unfortunately, this product arrived broken and I wasn't able to rig it to the original one to fix my filter. I honestly don't think it would have worked anyways because the hole where this goes was warped and it wouldn't fit properly.

Part came in quickly as described! Using this and another part I was able to take a "free" fluval 404 which was given to me and fix with these parts for less than 20 dollars. So thank you to this seller for taking the time to list these parts on Amazon!

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Good quality product that worked properly the first time and is still working after several months. I will alway recommend a fluval product.

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Penn Plax Trunk Style Driftwood Garden

Note, I don't own this but I have seen it many times at petco.

For the price, it's not worth it.

It is a very nice piece, but the holes are not as big I would like.

The holes are good for small fish like Cory catfish to swim in but nothing bigger which is a shame.

Underneath is a good size for smaller loaches, plecos and smaller catfish but I suggest you dig a hole in the gravel to give fish more room underneath it.

If this was $20-$25 it would be well worth it, but for over $50 do not buy.

Azoo Aquarium Decor plastic Gold Fish, Red

These are very cute and small, lead sinker could be a bit lower so the fish aren't all sitting so close to the gravel. And I don't know why but the snails are all over all of these decorations--not sure if that's good or not. But don't want to get any live fish until we figure out how to kill off these Malaysian Trumpet snails so these fake fish will make the tank look inhabited for a while.

Hagen Living World Dynaflo No.1 Filter Cartridge, 3 filter cartridge Per Pack

I just wanted to put in a quick note that this filter fits the original Drinkwell cat fountain and is much cheaper than the Drinkwell brand ones. Use in this Drinkwell Original Pet Fountain buy instead of Drinkwell Fountain Premium Replacement Filter 3 pack

Fish & Aquatic Supplies Emporer Power Filter 400 Gph

I like the effectiveness of this product. This is my third one of the same model.I have a 125 gal. tank and two of these running at the same time do a good job. I have had great luck as far as noise goes with one of my original puchases.(operates very quietly) The other unit I have, I have tried to get it to run quieter over several years, with readily availble parts and cooperation from the Marineland customer service folks. I finally gave up and puchased an enire replacement unit and once installed and running, I still have the same issue. I have replaced the inpeller and the part that the impellar goes in, both provided at no cost by Marineland customer service, no questions asked. The unit still makes a rattling sound.(very annoying in my living room) I will be contacting customer service for additional advice today and hope we will be able to get the noise issue solved. The other unit that runs quietly has been in service for 5 plus years without any problems.

The Filter works just fine. its doing a great job on my 75 gallon tank, but wow its loud. The room it is in has a tile floor but I can hear the product throughout the condo... For me this drops a star as I like to hear the water flowing around the tank, not the filter pumping water.

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I decided to wait some time before posting to see how things went with this product. I first cleaned then installed the Marineland Emperor Bio-Wheel 400 Power Filter, much the same as any other filter would be installed. I can say I have some experience even with filters exactly the same as the Marineland Emperor Bio-Wheel filter, as I own a 10-gal aquarium with a Marineland Penguin filter, and this was to replace an old (7 yr old) Penguin 330.

The filter is NOISY. Freakishly noisy; like something that filters a 5000 gallon aquarium noisy. I wish I could say it was just a lone bad unit, but after ordering the unit, I researched a little to find these things have a tendency to be noisy. Seriously, do yourself a favor, and google "noisy emperor 400", see the hundreds of other complaints? Yes, some may get good units, but there's a good chance you won't. I even let the thing run for several days before judging, since others said it may need to "break in" (which, yes the one on my 10 gal did get quieter, and now is whisper quiet). After 3 days, I contacted Marineland, which, while not the friendliest of folks, were fairly helpful. The first time around, they sent a new impeller, even though I had thoroughly inspected the impeller and found no mechanical flaws, I figured couldn't hurt to try. New one arrived, didn't help any. Let it run for a few days, no improvement. Then, I contacted them again, they sent an entire new filter! Pretty good service I have to say, but sadly, the new one suffers the same obnoxious "garbage disposal"-like sound. Yes, I've messed with a billion different ways to seat the impeller, and well quite frankly, if someone who's worked with dozens of filters in the past can't properly seat the impeller, it really isn't consumer-ready.

