aquaclear or sunsun

[fissh]

Sorry but no, that was not what the issue was. O-rings were the first to be replaced.

As a side note, all canisters do not need o-rings changed every year. Maybe your SunSuns do, but all of my Eheims have been going for many years with no leaks or issues and all they get is a simple cleaning every few months.

Wow I guess I don't know much anymore.

[mac]

Matt, I know you and I like to spar on the AquaClear subject haha I have to interject here and make note that I never let my filters turn into gunk factories. Oftentimes my ACs wouldn't start even upon plugging them in immediately after a cleaning. For me, it was never an issue of having waste build up. The impellers simply would be stalled and would sit there vibrating until I gave them a decent nudge. Once spinning they would be fine, until the next time the power went out or I had to unplug them for maintenance.

I know we had a much more heated debate a couple years back. There were several members who were like you and had zero issues and loved their ACs. I'm glad they work for you folks and am in no way advocating for you to switch to something else. But it is important to point out that there were also just as many members in that discussion that reported the same issue I was having, most if not all of those folks were prominent members (some still lurk around while others have moved on) who I would never think to accuse of neglecting their tanks/filters or not understanding how to maintain them. Many of those members are like me and switched to different brands and have not had any repeats of the problem since switching. To me this is indicates a problem that is specific to Aquaclears. Obviously there are tons of people who swear by them and like I said I am not trying to convince anyone that is happy with theirs to try something else. I am simply offering up my experiences with the product so that others who are researching and considering buying one are aware of an issue that plagued myself and other members here. No disrespect towards you intended, my dude!

I have minimal issues with my ac50s.
They work, but there is a few little issues, the clog easy and slow down, and they some times cause issues with lower tank levels not starting again when the power starts.

I have turned on into a mini refuge and it's perfect, but still work to keep it perfect.

[SueD]

In addition to the impellers not starting in my AC filters - even after cleaning - I also have had problems with the intake tubes seating properly. Of the 4 AC's I still have running, I am able to put the cover back on properly on only one AC20. The covers on the others, which are 2 AC 50's and 1 other AC20 will not fit back on tightly because of the intake tubes. I think Nat had the same problem

[BluewaterBoof]

Only my AC20 had the tube fitment issue, but yeah I remember that now that you mention it. I would have to fool around with the tube a bit to get it to seat properly and then place something with a bit of weight onto the lid to hold it all down. If I didn't have something holding the lid into place then the intake tube would pop up about 1/8". Just enough to affect the suction/flow as well as preventing the lid from seating the way it was supposed to.

[BluewaterBoof]

I have turned on into a mini refuge and it's perfect, but still work to keep it perfect.

I almost turned to one to convert it into a mini-fuge but ended up finding an HOB refugium from Finnex for the same price point (on Amazon). The Finnex 'fuge has similar volume as an AC70 but came with a pump, removable baffles, and FugeRay light. My reef is also a short one (long but not tall), so using an AC70 would have carved a huge pit in my sand with the return flow. On a larger reef like yours I would have definitely wanted more flow through it but in my particular case I needed something more tame.

[mac]

I almost turned to one to convert it into a mini-fuge but ended up finding an HOB refugium from Finnex for the same price point (on Amazon). The Finnex 'fuge has similar volume as an AC70 but came with a pump, removable baffles, and FugeRay light. My reef is also a short one (long but not tall), so using an AC70 would have carved a huge pit in my sand with the return flow. On a larger reef like yours I would have definitely wanted more flow through it but in my particular case I needed something more tame.

Your lucky to be able to find things cheap, if anything like that was remotely for sale my way add $500-700 on top for good measure that $100 in tax.

[WhistlingBadger]

I know the poll's over, but I'll chime in here and say I've had a sunsun 702b on my 55 since 2016, and other than being a bit hard to get started, I've never had a problem with it. Hope I'm not jinxing myself. :) Heckuva good filter for the money, in my book.

Seems like people have mixed experiences with them, so caveat emptor. But that's my experience.

Thomas