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I had same problem then i used waterconditioner on my pinky and lubed inside hoses and they went on like a dream.You made a great purchace. I am sure you will love it. What media are you using ? You might want to get some Seachem matrix it is really good stuff:D

so far i am using some of the bio stars and i still need to purchase some more media today

Originally posted by FishBait912
so far i am using some of the bio stars and i still need to purchase some more media today

Are you using spraybar? If so you need a 1/8 drill bit and make holes slightly bigger or you might have a squeeling noice

Filter is still going great:D Love it . I am going to order a 2217 eheim to compair and see how much better they are if any? And i always can use another filter

I have had my xp3 for two weeks and it is great. I t was easy to put together and I like it alot better than the magnum 350. Gman you were right about this. My question is What kind of media setups are you guys using? I have the bio-chem Zorb. I have the ceramic rings and the micro filter and foam filters. Any different setups would be helpful. I plan on getting some stars and more ceramic. Do the stars go above or under the ceramic rings?

I like the seachem matrix myself. Mine is setup bottom to top with. 4 foam pads[came with], 2nd basket floss,1 liter matrix , 3rd has about 1/2 liter matrix and a nitra zorb fine pad.

Hey Gman, glad ur happy with it. I have mine on order.
BTW, how do they issue the comision cheques? They pay by sale or only on the recomendation...... J/K
I think its great you have been posting on the rena, it helps ppl make a good informed decision before they buy a filter system, when someone shares their actual hands on experence like you have.

Originally posted by Fuzzy
:D Hey Gman, glad ur happy with it. I have mine on order.
BTW, how do they issue the comision cheques? They pay by sale or only on the recomendation...... J/K
I think its great you have been posting on the rena, it helps ppl make a good informed decision before they buy a filter system, when someone shares their actual hands on experence like you have.

That is why i started this thread so peaple could see how it works 1st hand with do's and donts etc//...............

I am really glad i helped a few of you make an informative choice.

Any questions about the filter I can help you with if you should run into any [just ask here]? [Doubtful]

Just dont put the intake too close to sand or a magnum filter [cough Mark]

It has been about 4 months now and the filter is going strong, water emaculant, fish heathy. I usually clean it once a month but it can go alot longer i have been doing this just to see how good it is filtering.Next cleaning will be in 3 months or until flow slows down.I have alot of plant that contribute to the mess , with african tearing them up a bit. I am using only this filter on my 40 Mbuna tank and it is working great even for mechanical, and i never thought a canister would...

Just thought i would report in one more time on this filter. It has been flawless. I highly recommend XP3. I even got a few at the pet shop i partnership in. One on feeder tank [500+feeders] and one on the pond fish [koi, gold,etc. They are the workhorses !

And by the way i tried the eheim classic 2217 and it was a nightmare to maintain with no baskets and instructions were almost unuseable. The flow was like a small powerhead and overal very disapointed. But this is a decent filter if you dont mind slow flowrate , emptying entire filter media on maint. times, and spilling water.. The pro 2 series i believe would be the way to go,but not owned one yet..........

All in all the XP3 is the way to go for the $

I would like to hear what you guys think that bought on yourselfs?????????

Mike

Originally posted by GMAN

. . .emptying entire filter media on maint. times, and spilling water..

Interesting . . . As you know from our previous discussions, I was using Magnum canisters. On the one tank that I was using an H. O. T. , I've switched back to my usual AquaTech with the Penguin biowheels set-up because it was irritation me that every time i needed or wanted to change filter elements or rinse them out, I needed to remove and disassemble the entire filter to do it! So I went back to the HOB power filters where all you have to do is take off the lid for access. R U saying that on the XP3 it's that easy? Or do you have to take the whole thing apart to do maintenance?

