Aquatop CF-400UV MKII Canister Filter Vortex Prime – 3+1 Stage Filtrationm - 9 Watts - 370 GPH Flow Rate - Up to 125-Gallon Aquariums – Media Included

F13 Review:Been using this since Christmas 2017 after my Jebo 839 canister filter started leaking from the top O-Ring and the suction of the canister was just dieing. The forza series is a higher quality compared to the aquatop CF series. I originally have a CF 300 before the Jebo 839. The only problem I had with that overtime was that the baskets either expanded or for some reason everytime when I put the baskets back in after cleaning I can't get the cap back on and secure it or later it would be almost impossible to open the top cap. Was like it was just air tight compressed.My canister didn't have any problems with the UV light other than it flickers like 2 or 3 times when I turn it on then it just stays on. Don't know if that's original or not since this is my first canister filter with UV lighting. The UV light will turn off itself if you angle the canister to something like 30 degrees or more. That is normal since it is written in the manual for safety reasons. It will turn back on itself once you bring it close to flat leveling or below 30 degree angle.I had a few weird occurrences where the canister would just turn off by itself and turn back on like 10 minutes later. For me it happened usually around 12 AM. The canister would just shutdown for no reason. At first I thought it was power outage but I have it on a battery back up or a APS UPS battery back-up. I also checked to see if it was overheating by touching the top, but saw the UV light was still on. After 10-15 minutes the motor just turned back on by itself. Happened about once every week for the first few months and now that doesn't happen.As of now I really love this canister filter since it is ways easier to clean vs. the other 2 canisters I've used. For Jebo 839 I had to make sure the baskets are fit on right and not crooked or else putting the baskets in the bucket would make the top cap unable to fit on right and leak so I would have to put all the baskets on upside down then put the bucket on the baskets upside down then flip everything around. For this one I just have to put the baskets in and put the cap on and seal it. The sealing on the FZ series is really tight so when clamping on and releasing the clamp will require a little more effort than usual. At first when I took it out of the box and open the canister I thought I was gonna break the clamp since I had to use a lot more strength to unlock the clamp compared to other canisters I've used.I've also jumped to 525GPH from the Jebo 830 that had a 396 GPH so it gets my water clear faster after cleaning. The noise level is very small and you probably wouldn't be able to here it unless you were within 10 feet range. I mean 10 feet range as in it is outside of the cabinet/stand. I have a 60 gallon tank 48" x 18" X 15" so this thing is big and doesn't fit through the cabinet/stand doors and since my stand is already against the wall.The priming is easy. It will be hard to prime if your canister is close to the height of your water level. I have the canister on a small stool that's how I noticed. It seemed easier to prime when I prime it on the floor then move it on to the stool later. But I am assuming that most fish owners keep the canister filter close to ground and pretty much at least 2 feet from their water height.Canister is heavy. Yes heavy. I didn't not weigh it but it felt like at around 10 pounds taking it right out of the box. A lot heavier than my 15 inch laptop for sure since I carry that around everyday to school and back. I wouldn't recommend using the handle. Probably use one hand on top and one hand on bottom to hold the canister even though the handle on this canister looks thick.Overall, love this canister! Easy clean. Easy setup. Very quiet. Best quality of Aquatop.

This is my second canister filter, but the first with a UV light built-in. So far, I'm very happy with the operation of the filtration and estatic at the addition of the UV light. My aquarium is right next to an east facing window and has always grown green alge pretty quickly after doing 100% water changes and "razor blading" the alge off of the inside of the glass. I have had this new unit running for two weeks and, so far, no alge growth on the glass. I give credit to the UV light. Just a note... I installed the filter system without the "spray bar". Much easier to do and it working great. The water flows into the aquarium along the top of the water directly from the "return tube" coming up from the filter. Bottom line.... I would buy again!!!

Below is my review I posted a while back, a very happy customer. I remained a very happy customer until last week when I went to put my hand in the tank to get some floating veggies left over from my turtle's eating. THE WATER SHOCKED ME!! I immediately unplugged everything, not knowing what was doing it (heaters...water current pump). I plugged them in one by one and it was this! I couldn't believe it, but when this one was plugged in the water had a electric current. My husband thought I was crazy, since the only part of the filter that goes into the water is plastic, but it was. So I open up the canister, and the light bulb glass was cracked and filled with water. I have no idea how this happened because I hadn't changed it in weeks, and the water wasn't electric the day before (I have to scoop out his left overs daily). I guess since water was getting inside the bulb carpment it was carring the electic current into the tank. It wasn't a strong current, and oddly my turtle didn't seem to even notice. However it was a little concerning for me, and I am sure fish wouldn't have survived.SO JUST BEWARE AND KEEP AN EYE ON THE GLASS AROUND THE BULB.PREVOUS REVIEW BEFORE ALMOST DIEING (JK)....I went from a 20 gallon aquarium to a 55 gallon one, and my Marineland-PC0250HSB-Magnum-55-Gallon-250GPH just wasn't doing to job. I have a 7 inch red eared slider. I needed something more powerful, but didn't want to spend over $100. After reading TONS of reviews, I felt this was the most bang for the buck. It's for an aquarium double the size I have, but turtles are dirty.I was also having some surface algea which I had never had in the smaller tank. I used to have algea eaters, but now that he is bigger, he pretty much as ate all his tank mates, even the snails. He has a dock that sits above the water, and there was algea on the steps that I would have to clean off, and on the top of the peebles on the flooring. I started to get one of those UV algea power heads, but this I saw this, and thought maybe it would handle both needs. IT DID!!! I didn't see anything about surface algea (only green water) on the reviews, but took a chance and thought it might work. I did a half water change, and hook the this bad boy up, I purposely left all the surface algea. By two days later, it had vanished.I never really had a problem with dirty water, but in true turtle fashion, he likes to dig a lot in his gravel. My old filter would get clogged up in two weeks with out fail. And if it was a really active digging day, he could get the water very cloudy. With this one, I don't see any debris. As soon as he stirs it up, the filter knocks it out.I really like the return bar also. Instead of a pouring sound like the old one made (where the return is just a single pipe with a directional flow head) that just made me have to pee all the time, this is more like a water fall or fountain sound. It also has the option of extending the return lower to put it closer to the water, and lessen the noise. If have fish, and the tank is full, I guess this would be under water so you would hear it at all. He likes swimming through the bubble water the return creates, and I guess this might help with oxygenation of the water too for fish. The only fish that I put in there are food...so I am not worried about that.The canister itself is very sturdy. The only "cheap" parts I wasn't impressed were the plastic parts that actually go into the tank, but they seem to work fine. I didn't have to buy anything special except filter media. To start I used exactly what the directions recommended. Sponge in the bottom, charcoal in the middle, and bio balls in the top. Seems to work fine, I can always adjust it later. The light is inside a thing, so you dont' have to worry about breaking it. It went together fine, and was pretty easy even without directions. I filled the canister up before attempting to prime it, because it is huge. I can't imagine trying to fill the whole thing with priming button. Priming went smoothly, and it started right up.I will update this if something changes, but on day 5 I am thrilled.

este filtro fue comprado para reponer otro de calidad inferior, en un periodo de 13 horas contadas aclaro el agua por su totalidad, mis peces son muy felices con un muy buen sistema de filtración, lo único que no me encanta es el precio para reponer el foco de uv que en algún momento va a tener que ser remplazado.como extra después de un par de años, el foco se fundió, no lo venden mas que de importación, los clips que sujetan la conexión de las mangueras se rompió, y el plástico de las canastillas interiores se lo carcomió el foco de rayos UV.