CASCADE 1000 QUESTIONS

[chesney01]

I CAME ACROSS A BRAND NEW, IN THE BOX, CASCADE 1000 FILTER AT A LOCAL GARAGE SALE AND BOUGHT IT FOR $25.00. I INSTALLED IT LAST NIGHT, AND IT IS A VERY QUIET FILTER AND THE WATER SEEMS TO BE CLEAN AND CLEAR. MY QUESTIONS ARE THAT IT STATES THERE IS NO BYPASS BUT THERE ARE LARGE GAPS BETWEEN THE MEDIA BASKETS AND THE FILTER HOUSING. IT SEEMS LIKE WATER WOULD JUST FLOW RIGHT AROUND THE BASKETS AND BACK INTO THE TANK. THIS IS MY FIRST LARGE CANISTER FILTER WITH THIS DESIGN, IS THIS NORMAL FOR ALL FILTERS SUCH AS THIS? ALSO, HOW LONG BETWEEN FILTER CLEANINGS? THERE ARE NO CLEANING RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE PAPERWORK. HERE IS MY BIO-LOAD: 55G PLANTED, 5 4"DISCUS, 2 1" CORY'S, 2 OTTO'S, 4 AMONO SHRIMP. I HAVE THE EJECTION HOSE FLOWING ACROSS TWO UNPOWERED BIO-WHEELS. ANY INPUT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

[Jhhnn]

I have 2 of the 1200 models w/ bio rings & coarse sponge that serve me well. I'm sure there's some minor water bypass in them, but they work great for my purposes. Depending on a lot of factors, particularly the use of a sponge prefilter, cleaning can be minimal. I use ATI prefilters from Kensfish, and only tear down the filters infrequently, every few months or so. When I do, I clean & rinse the kitchen sink, run it near full of tap water, treat with prime, just rinse everything in there & put it all back together. The gooky water gets siphoned out, goes either in the houseplants or the flowerbeds, depending.

They've been running w/o any hiccups for over 2 years. Another member, Harriet, I think, has used several for many years. I think they're a good value at Ken's prices, and for $25, a real bargain. My first one came used, and needed a few bits, but an email to pennplax sent me to a web vendor who seemed to have it all. Otherwise, parts seem hard to come by. Save the paperwork to be able to spec parts if you need 'em down the road.

I really have no experience w/ other canisters, but Blkrob swears by his Rena's...

[Trier20]

I have a 1000 and it works wonderfully. I have ceramic media in the bottom follow by carbon with bio floss on top followed by a sponge filter with biofloss on top of that. For the intake i bought a filter for an eshopps overflow box($7) cut it in half and put over the intake as a prefilter. Like John said i would guess i tear mine down every two to three months and clean up and maintenance is simple. As far as your load you might think of adding a sump to your tank. You would not believe how much cleaner your tanks will be. Good luck!