New Canister filter.

[mcg2026]

I just purchased a aquatop cf500 uv and was wondering if any one has ever used one of the these?  The claim is that the output is 525gph.  It has a 9 volt uv light and also has a spray bary attatchment.  It also has 4 media trays.  Most of the reviews that I have read have been decent.  My intention is to place this on my 55 gallon mbuna tank.  it comes with filter pads but no media.  I am going to use fluval pre filter which i use in my fx5, bio balls, and fluval ceramic bio pellets.  I currently only have a penguine 350 and 150 hob which are have a hard time keeping up.  My intention is to hung up the new filter and leave both hob on till the canister filter is cycled.  Any thoughs?

[Nick]

I have the cf400 UV and love it. It feels a bit cheap in respect to the spray bar and tubing but it does a great job. I added a my own filter media that I had laying around as well and it seemed to work nicely. The setup reminds me of a Marineland filter. Lots of space. Mine has been up and running for about a year without a single issue. Very quiet too.  Although this filter can easily work for a 55 gallon I would recommend still running one of the hob. The claim may be 525 but I would bet its more like 350gph after a few months of use. Still plenty but I like to have lots of filtration.

[mcg2026]

i qppreciate the comment.  That is a great idea.  I will probably leave both my penguine 350 and 150 in place for extra added filtration and in case one goes down I have a back up. thanks for the help.