Fluval C4 Power Filter, Fish Tank Filter for Aquariums up to 70 Gal.

I have the c4. It's great and I have been in the hobby for over 30 years. I am using it on a 20 gallon tank. You can never have too much flow rate. To slow the turbulence I use a Fluval Edge prefilter, the flow adjuster and an aquaclear 50 foam sponge at the water output. Let me comment on a few negatives people have written about this filter. 1) The water in my tank is crystal clear and as Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise said in "A Few Good Men" ...."It's that simple." "Are we clear?" "Yes, sir." "ARE WE CLEAR!?" "Crystal" ..... LOL,love that movie. To those who said the water is cloudy, yes, it was at first. I think it was because of the C nodes. You need to either rinse it clear for hours before using it or just let the filter do it in the tank. It took about 2-3 days to clear up but once it did, the water in my tank is crystal clear. I have been running it for 2 weeks and without the charcoal. I replace it with the aquaclear Biomax to increase the biological media. The Biomax and C nodes' fine powder dust clouded the water but like I said, it's clear crystal clear now. Just let the filter do it's job and the water will be crystal clear in a couple of days. 2) My filter is so quiet that you don't know it's on. What I did was apply some vaseline onto the impeller shaft and into the hole of the impeller. I did this without hearing if it needed to or not. I just applied it before I used it. The motor has NO noise at all and the lid does not rattle. The only thing you hear is the water cascading out of the filter. 3) The self priming issue is that you need to fill the filter box with water before you start it. Once it is filled with water, it will self primes when you plug it in. It will take about a minute to self prime as it sucks up the water through the siphon tube. To help the self prime and make it more efficient, I clogged the hole on top of the U intake tube. Now when you unplug the filter and replug it it starts right up without it needing to refill (self prime) the intake tube. If you do a water change and the water in the tank falls just above the bottom of the U intake tube inside the filter box you will need to refill the filter box otherwise it won't self prime. So add water into the box when you refill your tank and when you replug your filter, it will self prime. 4) Try to buy the larger filter (C4) if you can. You can always change the impeller to the smaller impeller if you feel the flow it too much or modify it like I did with prefilter sponge and aquaclear 50 foam. With the bigger filter, it'll clean more and hold more beneficial bateria. And if and when you upgrade your tank, you won't need to buy a new filter. The impellers for the fluval C series and aquaclear are the same. Matter of fact, the motors are the same for all fluval C series and aquaclear except for the 110 model. It's the impeller that determines the flow rate and they are interchangeable between models and sizes except the 110. All the positives you've read about this filter is true. It's easy to clean, the red tab that notifies you that your filter foam needs cleaning is great; you are not stuck with any proprietary media which usually cost a lot more to replace; the foam pad and bio media DO NOT need to be replaced - just rinse the foam pad or bio media in used or dechlorinated water. They should last for several years. If you use activated carbon/charcoal which I don't, you'll need to replace them every so often depending on your tank load. You can buy any brand of activated carbon and put it into a nylon bag and it's save you money. Try to use a prefilter. It's attached to the bottom of the intake tube. It helps to catch the debris and uneaten food before it goes to the foam pad keeping it cleaner. It'll also increase your beneficial bacteria load and your fish will love to peck on it for the uneaten food. The only thing is that you'll need to rinse it once in a while or it will clog up completely and slow the filter down to a trickle. Just rinse it when you do your water change. Hope this helps.....may your fishes be happy and healthy Update: Feb 22, 2013. The filter is still going strong. The reading of the water has been 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5 nitrate with weekly water changes. It would probably be the same with a water change every other week. And this is in a very overstocked aquarium. The only thing I need to do is rinsed the prefilter with every water change or it will clog up and restrict the water flow to a trickle and the water to the trickle part of the filter will not get any water. That's how good the prefilter is in catching the debris and keeping the foam and biomax clean. The red tab pop up device has never moved and when I check the foam it is very clean but I do rinsed the foam every 3 months and LIGHTLY rinse/shake the biomax every 6 months in used aquarium water. DO NOT buy NEW foam or biomax. Just rinse them. They will last several years if not forever especially if you use a prefilter and the prefilter does not need to be changed just rinsed also. I had to clean the impeller just recently since it wouldn't start back up/spin. It had a lot of slime. I just rinsed off the slime from the impeller and shaft and reapplied some vaseline and it was of and running like new. The water is crystal clear also. Update: Jan 13, 2015. The filter is still going strong. Still quiet as when I first bought it. I have upgraded my tank to 25 gallons and it's still working like a charm. I have not bought any replacements, just rinsed the prefilters, pads, biomax, c nodes and impeller. My readings are still 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5 nitrate and I'm changing my water once a month and sometimes once every two months (getting lazy). This is a great filter. Updated.... Feb 22, 2016. The filter is till going strong. Quiet as when it was new. I did replace the form as it was wearing down from squeezing it when I clean it. All the bio medias are still in good and hasn't broken down. M water reading are the same. Changing water less frequent. Getting lazy because of the good water quality from the filter but not good for the fish which needs the minerals from new water and removal of nitrates. Update.....2/6/2019. The filter is still going strong. Have not replaced any parts except for the foam that i mentioned before. The motor is still quiet and pumping like new. The biomedia are still intach and have not broken down. I have not been as diligent in chaging the water as before. Been changing the water about every three months and the numbers still reading 0,0,5. Upgrading the biomedia and using the C4 will do wonders for your aquarium and ease maintenance care.

