Review on 🐠 ZenBlue HW402A 264GPH Canister Filter - Multi-Stage Aquarium Filtration System for Tanks up to 75 Gallons by Joy Miller

Longtime fish owner, first owner of a canister filter. So I have no experience with these types of filters, but I do have a long history of keeping fish and working with filters and media. My purchase of this filter was based on my purchase of a standard 29 gallon glass aquarium. The aquarium should also be planted with fish. This filter has been running on a 29 gallon tank for over 2 weeks now and I am quite happy with the performance so far. My first task was to find a medium. Including fine filter. You will also need coarse and medium filters. Do not purchase the filter pads provided with this product from Revain (Filter for SunSun HW304). You are too big. I bought them due to the fact that they appear with this filter. I was able to cut them to fit. So that's not really a problem in the long run, but doing some extra work to fit them isn't what you want to do when you're buying filter pads that fit out of the box (or out of the bag in this case). must ). Then I bought a real biological medium. Bought 2 types. I first bought the "Biohome” stretcher from another online shop. It is rated very highly and, judging by the reviews, resembles a cat's meow. I suspect some of them are just ads, but the forums seem to like it a lot. This is sintered glass. I bought 1kg of the product and it completely filled a basket. Another carrier is similar but made from mined material. This is a Seachem product called Matrix. I bought a 1 gallon bucket sold here at Revain and shared it with a friend. I was able to fill the whole basket with it and still have some left over for my other aquarium. It has a Biowheel filter so the media is just under the "official" filter packs that come with this tank. The Matrix is also very highly regarded. There are other products that do the same job. It should be noted that I also bought biobeads and ceramic rings and subsequently removed them. They do not appear to have the same surface area as other media and are therefore not biofilters. This is all TBT as the tank is still operational and currently only has 3 fish. The canister filter is pretty easy to set up. You put in filter pads (I put them all on the floor - there are various arguments as to where and what to put - but I used common sense and it turned out that filter pads were the best for removing particles and the biofilter takes care of it). unpleasant by-products of fish waste). You can do your homework here, but I think it makes sense. Then I put the media in the top two trays. I put on the top screen and then seal it. It's VERY important to line up the baskets so that all the holes line up, otherwise it won't work properly. Water must enter the filter, sink to the bottom and flow back through the filter mats and filler. If you don't line up the holes properly, it just won't work properly, and you'll also likely have trouble fitting the lid properly and therefore leaking. I will say that the locks are pretty weak. They just don't seem essential and from reading other reviews it's probably very important if you're trying to force something (they break and you can't find a replacement). So I would recommend that you carefully assemble the filter and CAREFULLY snap it into place. If it shows resistance, reattach the top so it can be closed easily. Assembling the spray bar and air intake is quite easy. The pieces are put together according to the instructions (and when I mean instructions I mean looking at pictures and working with them as words don't give much guidance). The reception is kinda ugly. There is an option with a protein skimmer. For this I left the cap on the recording and left it alone. I don't think I will need it. Once the canister was set up, I placed the filter on the bottom of the tank. The next step was to cut the tubing to the correct length. The filter comes with two long hoses. At first I thought I could just cut one in half and use that. But I had to be able to move the filter around my office until I got everything set up, so I left them on longer than I really needed. To straighten the tubing (they will be rolled up for shipping) I boiled some water in a large saucepan, let it cool for a minute without a stove, then put the tubing in. I let them sit in hot water for a minute or two and then took them out and put them in the garage to cool. After cooling, they stayed straight. Connecting the hoses to the filter and the inlet and spray bars was very easy. Simply cut the hoses to length, then slide onto the end and tighten the included nut that holds the end of the hose to the fitting. Simple, will not leak and you can take it off when needed. When everything seemed to be ready, I opened the filter and filled it with water. It seems to be a common mistake that people don't fill in the filter before they have filled it and activated it. If you don't fill it up first, it won't refuel easily, if at all. Once the filter is filled with water to the top of the baskets (it is recommended to use aquarium water to ensure it is good) you can prime the booster pump a few times. You should see water flow from the tank inlet into the hoses, pushing some of the water up and into the tank. After a few clicks you can connect the filter. I had to continue the download after connecting about 5-10 times to get a steady stream. At first you should see air bubbles at the outlet, but they should stop once the filter is working. I have no way of measuring the flow, but the pump seems to be working very well. I get a good, visible flow from the atomizers. This filter is almost silent as others have noted. Alongside this, I have another tank with a Marineland Biowheel filter (sits on top of the tank but looks like it's hanging from the back) which is much smaller in volume (12 gallon tank) and much, much louder is. I am very surprised how good this filter is and I am very happy with it. Having had the tank for just over 2 weeks it's hard to say how it will perform over time but so far I'm very pleased. with this purchase, especially for less than fifty dollars. You can easily pay double for something very similar and not have a better job. I will continue to carefully close the latches as this appears to be a weak point and likely point of failure for the entire system. However, it seems that if you are very careful every time, you will not have any problems. I will update this review over time so I can better understand the filter over time. So far I can highly recommend it. UPDATE: 4/16/15 I have an aquarium that has been up and running for over a month now and I continue to slowly introduce fish and plants. So far no problems with the filter. Continues to do its job perfectly. I noticed the flow dropped a bit so I cleaned the foams/pads and everything was fine after that. So this looks like a lot for what it is and what it does. I can not complain. Showed the setup to a friend and he couldn't believe this canister was so cheap and worked so well. I continue to give 5 stars here. UPDATE: 8/24/15 The filter continues to work fine. No questions. I had a case where the top wouldn't sit properly so I had to take out all the trays and reinstall everything to get them to sit properly inside. I see if I tried to force it I would most likely break the latch - the weak point in the filter. So the comments from other reviewers about the clasps breaking have already paid off by taking my time and putting it together correctly so I didn't break anything. This is a solid deal and I highly recommend it, with the caveat that you have to be careful not to force anything. Otherwise it works very well for the price. UPDATE: 10/4/15: :( And today was the day it lost its value. I was so careful not to force anything for fear of leaks. And today I closed the filter after cleaning and it started to leak. I can't find anything obvious. I cleaned the gasket and re-greased with food grade grease. It still leaks pretty quickly. So that's it. Shame.