PONDFORSE Canister Filter, External Aquarium Filter Ultra-Quiet with Media | Adjustable Flow Rate, Multiple Filtration Approaches, Powerful Water Circulation Cleaning Machine for Fish Tanks and Aquarium

Having used this Canister filter for 4 months now on a 50 gallon turtle tank that is in a window location, I feel like I can give it a fair review. If you know anything about turtles, you know that they are dirty and require a lot of filtration. Adding to the challenges, most of the year, this turtle lives in my classroom in a 100 year old building that has occasional power outages. This means the pumps drain dry which often burns out the motor impeller if I am not there to get things started up right away. The large Aqueon 75 over the edge filters worked quite well (although I had to replace impellers occasionally). Alas, I can no longer find this filter to replace parts. So I switched to Tetra Whisper EX70. While it is effective--while it works--it is made of VERY cheap materials that will warp over time, AND you cannot replace any parts. I blew through 2 of these in 4 months! I decided to switch to a canister filter, despite limited finances. So, I took a chance on this product from an unknown brand, to purchase this PONDFORSE can filter in the medium size. I am happy to report that it has been a big improvement over the external side mount filters. It is quiet, powerful, and effective. I love the UV light as it has cut down on algae by a big margin and the water is crystal clear, even with fewer water changes. There was a bit of a learning curve to get the pump to prime, but once you make sure the intake/outtake tubes are free-flowing (not twisted, not crimped at all), getting the pump to charge is much easier. When the power went out last month, the filter did lose prime, but the canister pump seemed unfazed and I was able to prime it easily. This has been a great improvement over my previous options. AND IT WAS CHEAPER. Probably my only suggestion would be if you have turtles, you might want to get the large model (which is STILL cheaper than the Tetra Whisper!). I highly recommend this pump.

I am highly impressed with this PONDFORSE canister filter. Assembly and installation were incredibly easy and straightforward out of the box. I currently have it running on my 75-gallon aquarium, and it handles the water volume effortlessly, keeping the tank absolutely crystal clear. One of the best things about this unit is the massive amount of space inside the baskets for different filter mediums. It gives you plenty of room to customize your mechanical, chemical, and biological filtration exactly how you want it. Maintenance is also a breeze, as the canister provides quick and easy access when it’s time to clean or swap out sponges. Best of all, this filter is incredibly quiet. I have it installed inside a wooden aquarium cabinet, and I literally cannot hear it running at all. It offers fantastic value for the money compared to some of the name brands on the market. If you need serious filtration without the background noise, do not hesitate to buy this!

For this review I'm going to cover some quick facts. 1. Not easy to set up. 2. Randomly stops pumping. 3. VERY cheap quality materials used. 4. Doesn't clean effectively as mentioned. Now just to highlight these more. Set up is mentioned to be easy but there are no instructions given. I ended up following the video on here but they don't yell you a VERY important detail first which is you have to cut the tubing to make it straight. I didn't see that part until we already had it hooked up. We actually did cut the tubing prior but it wasn't enough when I thought it would be. This thing is very finicky when it comes to that. So about fifteen days in the water looked terrible and that's when I realized it had stopped pumping. I luckily still had both filters running. Now fast forward to this week..we lost power for four days. I had a battery backup so it's fine. We get power back on it takes forever to get it going again (see other notes about this) but we get it going. Now I thought we were fine so I turned off the battery pump. Woke up this morning and one of my 5yo cichlids is dead the other two are at the top of the tank struggling to breathe. Somehow in that time the pump stopped again. This time I hadn't had my additional pump because this one we thought was good but apparently not. Got it started again but this doesn't take away the issues. Tubing is clear and no clogs because I checked. When we looked inside we did discover how terrible the quality is on the motor and all that. So honestly I get wanting to save money .but I really can't stop crying over this because my saving money killed my fish. And sadly this happened before too with another product. We are out of the return window too so just overall terrible

So, I will be honest, I thought that the filter would be poor quality. However, I was deeply surprised! It is sturdy, made of thick plastic and the parts seem well made. It is surprisingly quiet! Like, I barely here it working (my air stones are louder than the actual filter, which is great). The flow control is really good as well, and helps with positioning the output. My only annoyance (slightly) is the tubing was difficult to straighten out since it comes curled up for ease of shipping. The tubes are made of thick plastic so it was tough to ensure that they were straight. This is a minor issue in comparison with everything else (in other words, this is a good problem to have, given that the tubes are made of great quality plastic as well, really thick). So far, so good! I bought the 264GPH model for my 55 gallon fish tank and im happy with how it is working. Installation was easy and the extra parts were welcomed! I placed it temporarily in a plastic bin just in case there was a leaked and to test the noise level. Definitely ZERO leaks and absolutely quiet! The tubes for the inlet and output are thick and had to cut additional holes in the back of the cabinet due to how I positioned them, but I was perfectly fine with that! This is a must buy, especially at the price point. I will provide an update after 6 months of use. But for now, highly recommended!

I purchased this filter just 2 days ago and my only complaint so far is that bio balls are used instead of ceramic rings. Bio-balls should not be used in canister filters because they are designed for trickle filters and are inefficient in submerged, pressurized environments, lacking sufficient surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonize compared to porous ceramic media or sponges. Also, for the size of the canister, there are only two selves with the bottom shelf used to hold filter media and the top is pretty much used to support the mechanism. So, really you only have one shelf. In comparison to other canister filters this size, the design of this one leaves little space for optimal placement of filter media should you choose to use this canister for planted aquariums. I found the build quality to be comparable to more expensive canister filters. So you do get the value for your money. Yet, it does lack the option of using accessories like the Fluval canister filters. In conclusion, so far, with some exceptions, I think this is a good canister filter for beginners and/or those on a budget. I do suggest that Bio-ceramic media be used instead of Bio-Balls. You can use the smaller ceramic balls and place them on the top shelf. You will not be able to fill the entire top shelf with ceramic ball media, but if you use a thin layer in a mesh bag, it will fit.

