Review on Fluval C Series Power Filter: 🐠 Enhanced Clip-On Aquarium Filter for Optimal Performance by Shannon Redd

This C2 filter is great except it's a bit noisy. Mine has become significantly quieter after a few weeks of use. The level works very well. It doesn't fill up very well after a water change, but seems fine after a quick unplug and plug back in or a momentary power outage. It arrived in the Fluval c-nodes box with some scratches on the plastic from dust/sand. I don't care about scratches as this is a very useful piece of equipment that most of the time isn't visible. Build quality and fit/function are very good. It takes up little space, works like a canister filter, and allows for many more media settings than most clip-on filters. I use Fluval canisters in my 55 gallon aquarium but this C2 filter is perfect for my 5 gallon aquarium. It has good suction and the water is noticeably cleaner than the horrible filter that came with my tank. I do weekly water changes, every two weeks I flush the foam and medium into the aquarium water I withdraw and all my water parameters are perfect. I use a 100ml Seachem Purigen bag instead of activated charcoal, which is perfect for the chemistry media basket. I also replaced the Fluval C-Nodes with Seachem Matrix which never need to be replaced. I'm not using a bioscreen over the biomedia basket. Even new ones clog after a few days and leak water. I have confirmed with Fluval that the water flowing through the bio-medium from the spout first goes through a mechanical stage, so the bio-filter is too thin a filter. Residence time of the water and filtration in the filter. Being such a small tank I can definitely tell the difference between low and high flow. My plants deflate noticeably more at high flow, but in a large aquarium the difference won't be as noticeable. The telescopic intake tube is a nice feature. In my photos it is as short as possible and my aquarium is 17 inches high. If you have shrimp or small fish you will need a pre-filter sponge or inlet filter protector. I have stainless steel with a diameter of 18.75 mm. Steel filter guard by Han Aquatics. I cut the plastic filter off the intake pipe and the steel filter guard fits perfectly. It takes up less space and looks better than a pre-filter sponge and now baby shrimp can walk around the air intake without getting sucked into the filter. This is a very good filter and I highly recommend it. *Update* After a few months everything is still working great. The filter is now practically silent, even after cleaning the impeller.