Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I used to work as a marine biologist for a major state aquarium. Marineland bio pumps have been around forever. I have been using them for both salt and freshwater tanks in gallon sizes ranging from 10-200. All have worked flawlessly and I will continue to use them as both primary and secondary systems. They are far superior to anything except canister systems BUT in some ways, better than canister filters due to ease of maintenance. I will pick 3-4 of these at one time over a single system any day. Simply, one goes down (breaks), another is still keeping your tank clean and filtered. Please read!!! your fish and you will be much happier and stun everyone else... Advantages: 1) You don't have to shut it down. Pull the cartridge, rinse the new one with distilled water, slowly replace it back in the formed slots. No shutting down valves, seals/o-ring probs etc.. 2) They're pretty quiet but can get the "bubbling noise" when your water level drops below a certain point.Typically just below the flat part of the outlets. It won't hurt it or the fish if it does, it just gets that "noisy" waterfall sound which some, people feel it's soothing. Keeping the water level up is a good thing and remember, those bio wheels add oxygen to the water. Canisters don't. 3) They are easy to fix unless the actual motor goes bad. A wheel sticks? clean the roller pins and slots. 5 minutes. Impeller stops? try pulling and just clean the surfaces of the magnet and cavity; again a 5 minute job. You do have to unplug it for those two jobs. TIPS- A) Do yourself a huge favor and buy an extra set or two of cartridges. They are easily found from mom-n-pop pet stores to large chain stores. You CAN rinse the old ones in an emergency. B) Go to the grocery store and get a gl jug of distilled water and keep it. Reason? tap and even well water has trace elements and minerals that will kill the beneficial bacteria and cause a cloudy white appearance (bacterial bloom) for a cpl days. C) Motor/impeller maintenance - Unplug the pump. Lift the cover off, grab the intake tube (square) and slightly wiggle while pulling upward. Clean with a paper towel and white vinegar on the rubber "grommets" and silver pins you see.Basically, make sure everything that is suppose to spin, does so smoothly. D) Bio wheel sticking - Just lift the cover off. No need to unplug. Lift the sticking wheel outuse a Q-tip to clean the slots where the wheel rests. Lightly clean the silver roller pins on the ends. Replace. DO NOT CLEAN OR WASH the paper wheel itself. Sounds like work?? it's not... A canister or in tank filter is ten times more work and messy. These are awesome filters.. Get it and take heed to what I wrote. You'll be happy with it....