I purchased this filter a month ago. It is installed on a Marineland 60 gal. cube. The aquarium is a Corner- Flo and already has a Fluval 360 installed. The water in the tank was not as crystal as I would like and I think the Corner_Flo option may be impeding the canister a bit. The tank has African Peacocks and Haps in it. They do make a mess. Not wanting to put another canister in the already crowded cabinet. I opted for an HOB filter. I wanted one that was simple to clean and maintain. I looked at the AC's, Fluval C series and the Eheim Liberty series. This one fit the bill for me. All three filters can use "Bulk Media". A requirement for me. (hate cart's and premade foams $$$$$$) Of the original media I only used the the white foam and polyester pad filter and the small pad on the wet dry filter. It took about a week before the main filter pad was starting to clog (red indicator floating) I rinsed it and it lasted about another week. The poly pad on the back is the culprit and they do make the foam with out it. But for me I just decided to toss it and I cut some blue bonded filter material and installed it.. I also put polyester floss in where the carbon would go as I do not use carbon. In the wet dry bio holder. I put Seachem Matrix instead of the ceramic nodes.. Also many reviews on the web state that they do not use the little white pad on top of the wet dry filter. Bad move as the water that comes from the spout has not actually been through the main filter. It is tank water straight from the pump and the debris will clog your bio media. I plan to put some thin foam or polyester there when the original is bad. Overall this filter has been good. The water is much clearer now. The output is designed so that you do not get the "water noise" that some HOB's have. (Unless you let your water level drop a ways.) The filter has some noise on start up. It has started to diminish as it runs (slime build up in the pump). I did some research on this and it is common. If the amount of noise (what little there is, way less than an air pump) is unacceptable, the application of vaseline or silicone grease to the impeller shaft usually fixes the problem. This filter also has a wide resting area for the tank brim. A good deal for a tank with a frame but not so good with a frameless tank. The problem is in the leveler. The design of the leveler is the same as the AC's. Both are made by Hagen. The leveler is a snug fit in its hole. However with a frameless tank the tallest leg must be used in order to level the filter. The problem is that if the leg is not completely square with the tank surface. Any pressure applied to the filter during maintenance causes the leveler to "cam or twist". As the filter is heavy when full of water it moves pretty abruptly when this happens. One could use a block of some sort between the tank and leveler so that a shorter leg could be used which would stop the twisting issue. All in all I like this filter. Have already purchased another and would recommend it .

This hang back canister filter is amazing! I bought it for my 75gal tank so I set it up on my 30gal tank while I was preparing the 75gal. This filter did an amazing job, better than the current hang back filter I had on it. Within a hour my 30gal tank was crystal clear best clarity I’ve seen since I started that tank. I loved it so much that I left it in my 30gal and bought a second one for my 75gal tank. Definitely recommend this filter.

