Review on 🐠 Increase Your Aquarium's Water Filtration with the Aquarium Technology, Inc. Filter Max Pre-Filter by Barb Franz

This is exactly what I was looking for in a general purpose pre-filter. The sponge is approximately 5 inches long with an overall diameter of 2.5 inches and the walls of the sponge are approximately 3/4 inch thick. This is a coarse foam designed to prevent larger particles from entering the main filter. There are enough adapters in the box to fit almost any round air intake - see my attached pictures for instructions/diagram. This is NOT suitable for a square entry. The good news is that the sponge assembly is a regular sponge filter, so all parts can be used with any standard sponge filter. The sponge can be oriented vertically or horizontally depending on the configuration of the aquarium or the position of the air intake. I use it on an Aquaclear 110 in a 29 gallon tank that currently only has one fish... an aggressive female angel. The AC filter housing contains the standard sponge block that comes with the filter, a double layer of polyester filter thread held by a specially cut section of the light panel diffuser, and then a pouch with ceramic bio rings on top. This will filter the tank well (as you can imagine; it's easy to spin the tank up to 10 times an hour, which was my goal). When I installed Filter Max I didn't notice any change in the output stream. What I noticed was that the particles were attracted to the pre-filter and stuck to its sides - hooray! Smaller particles dissolve in the foam; Some will fall into the trap, others will slip through. The main objective is to increase the time between the main cleanings of the sponge block at the bottom of the filter, which I need more for a biological medium than for mechanical filtration. So my setup is rated at 400 GPH by the new Max filter acting as a filter. primary mechanical filter. The Sponge AC unit is now a secondary mechanical filter and a primary biofilter. My poly filter thread is a tertiary mechanical filter and primary water polisher. Finally, a bag of Biomax rings is a secondary biofilter that I can rotate frequently to allow some air contact. Attached solids immediately fall off, fogging up the tank and being sucked into the main air intake, negating the benefits of the pre-filter. I recommend a zip and zip storage bag. Place the bag in the tank, fill it with water, place it on the pre-filter and close the bag. Consumption can start to slightly compress the bag. At any time, remove the entire filter assembly from the first plastic elbow, place it in the bag and remove the bag with the filter inside from the tank. Clean as instructed, then reinstall the pre-filter. Judging by the packaging, this is a product made in the USA. I found it to be well designed and well made. The dual angles provide good placement flexibility and the ability to use other larger foam filters if needed. I bought an Eheim pre-filter for my 2217 for over $25 and while it is a very high quality product I like the Filter Max better. The sponge material is roughly the same for both pre-filters. The Eheim obviously has a nice outer shell that drives up the price. I'll probably try Filter Max on my other 2217 and see which pre-filter I like better over time. I have no hesitation in saying that you can't go wrong with Filter Max for almost any type of filter with a round inlet tube. I am very satisfied with this product. My photos show (1) the Max filter mounted directly to the Aquaclear main inlet with no extension tubes. Note that the 29 gallon tank is 18-3/4 inches tall. (2) Close-up of the two headers and the largest adapter that connects to the main air intake. (3) I added an inlet extension to lower the pre-filter; This puts the bottom of the pre-filter in roughly the same location as the bottom of the two standard inlet extensions that come with the Aquaclear. (4) General view of the tank with one extension installed - this is my final install. (5&6) Information and instructions from the box.