Beyond that, the filter has a ton of great features. The spray-bars that keep the bio-wheel's wet and spinning work great. The filter has tons of room for flow, plus a total of 4 slots for filter media, and includes two easy-to-fill filter cartridges. The flow-rate is good. It really would be an excellent, solid product if it weren't made with cheap materials, and weren't the noisiest filter I've ever owned. The other negative is the bio-wheel filters really create a lot of choppy surface water, so feeding fish is messy, and I recommend getting some sort of floating-feeding device.

It's past the return period, which Marineland was perhaps counting on, so now I"m stuck with it. I'll try contacting them again and see what happens, and will post if anything different comes from it. It seems you either love it and get a great unit, or you get a flawed, noisy as all heck filter. The price is excellent, but to be honest, you're better off with a Penguin, which yes while the Emperor's are supposed to be the higher-end product, very few have issues with the Penguin's compared to the Emperor's. Or an Aqua-Clear, but you have to be gentle with them (they have a tendency to crack/break).

***Update 9/12/2011***

Well, after approximately 3-4 months of continuous use, the filter is now significantly quieter then when I received either one of them. Still not "whisper" quiet, but sounds decent enough for a larger filter. I've added a star, since this is a decent product overall, but the fact that it took that many months of having to have my office door completely closed at night just so we don't hear it, I can't give it any higher than that. YMMV.

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i have a 55 gal tank. i used to use the magnum power filter but it got clogged all the time and the tank was always dirty. the marineland 400 is amazing. clean, clear water and very quiet.

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i read the reviews before buying this filter. i had mixed emotions about the emperor 400, but i ended up purchasing 2 filters anyway. when i recieved my filters i noticed that the box say's that the impeller is preinstalled. being the person i am, i took everything apart and discovered that the impeller was not properly installed in the (flow manifold housing). after i reinstalled it, put it back together, and filled it with water and plugged it in, i had no problems at all. i hope this helps. buy the way, i had this problem with both filters.

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Aquarium Ion Exchange Water Softener for Hard Water Fish Planted Tank (200g) removes calcium and ma

my water is super hard. If this helps at all, great.

Davis, California water is not only hard, but contains

heavy metals. I hope this helps with both.

Coralife Lunar Aqualight Compact Fluorescent Fixture

Great fixture!! Great price and great quality. Great service!! fixture was $5 cheap next day and recieved lesser price and fast shipment with tracking number next day.

Good lighting fixture except for one problem. After one month one of the LED moon lights has lost its intensity. It still comes on but it is not very bright and I have no idea how to replace it or even if I will be able to find a replacement bulb.

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I've had this clf for about a year. I've had no problems with it and it's made an enormous difference in my corals. The lunar lights are cool too! I never knew some much "other" activity went on at night. Now I can watch that activity without disturbing the contents of my tank.

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The moon light effect on this fixture is pretty incredible. Two blue LEDs give the impression of night swimming. The fish love it and it really looks cool in the bedroom!

The "day" lamps also work great for live plants. I'm very pleased!

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Two Little Fishies ATLRC4 Revive Coral Cleaner, 16.8-Ounce

I've been using this reef dip for a few months now, and I always use it before introducing new softies or sps into my tank. It's not nearly as rough on my corals as an iodine based coral dip, and it's effective at killing any little nasties that I've picked up from local fish stores. I wouldn't ever add anything to my tank that I haven't dipped in this stuff.

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TOM Aquarium RP3 (Rapids Pro Filter with 700gph pump)

I Have Used This Filter For Almost 2 Years On My 72 Gallon Reef Tank. Heavily Stocked. Works Awesome. I Would Choose This Filter Over ANY Others. Just Clean The Filter Pads About Every Month Or You Can Start To Notice A Slight Raise In Nitrates. Also The Other Review Said The Filter Was Loud ??? Yeah If Its Not Above The Min Water Line. When The Filter Water Gets Below The Min Water Line It Will Produce Some Micro Bubbles And Make Some Noise From The Pump. Never Gave Me any Problems, Starts Right Back Up After The Power Goes Out. Filters Are Very Simple To Clean. This Is The Way To Go !!!