I really wanted to like this filter but one major issue is driving me nuts. The sheer noise coming from this thing is noticeable and I don't know what's the fix for it. I've tried putting the vaseline trick on the impeller shaft but that didn't help. It sounds like grinding coffee beans, of course not as loud but definitely noticeable. In my video, you can hear it louder than the falling water. This filter is more expensive than the AquaClear series because it offers filters that we don't usually see. 3 compartments really let you pick and choose your forms of filtration. The drip tray for the wet/dry media is one of the coolest things and I believe is entirely unique. Flowrate is quite nice with a nice wide spread (C3). Controlled flowrate and extendable suction tube are nice features too. I'm hoping the sound goes away after a few days but at this point, it remains a 3 star. FYI, item was packaged very nicely with bubble and was sealed. A few cosmetic scratches on the plastic on the inside but who cares about that. It seems the sound issue is poor impeller design, I don't think it was from damage. Others have also noted the noise. Seems to be a luck of the draw. Update 9/23/2016: Ordered a replacement and was hoping it would fix the issue. However, the second one was just as loud as the first. The second however, was scratched up badly inside. It seems that the crumbs and grit from the bio nodes sanded down lots of the flat areas on the filter. They should've sealed it better or sealed the box that it came in. Instead, the crumbs were like sand grinding various areas during shipping and other kinds of movement. I had really high hopes for the filter.. will see if another week the sound improves. Update 9/26/16: Replacement has the same issue. I didn't even set it up, just swapped out the motor and the same grinding persists. 2 defective ones in a row, I'm not going to invest more time trying to get a good one. A great filter design, quality plastics and parts but with the worst motor I've ever heard.

This filter is currently running on a 20 gallon long tank. It is getting the job done, but so was the Whisper that it replaced. The health of your tank will be mostly affected by your feeding habits and maintenance routine, more so than which brand of power filter that you have running. I made the switch because the Whisper cartridge can only hold a small amount of activated carbon. The tank has two large pieces of mopani wood that are constantly releasing tannins in the water. I needed a power filter that has the ability to hold a lot of carbon. That narrowed the choice down to the Fluval C2 and the Marineland Emperor. The Emperors are large filters with high water flow. I wanted a slower rate of flow than the smallest Emperor can provide. That was the deciding factor. How good is this filter? I would say that it is just as effective as any power filter from a reputable manufacturer. The purchase price is a bit higher than most other brands, however. Is it worth it? Maybe. Let us compare this with the Aquaclear line from Hagen. Both have designs that allow for a lot of water by-pass. This is typical of power filters and is by design to compensate for clogged filter media. The power filter's main advantages are lower purchase price, ease of set up, and ease of maintenance when compared to a canister filter. The disadvantages are inefficiency (lots of water by-pass) and limited space for chemical media. The most unusual feature of this power filter is the trickle box. This box holds ceramic biological media above the water line. The design trickles water through the ceramic media, above the water level. Having the media above the water allows the bacteria more access to oxygen. Theoretically, this should allow this filter to decompose ammonia much faster than most of its competitors. The Aquaclears also use ceramic biological media, but below the water level. The idea is that having the bio media above the water allows the system to function like a Wet-Dry filter. This is not a new idea. Perhaps the best implementation of this concept in a power filter design was the old Tetra Second Nature WDF 3000/4000. Unfortunately, Tetra has chosen to discontinue that excellent filter design many years ago. The Marineland bio-wheel is another design that uses the Wet-Dry concept. If you have a high biological load in your tank, then perhaps the added efficiency of this design's bio-filtration might be worth it. The C2 will hold more carbon than the Whisper. Carbon capacity is on par with the Aquaclear. Unfortunately, I could not find an equivalent-sized Emperor. The smallest Emperor is rated at 280 gph. This one is less than half that amount. As far as mechanical filtration, this one allows for more by-pass than the Whisper. Yes, the C2 has a more substantial dual-density mechanical pad, but it also has a feature that allows the water to go around the pad. Actually, the water that is sent to the trickle box is unfiltered. Hence, it is a good idea to always use the bio-screen on top of the trickle box. The quality is similar to the Aquaclear line. No better, no worse. Circulation is approximately equal to that of the Aquaclear 20. The red removable baskets allow you to change the filter's media very easily. It is just as quiet, or just as noisy, as an Aquaclear. Depending on whether you consider the AQ to be loud or silent. Each of us have our own idea of what we consider loud. Which filter is a better choice? The Aquaclear will save you money in the long run, and you have more flexibility because of the larger media box. The C2 will require that you replace the dual-density mechanical filter pad regularly. If your 20 gallon tank is overstocked, then perhaps the additional bio-filtration efficiency of the C2 would be worth it to you. The Aquaclear would be a more economical choice, if your tank is not overstocked and if you do not feed heavily. If you have a 30 gallon tank, my advice would be to choose the Emperor 280. When you start getting to the larger size tanks that can handle high water circulation, the Emperor becomes the better choice. Less water by-pass. The bio-wheel design is very reliable and the Emperors come with an extra media basket for your carbon. The water that is sent to the bio-wheel is also pre-filtered and is transported by a secondary pump. There is a place in the market for the Fluval C2. For the person who has a small tank, who wants to have trickle filter capability, this is a good choice. If you have a nano tank and would like to upgrade your power filter, the C2 is a good choice. It also holds more carbon than most comparably-sized power filter. For bigger tanks (30 gallons and up), I would recommend the Emperor line. Please keep in mind that your feeding habits will have a more profound effect on water quality than your choice of power filter. Fish can eat very little and do well. A medium-sized swordtail can be maintained on five flakes of Tetramin daily, for example. Naturally, if you are more concerned with maximum rate of growth, then you will have to feed a lot more. In that case you should also be prepared to change the water more often or make do with a smaller number of fish per tank. The trickle filter on the C2 may help decompose ammonia faster than an equivalent Aquaclear but you will still have nitrates to contend with. We've all overstocked and overfed before. It happens. The C2 might give you a little bit more flexibility in terms of stocking levels than an Aquaclear. I cannot say for sure because I am not able to test this out. I have both models along with the Whisper, but I cannot create a controlled situation in which to do a test. I just do not have the facility to do that. Nor the knowledge. But if you have the extra cash and if you are willing to spend a little bit more on replacement filter media, the Fluval C2 would be a better pick than the equivalent Aquaclear. It is at least as good in mechanical and in chemical filtration. The biological filtration is theoretically superior. I say give it a try.

