Review on 🐠 Penn-Plax Cascade Canister Aquarium Filter (1200 Elite): Superior Filtration for Pristine Water by Ingrid Buell

I bought the Elite 1200 for a 55g mixed tank from Lake Malawi with lots of fish. The price difference was about $15 more, but it includes over $15 worth of media, so I felt like this saved me money in the long run. A little tip if you're not sure which model to choose: Aquaraadvisor has a free calculation that shows you what filter grade you need based on the filter model, tank size and fish stock! My opinion on this filter: super quiet, really good suction power, cheaper than Fluval, easy to install. The primer is something **h! It took me 2 1/2 hours to figure out how to remove all the air and get it working. The instructions that came with it didn't help. Dozens of YouTube videos later. What worked in the end was 1) making sure the lock nuts were on the pipe as tight as I could tighten them 2) flipping the rubber grommet on the cups so the side with the deepest groove was around the pipe going through the Baskets went 3) fill the canister with water 4) close the outlet valve 5) I removed the inlet hose from the canister and started vacuuming, dumped it into a bucket then closed the ball valve and reattached it to the canister once the water flowed 6) raised the drain in the tank above my waterline 7) pressed the fill button several hundred times and then opened the outlet valve again. Finally it worked! So now I like the filter but it was really difficult to run it the first time, I agree given how good it is in every other way. ok so I assume any refill problems are limited to the first run. My wearer: lower basket sponge, then: 2nd basket ceramic rings, third thread and last charcoal and purigen together. I don't normally use charcoal in my tanks but it comes with 3 packs so I threw it in there.