I've had the RP3 filter running on my 80 gallon reef tank for over a week now and I will say that I'm thoroughly impressed with its performance. I read the negative review and will agree that its not as quiet as some of the filters on the market, but I don't think that its that bad. I placed my unit in the utility room behind my aquarium so all I hear is a faint humming sound and the sound of the water going into the overflow. I would rather have a little noise and a clean tank than the opposite. The protein skimmer really churns for its size. I like the adjustment mechanism in place where you are only adjusting the skimmer cup up and down without having to deal directly with an air intake.

Great product!

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I've had this unit for about 3 yrs now and I have been happy, self priming and the auto fill saves me from filling it every day. The protein skimmer pump just went out and even though its for a freshwater tank it comes in handy to remove color and too much dust or hard water problems. It is a bit noisy and would need to be off for a quiet movie but puts me to sleep at night. The pre-filter is also better than that it is flat and not the cylinder type which clogs fast.

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After much careful consideration and research I decided to go with TOMs RP3. This amazing device has kept my water crystal clear and healthy for my reef aquarium over the past month. In fact, I visually noticed a HUGE difference with this on my tank. After adding live sand to my tank it was SUPER cloudy I could not see one inch in front of me. After turning on my filter in one day the tank was amazingly clear, no need for special tank clearing additives!

I have fish, live rock, invertebrates such as shrimp, crustaceans (hermit crabs), and corals that are all thriving with the help of this filter. (Its been about a month and a half since initial setup)

The dimensions of this filter fit perfectly in my 55 gallon tank and stand, and It creates good flow and turbulence in my aquarium, perfect for corals.

I do admit, it was not the easiest filter to setup. The instructions were decent, but there were moments where I questioned what I was doing because there was not enough description.

Here are some of the issues I encountered during set-up, hopefully my suggestions can help you during your set-up and create a headache free installation.

1. The flexible tubing which attaches from the base of the unit (the sump) and to the hang on back filter on the aquarium were very difficult to attach ((Overflow Hose & Return Hose)). I had to snip a small piece vertically on the tubing so that I could fit the tight tubes in the plastic without breaking anything. Also make sure that the hoses are as straight as possible, or else it will cause a decrease in the flow from top to bottom (it works using gravity).

2. The metal circular hose clamps that are used to tighten around the flexible tubing need a screwdriver to be tightened to an adequate level. (this was never mentioned in the instructions)

3. My biggest problem with the setup was having the sump on the bottom's water level stay at the recommended water level without draining immediately. This caused the filter to pump out massive amounts of bubble and have little amounts of suction. I tried calling customer service but no one picked up causing me to leave a voicemail. I was eager to set this up so I had to figure something out. I decided to send an email to customer service and this is what I received as a response:

BEGIN EMAIL

Okay, let's get your filter running.

At the top of your aquarium there is plastic trim usually wood grain or black colored going around the full aquarium. When you look at this trim from inside your aquarium there is a little ledge (lip) protruding inward, this ledge supports the glass canopy when using one. Go ahead and add new water to your aquarium until it touches this plastic ledge. Now add new water to your filter sump bringing up to the recommended water level.

Plug in the sump pump electrical cord into the electrical receptacle to start your filter. Your filter will begin priming and the water flowing during the next 30 seconds. Your filter should be up and running at this time.

END EMAIL

The Senior Tech who helped me did a great job explaining what I had to do to get my filter up and running. I think the attention to detail really helped me out. Its really important that you fill up your aquarium to the maximum water level, almost to the point that it is overflowing. This was not really stressed I feel in the documentation. Also, something I recommend is since there are two different electrical cords, plug them into a power strip. Then when you turn the power strip on both pumps will start priming which quickly and effectively fills the tank. (or just plug both pumps into a power outlet at the same time)

The pumps lower the level of water in your main aquarium and balance it out in the bottom sump, so you need plenty of water in the main aquarium to stay at the recommended water level.

SO, if you have been having excessive issues with bubbles just add more water to your aquarium simple as that!

One last tip, there is a black plastic band that wraps around near the skimmer, make sure that is left where it is or else your tank will have a HUGE leak! I had this issue and luckily was able to catch it before it became a big problem.

So here are the PROS and CONS to the RP3.

Pros

-Great build and quality for the price

-Great customization options, you can customize the filter with your own carbon and filter media.