I've used many power filters and canister filters in the past and was really looking forward to adding the Fluval C2 to my small 10.5 gallon heavily planted aquarium. I've tried many AC (AquaClear) power filters in the past and they were my go-to, but after discovering Fluval had their own offering I had to try it. Since my tank is heavily planted, I did not use the carbon filter. Why? Because plants need carbon dioxide. With that said, if you don't use the carbon filter you basically have one step before you're ready to put it on your tank. Just rinse the whole thing and put the biological things into its basket. It's really a piece of cake. I added one extra step a few days after installing it and that was since I wasn't using the carbon filter I decide to open that bag up, dump the black stuff in the trash, heavily rinse it, and then put in my own biological substrates into it. I used my Eheim substrate and plopped it into the bag and voila, even more biological filtration! Pros of the Fluval C2: 1. Awesome design with the water trickle and the whole removable cartridges for quick cleaning. The telescope design for the intake is really neat and something I've never seen before. This way you can get the exact height you want. The plastic parts of the filter also seem durable and strong unlike others I've tried. 2. Very flexible. As I mentioned, there's a whole extra compartment (if you're using the carbon filter which I recommend against... sure it makes things pretty but I recommend growing plants in your tank because they add a whole new element and are great for the fish and water quality) and you can add in your own substrate into that area. You can even opt to use your own substrate in the little biological basket instead of the ones they give you. If you want, you can use your own sponges and stuff for the mechanical filtration but I think the one they give will last a long time if you just rinse it. I also use a pre-filter (Fluval's own pre-filter sponge they sell for their Edge lineup) because I have Red Crystal shrimp and I don't want any babies to get sucked into the filter. The pre-filter I recommend because it'll prevent the gross things to go in the filter, but will also be trapped to the side of the pre-filter (giving fish and shrimp something to nibble at). 3. The water flow is very good and you can control it. I am using the C2 on a small 10.5 gallon tank filled with glowlight tetras and red crystal shrimps and I like to put the water flow to max during the day, then move it over to lowest when their lights go off. The extra flow I noticed make the fish more active (possibly more oxygen going through their gills?) Cons of the Fluval C2 (the one caveat; read this if you get a noisy one!) 1. When I first got the filter I was pissed because it was indeed noisy. You could hear the movements of the spinning motor and I thought this thing was a piece of garbage. After 2 days of running it and listening to it (I keep my tank on my desk at my work so I sit next to it) I figured it would never be quieter and did some research online. Turns out this has happened to others. The solution? Lube up the motor parts! How? I used regular Vaseline (bought the travel size at my grocery store). Unplug and take apart the filter at a sink and have a bucket/large-cup handy. When you separate the motor from the rest of the filter you can remove the metal spinning thing. I went ahead and put a thin layer of Vaseline on the surface of that, but it was probably not necessary. The main culprit you want to lube up is the thin metal needle it attaches to. You could use a Q-Tip or thinly rolled up paper towel to get Vaseline around it. I also put Vaseline at the hole of the larger metal thing (the one you took off) and so when it was inserted into the needle the extra Vaseline would go over the needle. From there you could try out the filter at your sink (this is where you can put the intake into the large cup or bucket) and see if it's quieter. If it's still noisy, try again and maybe use more Vaseline. You can of course use better lubrication for water/aquariums but I read Vaseline is safe to use. After doing this the Fluval C2 was really quiet and perfect! Hopefully you won't have to do the above fix, but given the pros of the filter I wouldn't let that you sway from owning this gem. It's a quick fix and afterwards you have a great silent filter!