--Mark:cool:

Flip a switch and pop 4 clips and all baskets slide rite out ,all hoses and stuff stay on tank and primed,can be maintained i think easier than my ac110"s , but i remove filter when cleaning . All in all i maintain my XP3 in the time it takes to rinse out 4 small sponges 10 min average, pop down the 4 clips and turn on water switch, 2minutes plug in ..
HTH Mike
Mark i really believe you would love this filter.I know it is alot easier than the mag to take apart and together and the bonus media it holds. I setup a new XP3 at the pet store i work at, out of box and running 15min. But ive done 3 or 4 of them.

If im not mistaken you can use your bio wheels through the pro 30 or 60 i belive you already have so you dont really need to buy anymore media, but id stck xp with 1 or 2 liters of matrix[seachem]..

Originally posted by GMAN
Flip a switch and pop 4 clips and all baskets slide rite out ,all hoses and stuff stay on tank and primed,can be maintained i think easier than my ac110"s , but i remove filter when cleaning . All in all i maintain my XP3 in the time it takes to rinse out 4 small sponges 10 min average, pop down the 4 clips and turn on water switch, 2minutes plug in ..
HTH Mike
Mark i really believe you would love this filter.I know it is alot easier than the mag to take apart and together and the bonus media it holds. I setup a new XP3 at the pet store i work at, out of box and running 15min. But ive done 3 or 4 of them.

If im not mistaken you can use your bio wheels through the pro 30 or 60 i belive you already have so you dont really need to buy anymore media, but id stck xp with 1 or 2 liters of matrix[seachem]..

That would be great, pop off four clips and you're in .. --Magnums are very high quality, but a real pain to clean. What's the GPH of the XP3? Good suggestion to patch in a biowheel, the 30 and the 60 are both water-driven and eezy to attach to almost any canister. If the XP3 tosses out more than, say, 300 GPH then I might have to split the outflow so it doesn't destroy the wheel - - -:) But, since my tanks are all 55s, I may be wanting to look at Rena's smaller models than the XP3 --

--Mark:cool:

The flow is advertised as 350gph up to 175 g, but few people dont realize that is no media at all, flowrate. The box said 187 stacked full of media but mine seems to be a bit more id guess 200\250 full of media.

XP2 is 300gph empty up to 75g
XP1 is 250 empty up to 40 g
By the way im am running one on my 40g mbuna, 75g oscar tank[Home], and one on 125g feeder tank with up to 500 feeder in itand one on a 125g koi\pondfish tank,125s are at the store.All XP3's

i've had my xp3 since april of this year, and i think i only did maintance maybe once or twice. really didnt need to do anything but i wanted to see what it's been doing. and i was surprised, i was thinking there was going to be a gang of stuff inside but there was only a little.

re-priming the filter is a breeze, i figured a way to get it reprimed in like than 10secs after turning it off for a water change. ill lift the handle then ill unplug it. and when i have to turn it back on ill plug it in then push down the handle. the only thing that i'm going to have to do is clean the the hoses becuase they are starting to turn brown a little bit.

i used to be annoyed with it, because every 5mins a gang of bubbles would come out and it would make alot of noise but it has stopped. the whistling sound everybody complains about i only had for the first day and thats it. its even quiet too because i have a fish tank in my room and its kinda noisey at night because of the hob and the waterfall sound so i turn it off, and forget to plug it back in. and there has been multipy times that my mom has asked me if i unplugged the filters. i didnt hear anything so i checked the power strip and it was on and i saw the ripple of water. there's just a SLIGHT hum from the motor, but the stand that i have it doesnt have a back(the back is open). so if i had a back it would be quiet.

so i am completely satisfied with this filter, it is the best bang forthe buck if yu are on a budget. i wanted a eheim but i didnt have the money for one, so the next best thing was the xp3 and i went with it. i've been surprised and happy with this filter the first day i took it out the box, and saw how big this thing was.

if yu want a quality canister filter for the rena, there are always says on these filters for less than hundred bucks on the normal fish websites. just overall satisfied