-not as noisy as people have stated, its got a slight hum which is not noticeable. Maybe the people experiencing issues set it up improperly? I recommend keeping it enclosed if noise is a big issue, (maybe even purchasing noise cancelling sheets if you want absolute serenity, but this is not necessary), and it even comes with a noise reducer in the HOB filter that keeps noise levels low.

-Keeps water crystal clear

-NO fish have died, corals are thriving, AND bacteria in the tank are doing great with live rock and this filter, no adverse effects

-incredibly easy maintenance, can keep the filter running and wash/change the filter media at the same time.

Cons

-lots of parts to assemble, can take a bit of time, confusing instructions

-customer service takes a while to respond and is virtually non-existant over the phone (try email instead)

-if one part breaks/fails could create big problems

-the skimmer is not the best, so far no waste has been produced but I will keep you updated as time goes on.

-no recent updates to the product line

-a little pricey, but you get what you pay for!

Overall, this filter is great because its an all in one package that is most likely easier to setup than creating your own sump! Just make sure to take your time during setup and keep checking on after initial installation to make sure it is running properly.

Leave comments if you have any questions!

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i just wanted to let purchasers of the RP3 Know, who are Having Some issues. after i Bought this Wonderful filter and setting it up this is what i Discovered.

#1. while i was trying to hook up hoses that are near impossible to hook up i simply used a hair Dryer to {Gently Heat up !!!! the hose ends so they go on Easy to both the overflow box and filter housing.

#2 set water in tank at about 3/4 inch from the inside lip of aquarium rim after you fill up the RP3 to the maximum fill line then set the level of the surface skimmer Gate on overflow box at about middle setting, and the( tank level} water height regulator Ring on the overflow box under noise reduce chamber ,about 5 or 6 clicks up.

#3 i used aquarium safe o-ring lube for both the access lid and the protein skimmer /pump module to keep the o-rings from hanging up. THIS IS A AWSOME FILTER!! never mind the negitive if you just take time to get to know this filter.

i have been in the aquarium Hobby for some 32 years and this is the first compact WET/DRY With Skimmer That I Really Like. I will Put on Updates as i discover Them. Hope This Helps..

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Fluval Peat Granules, 500 Gram/17.6 Ounce

Peat is use to naturally lower pH and water hardness. This is not going to chemically filter or polish your water. In fact it will turn your water a slightly yellowish color, this is to be expected. If you want to stay away from chemical and naturally lower pH and hardness then this for You. Especially if you keep or plan to keep fish like Cardinal tetras or Discus, well at least attempting to breed Discus. If your just keeping Discus then you should be fine w/o this.

The only thing that I wasn't to happy about was that It does not specify how much to use.

I Do WARN you if your not careful IT WILL DROP your pH way to fast and could kill your fish. I would recommend to start off with a small amount and gradually increase that amount til you get to your desired pH & Hardness Level. If you don't have anything to test your water, get something (I recommend API products) you will need it. Finally this does not come prepackage or in mesh bag. You will need to purchase some.

I use this to bring down the Ph in my tank without shocking the fish. This media brought my ph down to a 6.5 from an 8.2. I use 3 teaspoons in a small mesh bag (you can get these at any party supply store.)in with my other media filter on my AquaClear filter 50gal filter for a 46gal tank. You could also use the toe of an old pair of ladies stockings/ pantyhose to keep the peat in the filter and not the tank.

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This is cleaner and easier to work with than garden peat moss. I also feel it is safer as it is pure and meant for the aquarium. The box may seem small, but you don't need much and last a long time. I put some in a knee high pantyhose tied a knot and put it in the tank. By doing it this way all the pieces stay inside of the pantyhose and doesn't float around the tank. At first it floats, but I pushed it behind the filter stem under the water. In a couple of days the peat moss is wet enough to sink. I noticed the water becomes very soft, but it hasn't lowed the PH. The water does get a dirty, tea stained look and if you are directly above the tank you can smell a little bit of the dirt, but all the fish seem to love it. Fish like the neon tetras that would normally hide behind my plants and rock now come out to the front of the tank.

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People seem to want to rate this based on what it does to their water, however performance is going to depend on the chemical makeup of your tap or filtered water. The more buffers are in your water the less effect this will have on PH. Ultimately, if your water is very poor quality you may have to purchase R/O water at a pet store or buy your own R/O filtration system.