My journey into aquatics started with the "winning" of two goldfish at the fair. Thinking that taking care of goldfish was easy, I was very unaware of what I was in for, starting with a tank that was too small (5 gallon tank)(well you know the story). I got this power filter (off of Amazon - Great price) to help control the ammonia, and the unclear water that the other filters that I owned could not handle. Being that goldfish are decent swimmers, the low setting on this power filter did not make too powerful of a current for the fish. However, I would not attempt to use this filter for weaker swimmers or smaller fish in such a small tank. It is suggested that the water in the tank by cycled at least 5-6 times. At the low setting the Gallons Per Hour(gph) for this filter is 62 (62gph / 5 gallon(Tank Size) = 12.4 times for this tank.) I have since moved the fish to a 29 gallon tank (119 gph(Max) / 29 Gallon = 4.1 times for this tank), and the filter is still performing well. If I had one issue with the Fluval C series, it is that it is not self priming, which is a problem for people who lose power a lot. To get around this issue I run this filter in tandem with the Marina i25 (internal filter), which gives me a great backup in case of short power outages and helps me to meet the suggested filtering times with the larger tank. This filter has five stages (2 mechanical, 1 chemical and 2 biological filtration) whereas most only have three. This is a very important function for maintaining the filter media. Establishing the bio-filter on an aquarium is time consuming and tedious process so that once it is done you do not want to have to do it again, but maintain what you have. Although there are products available that help (Tetra Safe Start, Seachem Stability, or Nutrafin Cycle), it still takes time to do, so you ideally never want to use a power filter that does not have at least two biological media. The biological filtration is something that is very important in a filter for keeping beneficial bacteria and not having your tank run through a Mini-cycle each time you change a filter (main problem with great filters such as the Marina I25 - great filter but when you change the filter you lose the biological filtration). All filter media will eventually come to a point where it needs to be changed because it gets clogged or loses performance.) Another feature of this filter is that you are not tied to the media that Fluval makes, you can also add media that you normally add to a canister. For example I like Sechem Purigen and Matrix with this filter. I can make my own chemical filtration bags and regenerate them (save money), and use premium Bio-Filter medium such as the recommended Fluval c-nodes or my favorite Seachem Matrix. This alone is an awesome feature of this HOB filter over others. For a filter at this price, the design is well thought out and it shows with it's performance.

