"It's the 1980's Jaguar of filters...great design, but you better own 2 because one will always be in the shop"I've owned the 55 for less than two months when the motor failed. I tried calling Rena for help, all you get is an answering machine. They called me back two days later and told me that I can box up the filter and send it back for warranty. I said "hold on, this is my filter, I can't run w/o for a week or more" I asked if I could buy a replacement motor or if they could do an advanced replacement, I'd happily have paid for that. At that point the guy got rude and told me they "they weren't going to just ship out an expensive piece of equipment to me and if I considered my filter to be so important that I should own a backup."
I wish I could recommend this product, but having it fail in under two months and then being told I should have bought two is just unacceptable. I wish I would have read the other reviews first...
don't buy from Rena
I've owned the 55 for less than two months when the motor failed. I tried calling Rena for help, all you get is an answering machine. They called me back two days later and told me that I can box up the filter and send it back for warranty. I said "hold on, this is my filter, I can't run w/o for a week or more" I asked if I could buy a replacement motor or if they could do an advanced replacement, I'd happily have paid for that. At that point the guy got rude and told me they "they weren't going to just ship out an expensive piece of equipment to me and if I considered my filter to be so important that I should own a backup."
I've read on many sites that they have a great product unless it breaks, then you're just screwed because Rena doesn't care about their customers.
I wish I could recommend this product, but having it fail in under two months and then being told I should have bought two is just unacceptable.Bought the Smartfilter 55, but has same motor as this product 7 months ago. Recently started sounding / performing horribly. Emailed customer service to which the only answer was mail in unit at my shipping cost both direction and they'd 'fix' unit. When I asked for a unit to be sent to me upfront since this was in a working aquarium got the runaround. Called and got same result with the 'you should always have a backup pump'..... no I should have bought a product that works and is reliable. Will never buy another RENA project again.
Bad product, horrible customer service... AVOID
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update read the bottom i really hope some one from Rena reads this or a hole different company sees what could be done with this productwhat a major difference between this filter and any other fish tank filter I have ever used ... I read all the other reviews every 1 posted on this and figured i would take a chance and im glad i did ....the only bad thing i can say is the plastic flippers that level the filter on the back bottom are a joke like other ppl said in there reviews no big deal rip up a small peace of cardboard problem solved ... the quietest filter iv ever used and i do fish tanks for a living ... the box filter setup is very smart and very well thought out the price of the filters are up there but u can get replacements at petsmart ...it moves a lot of water and because the spillway is 12 inch wide it puts a lot of o2 in the water it took about 4 days for the filter to set up and the milk to go away
..if this filter holds up I will get 10 to 15 more and suggest them to my clients ..if it takes a dump on me I will post that in my review .... take it from a pro this filter is far better then anything out there
6-5-2012
10/25/2012
has became noise and very hard to restart i would not buy another 1 until Rena updates this and fixes whats wrong with it ...its a real shame because its a sound idea works good the flow could be better im sure it would cost them all of 15 cents to fix the problems with this and put on the package new and improved next time i need new filters i will be putting the hole thing in the trash
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I have used this filter for a few months and it is so problematic I am now looking for a different branding. The filter leaks even though thorough examination shows no cracks or otherwise problems with the canister. I clean the filter cartridges faithfully thinking if they get clogged that would compel the water to leak. The filter is perfectly even and we can see no real reason for the leaks. Sadly, my flooring has taken a beating from the leaks and now I am looking at a greater epense to fix that as well. I should have researched more thoroughly prior to the purchase since it appears I am not alone with this troublesome filter. I will not buy Rena again, period.Save 74% Off