This product is good clean Peat. You get exactly what is advertised. It can be used in any filtration system that has space for it. You may need to purchase something to put it in if your filters do not have a place for it.

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I had tried a number of other products like API's water softener pillow to lower the hardness of my tank and never had much success. The hardness of my tank was incredibly hard (both kh and gh) and the ph always hovered in the basic range despite attempting to put more drift wood in to lower it. I finally tried these peat granuals (I got one of the mesh bags and put about half of this box in that bag and into my canister filter). Within perhaps a week or two, it had brought both hardnesses and ph down to ideal readings for my tropical community tank. I am not overly averse to using chemicals to treat a tank if it's what works best, but this just had that Occam's Razor feel that it was 1) Natural, 2) Relatively cheap and 3) Incredibly effective! This has certainly found a permanent place in my filter!

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Sicce Voyager HP2800 Power Stream Pump

Money well spent. Very well constructed. Absolutely NO noise. No click, hum,vibration. Totally satisfied. I was using Hydor Evolutions on a wave maker, They were quiet in the beginning, soon started to get noisy. Front cover would break (hydor sent me replacement covers for free) from being turned on and off with a wave maker. Then they would turn in reverse. The Sicce pumps are built for hard use. And move water like mad. Wish I had spent my money on these to start with. NO doubt, well worth the money, very impressive. Amazon has the lowest price anywhere,with FAST shipping. A purchase you will not regret. REEF ON!

Great product, Quiet, Pushes alot of water. Have one with the difuser on it and one without and my 180 Reef has perfect flow...

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Como Aquaculture Air Flow Control 3 Way Aquarium Lever Valve Pump

Works perfectly for my needs, strong quality construction, a nice weight to it and precise control levers. Two thumbs up!

No complaints here. I prefer metal valves over plastic just because they're more durable. Now that I think about it, I do have some valves with knurled and threaded adjustment knobs, and the ones like this with the levers can be a little touchy and harder to make fine adjustments with, but good over all, no leaks.

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Marina Easy Clean Water Changer

The devise works very well however you may have to make a trip to your local hardware store for an adapter for it to attach to your kitchen sink. It fit to my bathroom sink but not my kitchen sink. a $2 part will fix that though. I would have given it a 5 had it come with ALL the correct adapters and if the suction cup clips would hold the tube in place when the water is turned on.

Other than that a decent product.

Very useful tool for the aquarium enthusiast. Easy hookup to my kitchen sink. I tried it on my 10 gallon tank to test it. It works great but I wouldn't recommend it for small tanks. It sucked out water at a very high rate even after adjusting the flow. I don't know what tank size minimum is best but I bought it primarily to use on my new 55 gallon tank and the rate issue is not a problem. The only thing with larger tanks is obviously it takes longer so be wary of your water bill. In the future I think I'll get some kind of system with an electric pump to save on water usage.

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I have a 55 gallon tank and water changes can be trying. This products help a great deal but it is not very effective with the faucet hook up. The adapter that came with it dose not fit MY faucet, although it may fit yours, and the water usage is not at all practical. I have found using it as a siphoning system works just as well (if not better) and is a lot more practical. The length of the hose is great for draining the water right into the sink. Filling the tank straight from the faucet is by far the best part. It's worth the money just for that, but adding water with fish in the tank worries me because of the chlorine in our water so I won't do that. I'd recommend it to anyone with a large tank if you have a small tank, anything under 35 gal, it may not be what your looking for.

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This works well to empty and refill tanks. I have four tanks and this makes water changes go by really fast.

Tip: When pulling water from tanks, you can get the suction going and then shut the water off at the sink so that you don' waste water and it will siphon out on its own.

I have also owned the python system and I would say that they are the same. I am glad that I purchased the Marina version again and saved some money for something else.

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We have been using our 25 foot hose for over a year, and unable to buy another faucet coupling, we bought a 50 foot unit too. We have 13 aquariums ranging from a ten gallon to 80 and 90 gallons and raise angelfish so we do a lot of water changing. Using the hoses attached to our kitchen and bathroom faucets, we can change 20% of water in all our tanks in 1 1/2 hours. We do this every week, and daily in our fry tanks, and would be facing a lot more obstacles if we didn't have these water changer hoses. We were lucky to have started with the Marina Aquavacs because of their brass couplings. I think the plastic would not last so long.