I've used plenty of filters throughout my years of having fish as pets. From home made sumps, to a few canister filters, to amazingly constructed skimmers, to a few select HOB filters - including the AquaClear, which is what some would call the C series predecessor. The AC 110 was the best HOB I owned. Great build quality. Silent. Not too difficult to clean. I've been using a canister filter for a while now, but wanted to swap to a HOB because I downgraded tanks and for convenience. The first thing I noticed was the Hagen line - including this C4 filter. In its description it looks like everything a former AquaClear owner would want (better basket layout, aeration, and easier to clean). However, upon receiving the unit, it became clear that while some change is good, a lot is bad. The packaging is flashy, and it is all packed well. Or so I thought. Apparently, it's not packed well enough. When you open the box, you'll find the filter nested in the box without any wrapper or plastic liner. Unfortunately, this is a huge problem. The first unit I received was scratched on both sides. It looked as if it had been used and abused. But the box was sealed in plastic wrap, so I assume it was not really used. I agree with others that it is probably the media dust in the box that is causing the scratches as the filter wiggles around in the box. Also, the thread that holds the impeller motor in place was broken as well. I immediately packed it up for an exchange. Upon receipt of the replacement, I opened the box and noticed the same issue. Scratches all over both sides. And this unit was worse than the first. Even had scratches on the back. Fortunately, there were no cracks and the threads that hold the motor in place were fine in this unit, so I decided to set it up. Set up is a breeze. Rinse off everything (housing, pipes, and media), put the media into their appropriate basket, and put it all together. Set it on your tank and adjust the leveler, add some water to the filter to help it prime, and then plug it in. The flow is great. It is adjustable and the difference in flow from min to max is noticeable. The media provided gets you going right out of the box. And there is even a red popup that alerts you when it is time to clean the media (as water flow gets impeded, the water level pushes this red popup up). You may not want to wait for the red popup, but it may be a nice reminder. Accessing the baskets is quick and easy, so maintaining this filter will be user friendly. One thing I disliked about the AC filter was that all the media was in the same basket, so I usually made a mess when it was time to clean. With these baskets being separate, you don't have to deal with as much weight or spilling. Love the design! On to the next issue with this filter... The impeller motor is noisy. And it gets amplified when you put the baskets and lids in place. As many AC owners know, noisy impellers are not uncommon. But fortunately, there are some ways to help mitigate this. You can remove the motor from the bottom of the filter. Gently twist it off. Take out the impeller and magnet assembly - you'll notice that the blade piece wiggles a bit on the magnet assembly. That's the issue. So we need to pop them apart (you just gently pull the impeller blades off the magnet piece; it snaps off; but be gentle). Once they are apart, you need to fold a piece of teflon tape and wrap the top of the magnet where the blade snaps on. Snap the blades on over the top of the teflon tape, and it should fit a bit more snug. Many recommend applying some non toxic silicone plumber's grease or some petroleum jelly to the metal impeller shaft to help as well. Put it all back together and hopefully it sounds better. Keep in mind that these are fixes that work for some and are not recommendations by Hagen. And I don't guarantee or take responsibility for how such tweaks affect your filter or aquatic pets. Just trying to help those that like the design of this filter so much that they are willing to try some tweaks to get it working the way it should. I plan to see how this filter treats me for a few days. I'm still a bit upset that the housing is all scratched up. I try to keep my items looking like new, but this looks used before coming out of the box. I'm on the fence on whether to give up on this C4 and go with the AC70. I do know that I would not return this unit for another exchange because it is pretty much guaranteed I will get the same issues. It's likely that you will too. The design of this filter is appreciated. It is certainly user friendly. But Hagen needs to work on their quality control. They should be ashamed of how they are treating these units and so should their dealers (I wonder how many returns have been processed). And tweaking the system to be quiet should not be acceptable either. Here's hoping they get things in order. //Addition: I've learned that finding replacement filter media is difficult in local stores.

Dieser Filter läuft wie es soll. Nur der Motor ist etwas zu gut hörbar. Sonst. Gibt es nichts zu beanstanden. Strömung ist mehr als ausreichend. Würde ihn nochmal kaufen.

I bought this filter for my 40 gallon tank. It was noisy right out of the box. I tried leveling it and checked the impeller to make sure it was seated properly, but it still had a vibration and rattle. I contacted the seller and he sent me a new impeller and that fixed the problem. By the way, excellent service and very speedy, did not leave me hanging and waiting. Now on to the filter, this is one of the best hang on filters I've had in 40 some years of fish keeping, it is quiet and does a beautiful job keeping my tank sparkling clean. The 5 stage filter system is great and the filter looks awesome on the tank. I could go into lengthy details about the filter but just read the info on it, it's all true what the manufacturer says. It just does what it's supposed to do, period. It has a 2 year warranty so you can buy with peace of mind. Unlike some other filters, you can buy any and all replacement parts for this filter at reasonable prices, so chances are this filter will last you a lifetime. I have used Hagen products for 40+ years and they stand behind their products, no ifs ands or buts. So if you are looking for a filter that is (IMHO) one of, if not, the best on the market today, this is the one for you. Peace and happy fish keeping :)

For started Amazon royally messed up with this one - the item is shipped with an EU plug so bear this in mind. Disregard most reviews on here, the filter when set up correctly is near silent. English instructions are available the Fluval website but basically it’s important to fill the filter with water before turning it on. Then after the filter gets rid of any air it runs near silent and is barely noticeable. The filter looks great and all media can be replaced whilst it’s running which is a bonus. The trickle feed is brilliant and exactly what I needed for a betta aquarium which doesn’t need a lot of water flow.

