Review on Sunsun HW302, HW303, HW304: Advanced 3 Stage Aquarium Canister Filters for Optimal Filtration by Rhonda Babson

This filter has been ambiguous since I've had it. Good for the most part, let me tell you how my experience went. Ordering and receiving goods went as usual. The box arrived and I was surprised to see that the box it came in was the box itself. No outer carton with packaging material, nothing. Okay, what if it gets corrupted? I really don't want to return it, just wait another two weeks. Okay, so mine was fine. I took the materials out of the box and found that I had accidentally received a model without a UV lamp to save money. Fuck. Well, it was most likely another part that was bound to break anyway, so I'm actually glad I didn't get it. Then I noticed that there is no SunSun branding on the device. You sold me the wrong thing! So there are about a million companies using the same design. Big thing. The instructions are absolute nonsense. Throw them away or read them for fun. However, if you need help, watch the YouTube video. I ordered some foam for myself and also some purigen. After installing it, I noticed how quiet it is. I can't hear it walking at 5ft. Is it even on? I do not know. I put my hand on it, it definitely works. So it's nice. About a week works like a dream. One day I'm looking around my tank and I see a leak. Oh shit. I feel the carpet back there and sure enough it's wet. Not wet, but wet. It turned out that the leak was in the return line where the hose attached to the plastic elbow that went to the tank. For the rest of my life I couldn't get him to stop. I even cut the whistle and tried to start from a new ending. There are no dice. I ended up covering the whole part with clear aquarium silicone. The leak was one drop per minute, so nothing extreme. After reworking the foam a few times I think I've found a good amount to add and still empty the tank. I will say that I want to buy a more powerful model. At my 55 gallons it doesn't seem to have much suction power. It cleans the reservoir so it works but I can see particles floating right at the inlet and keep moving. In the end I think it will get her. Also use a surface skimmer attachment. It actually helps a little. None of this was difficult to set up or maintain. I strongly recommend that you plan an extra day for all of this. When you receive it do a test install and then use clear silicone in all hose fittings and allow to dry for a full 24 hours. you will thank me This is a good product for those who want to upgrade to a canister filter but don't want to pay Eheim's silly prices. For less than $60 you get a very powerful filter. Choose something stronger than this and use transparent silicone.