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Seachem Ph Alert for Freshwater

I purchased this item twice, thinking it would be much easier then drops or strips. The first time it worked about 3 weeks, when it stopped working (luckily I still checked with a strip!) and figured I had used it wrong. The second time it never worked at all. Dangerous to trust your fish to. Use the strips or the drops.

I used this for my fishless cycle to try to keep an eye on my pH. I only used it as a supplement to liquid testing and it was way off almost all of the time.

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I bought two of these, and they gave completely different (and incorrect) readings. I'm not sure how this is possible with a good company like Seachem, but that was my experience. Don't risk your fish and waste your money!!!

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As someone who has been keeping fish for over 40 years, you learn that it's critical to take safegaurds to avoid and alert you to potentially lethal problems. A long time fan of Seachem I use both their PH and Ammonia meters in every tank I have and replace them every 4-6 months although the life span of the meters is one year.

Neither meter replaces proper testing, they are designed to provide a warning period.

Ammonia spikes are the numer one cause of death in kept fish with PH spikes and drops not far behind. PH (a measure of hydrogen ion concentration) can be fatal if it fluctuates too much. There is no set or standard PH it differs for living creature. The best thing to do is match the PH of your aquarium water to the PH of the blood of your tanks inhabitants. You can spend a fortune on PH meters and over the years I have. However these very affordable litle meters provide an invaluable service, as long as you understand the readings are not dead on accurate. However, they're accurate enough to tell you it's time to pull out your testing reagents and check out your water parameters.

Serious aquarists have depened on these for decades and with good reason.

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I had similar experiences to other folks who rightly gave this company's products bad reviews (both the pH and Ammonia meters).

With the first pH Alert I purchased, the reading never changed during the six months I had it in the tank. Fortunately, I regularly test with other kits and found that my pH was indeed fluctuating, despite the stubborn insistence of this product.

The best that I can tell is that it gives a reasonably accurate reading on the initial use, but it fails, on all accounts, to "Detect pH Shifts Anytime" (their words).

Don't waste your time with this--spend a few extra bucks and get test strips or, even better, a test tube kit.

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Standard 3/16" Flexible Airline Tubing for Aquariums

This hose is 3/16" OD, not 3/16" ID. It would have been nice if the item description was a little more clear.

Does not work with my fish tank. Waste of money. Do not buy. I even ran it under very hot water but it would not attach to air pump.

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I've worked with quite a bit of aquarium tubing. This tubing is a little on the small (diameter) side which makes it difficult to get over the barb ends of many connectors. I won't buy this again, spend a bit more and get the real deal.

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Tubing is tubing, and this tubing works great. Speedy shipping and easy application. I have a lot more than I need but for the price I got it at, it's perfect.

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Reaaallllyyy thin airline tubing,but nothing a little stretching won't fix.So it's good if you really need to save money. The diameter of the tube(outer edge to outer edge) is 0.5cm Hope it helps :)

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Cardinal-Stairway Special Outdoor Pet Gate

Chose this gate for it's look, adjustability and outdoor durability. It was exactly as advertised, easy to install and looks great. Should fit most applications and is very easy to operate and sturdy. Main thing, keeps the dog off the deck when he is not supposed to be!

API Leaf Zone Aquarium Plant Food, 8-Ounce

This stuff is great.

I don't have a powerful light on my 20 gallon tank, but it really doesn't matter when you use this.

Before using my plants were a tad brown, now just after 3 weeks they look great and all the brown has gone away.

A lot better than the seachem plant care.

API Leaf Zone works great, dose once a week. Stimulates plant growth visibly.

I'm using it with CO2 Booster & my planted aquarium looks great. Also w/Marineland 48" Doublebright LED

I plan to keep using it.

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API Algae Destroyer Advanced, 8-Ounce

This product worked as described by the manufacturer. It killed and precipitated the algea without damaging the plants, snails, etc. The bottle is well-designed and well-manufactured. The amount is plentiful for a household aquarium. Make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle in terms of how much and how often to add per gallon.