Diciamo subito, che un filtro per acquario a zainetto, per quanto grosso sia non avrà mai una resa di un filtro esterno. Questo filtro a zainetto, ne ho provati altri, invece è molto equilibrato, potente, silenzioso (almeno per ora), ed ha un giro di acqua al suo interno, ottimo. Io al posto della busta del carbone attivo, ho tolto anche la capsula di plastica rossa, ho inserito a capienza i cannolicchi in calza di nylon, con al di sopra l'ovatta e sopra il suo cestellino, con gli altri cannolicchi in dotazione, per aumentare l'accumulo dei batteri buoni, che non sono mai abbastanza. Ne ho acquistati 2 per due acquari da 40 litrei l'uno, perchè mi piace che l'acqua in superfice sia adeguatamente mossa, per non creare patine oleose eventuali. Logicamente se allestissi un acquario con i Betta splendens questo filtro sarebbe troppo potente, non va bene, a tal proposito, si può regolare un minimo la potenza di uscita dell'acqua, riducendola un pochino. Con il tempo non so se diventerà rumoroso... vedremo, ma per ora sono molto soddisfatto. Consegna Ok, come sempre, servizio Prime, on TOP !

Tengo un acuario de 80 litros con 4 peces cometa de un año. Anteriormente tenía un filtro interior de otra marca con muchísimos problemas de eficacia, ya que no limpiaba lo suficiente y cada semana debía renovar una parte de agua y limpiar. Compré el producto filtro fluval C4 y me vino un primer envío, el producto era completamente nuevo pero tenía una esquina del filtro con un pequeño roto. Pedí el cambio y en 24 h me lo reemplazaron por otro filtro completamente nuevo en condiciones perfectas y rapidísimo. Sin queja ninguna. Servicio excelente. Lo coloqué y comenzó a funcionar, lo tengo aproximadamente un mes. El cambio ha sido fantástico. El filtro funciona perfecto. A los 2 días de funcionar ya tenía el agua limpia, cristalina, transparente, y así la tengo desde entonces. El aparato mide aprox. 21,5 centímetros (cm) de ancho, por 16 cm de profundidad total y de altura total mide 22 cm de altura (sin contar el tubo de captación). La mochila sobresale por detrás o lateral 10 cm respecto del acuario De altura sobresale del acuario 7 cm por arriba. El tubo de captación de agua yo lo tengo a 25 cm de profundidad por debajo de la cota de agua. Puede llegar un poco más. Es regulable en altura, se puede bajar o subir y con ranuras en la captación para evitar que entren partículas grandes. No hace prácticamente ruido, sólo el ruido propio de un pequeño aparato, que casi ni se nota, y es completamente normal. Y además lo que se oye es el tranquilizador y relajante sonido del agua al caer por la cascada. Ya lo que es el filtro tiene primero el filtro C esponja o foamex o poliester, el carbón activo, una tela filtrante, las cánulas cerámicas o vidrio, y el agua vuelve a verterse por la cascada. Creo que es un filtrado completo. Se limpia fácilmente, cada 2 semanas retiro los filtros, los enjuago en un recipiente con la propia agua, y los vuelvo a poner, muy fácil. Tiene 2 velocidades, se regula con una palanca parte superior a izquierda, yo lo tengo al mínimo y es suficiente. Algún rato lo pongo al máximo pero casi nunca. Esta palanca no regula la potencia del motor de extracción, parece que sólo regula la entrada de captación de agua, pero el sistema yo lo veo bien. Tiene un pivote rojo, arriba a derecha, que sube cuando está sucio. Pero a mi no me ha subido nunca. El autocebado, con el nivel de agua de acuario alto, he comprobado que desconectando unos minutos la corriente eléctrica, y volviéndolo a enchufar, el mismo se autoceba y vuelve a extraer agua y bombearla. Quizás si pasa más rato, y el nivel del agua del acuario es muy bajo, el filtro perdería agua acumulada y podría no funcionar. Algo en contra, que no tiene esquimer de recogida de residuos superficial. Pero creo el sistema como está es suficiente. Por tanto, es eficaz filtra y limpia perfectamente, gran calidad, silencioso, calidad precio buena, totalmente recomendable.