I put the recommended amount in my tank 3 days ago. The first two days the water was cloudy, but I could see on day 1 that algae was clearing from the ornamental rocks (which were previously black/green with algae). On the third day the water cleared up, and even more algae had died. I will be doing the weekly 20% water change tomorrow and will add another dose, according to the directions. This stuff really works. And, I had fresh charcoal in the filter the day before I started the treatment, so not sure why other reviews say you must remove it (directions don't mention that, either). My fish were never in distress. They are a variety of tetras, cories and a lone guppie. I have tried every natural way of controlling algae I could find and nothing worked. Love this stuff.

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This is a great product. I have used it for years. Helps so very much with the algae buildup. Definitely a great product.

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I use this in my outdoor fish pond and it really works to keep the algae at bay. If you have a lot of algae to start with, I recommend getting rid of as much of it as possible before using this product because it will definitely kill the algae, but you will have to clean whatever filtering system several times in order for it to be able to clear the water.

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It got to the point where I was desperate to rid my tank of algae. I have a 25 gallon setup, co2, canister filter, strong LED lights, well established (over 2 years), but always battled algae. I killed the blue green algae with Erythromycin. I eliminated the brown diatom algae with regular pruning and using Seachem PhosGuard in my canister filter off and on. The only thing that remained was a superfluous amount of green brush algae. Each week, I would scrub the glass and desperately try to rid it from every plant, but it kept coming back. I tried adjusting my CO2 (more) and lighting schedule (less) as best as possible, but it wasn't going anywhere. My stats were near perfect near 0 phosphates, 0 nitrate/nitrite, 0 ammonia, 0 pH. My water changes were weekly. My filter media was new (charcoal, purigen, and polishing/pond pads) with a well seasoned bunch of ceramic media at the top.

At first, I thought I was battling black beard algae and due to this I removed all my plants to wash them in a 1:5 diluted solution of Seachem Flourish Excel ("Glut") for 10 minutes. This *did* fix the problem, temporarily, but it also nearly killed my java moss and most of my HC. After a week, however, the green brush algae was back in full force. I was losing hope.

I learned about this product after reading this webpage, which I highly recommend if you are trying to get rid of algae:

The first step to battling algae is to know your enemy. I read more about the uses of Simazine for battling green brush algae and that it was an active ingredient in API's Algae Destroyer. I then read all the reviews of Algae Destroyer and learned this product had caused some very negative experiences! I decided to buy it even though I knew the risks. I was confident in the research that Simazine was the fix and this product had it. What wasn't clear was the proper dosage.

The dosage on the bottle recommends 14 drops per 10 US Gallons. I decided to start with 14, which is less than half the recommended dosage. It seems most people reviewing this product have either not read the instructions fully and dosed too much, or perhaps the proper dosage was too much stress on their fish. Or, perhaps the proper dosage DID kill the algae, but the bacteria which then break down the dead algae consumed all the O2 in the water which could be attributed to poor filtration? In any case, I'd recommend starting with a low dose, monitor closely, and then increase it slowly.

After 24 hours with a half dose, I was already seeing some of the green brush algae particularly on the leaves near the top of the tank had turned a silver/gray color indicating it had died. None of the plants, fish, or nerite snails seemed to have noticed! I cleaned the tank glass, tubes, filter media, and did a partial water change. I then proceeded to continue dosing 20 drops a day (directly into the water stream from the filter), once a day for the next 3 days. I'm happy to say the glass has remained 99% algae free (little bit at the bottom of the tank might have forgotten to clean it the first time). The leaves are MUCH better most of them still have gray hairs on them, but the vast majority have lost all green brush algae. I plan to wait a few days to let the tank consume all this dead algae and continue again with another round next week. While the story isn't complete yet, I feel confident enough to say I'd fully recommend this product if you know what algae you are battling and you start with a reduced dosing schedule.

Jardin Aquarium Fish Tank Ornament Water Plant, Hot Pink/Green

This is a rather large ornament in height and width. It is well made and very pretty in color. It is very dense, not like some ornaments that have a few strands of vine. Tried it in my 5 gallon but it overwhelmed it. Even in my 10 gallon, it really overwhelmed. So, I could see it working nicely and looking good in a larger aquarium where it has space to blend in. Although I am not currently using it, I would recommend it for a larger aquarium.