How did I not know about external canister filters until now? For years I’ve been using those filters that hang on the side of the tank — the ones that sound like a mini waterfall the second the water level drops a hair. I’ve dealt with slimy filter pads that constantly need replacing, and when the filter inevitably failed after a year, I’d end up replacing the whole pricey unit. I was actually shopping for yet another one of those when I stumbled across the PONDFORSE 265GPH Canister Filter. I was skeptical at first, but the reviews were glowing. The price was a bit higher than what I wanted to spend — but once I mentally added up what I was already paying for pads, replacements, and frustration, I decided to give it a shot. I’m so glad I did. The canister was easy to assemble, and after following the directions, it started working perfectly right away. It’s completely silent — the only sound is the gentle flow of water returning to the tank, which is actually relaxing instead of annoying. My only complaint? The hoses. They’re thick, stiff, and require some effort (and precision cutting) to position correctly. It’s definitely not a “bend and go” situation. The product could really benefit from better tubing. But even with that flaw, I liked it so much that I bought two more for my other tanks. I haven’t needed to break one down for cleaning yet, but after watching someone else do it, it looks straightforward. Overall, this filter has been a total upgrade from the noisy hang-on-tank style — and I wish I had discovered canister filters years ago.

For the price, this filter performs about as expected. Setup was relatively easy, though the filter media provided was a bit comedically sparse— though media is relatively easy and inexpensive to get, so I don't consider it a ding against the product. The baskets can be stacked and have plastic tabs so they can be pulled out together, which is a minor detail that makes a big difference. The design for the baskets make it so there is only one correct way to reassemble the canister, which is also reassuring since I'm prone to making mistakes in filter reassembly. The tubes and peripherals were much, much easier to set up than my Fluval FX4, which was also handy. This filter needs to be primed manually, but it was simple enough. From there, it was basically plug-and-play. Operation is a bit louder than my FX4, but only marginally so. I have a million spray bars and an HOB filter making it sound like someone is taking an eternal shower in my house, so all things considered it operates very quietly. That all said, I bought this canister filter for a very specific purpose; I wanted a canister that could hold a liter's worth of media, and have the flow toggled down to <50 GPH (the equivalent of a filter made for a 5 gallon tank). A very specific purpose I know, haha. The idea is that I wanted to create an anaerobic environment to grow denitrifying bacteria (water out of my tap has high nitrates, and even plants have a hard time keeping up). For those purposes, this pump is... well, maybe not the best fit, but not unusable. I chose this canister filter over others because I saw that flow could be adjusted— but in practice, it closes both the intake *and* output entry/exit points with the same valve. This is not ideal because when flow is restricted on the intake, the impeller struggles with keeping the siphon working. The end result is a broken siphon that needs to be re-primed. Over and over and over again. Luckily the tubing for the filter is a common size, so one barbed ball valve later and I am now able to throttle the output, and all is well. Or, at least better. With the base hardware, I still would get air leaks from different parts of the system, so I had to get some more hardware to make the system a bit tighter (especially near the intake entry point on the canister, the hose fit onto it with a little too much play). I still hear air occasionally purging out of the spray bar, but I'm not seeing any meaningful leaks. For my purposes I consider it annoying and wish I maybe went with either a media reactor or a more premium filter brand (though the idea of getting a Fluval just to throttle the flow to a trickle seems like a crime). Now I should preface that this part of the review was almost entirely user error on my part (and it doesn't impact my star rating), but I think it's worth mentioning for anyone considering this filter to make sure it suits their needs. The slats on the intake tube appear relatively small, maybe just big enough you could fit the tip of a pencil through. I don't deal much in nanofish, but I do have curious kuhli loaches that are always foraging on my various intakes. You can probably see where this is headed. I noticed my loaches slowly disappearing over the course of a week, and though I had a mounting sense of dread, I was *certain* that they wouldn't fit in that intake. I started looking first in my HOB filter, nothing. Then my FX4 canister— a singular loach was alive and slightly inconvenienced. And then I opened this canister... the smell hit me first. Then 12 of my missing loaches all bobbed up. It was heartbreaking. When removing them, I noticed floppy necks across the board, so I imagine the impeller hit them on the way in. A gruesome way to go, but at least they didn't suffer. By comparison, my FX4's unintended occupant was completely safe as the impeller was housed separately from the intake's path. It would be ridiculous fault a filter's ability to keep unintended occupants alive, so I mostly make mention of this as a consideration for prospective buyers with nanofish (or as a potential failure point if debris gets in the intake and hits the impeller). Initially I tried putting a sponge into the flared base of the intake tube, but that throttled flow to the point of stopping. I then tried a little cut of mesh from an old gazebo canopy's bug screen, which worked perfectly and didn't affect flow at all. All in all, it works about as expected for the price point. If someone were to use this filter as intended on maximum flow, I'd put it at 4 stars. Mostly just knocked down a star due to it being difficult to personalize and modify without additional hardware. An alright filter as long as you don't have the aquatic equivalent of hamsters.

The older pump I had been using (which was never anything special to begin with) developed some issues so I was looking for something cheap that would arrive quickly via Amazon Prime. Let's start with the Pros: - This thing is incredibly quiet. The loudest thing associated with my aquarium is now the air pump. You could potentially have this in a bedroom it's that quiet. - I like that it has a UV light. Will that have any discernible effect? Time will tell. - Seems to do the job. I transferred the biological media from my old pump and my water chemistry is perfect. The water is very clear. - Cheap. Cons: - Cheap. Everything here just feels flimsy and delicate. I'll be pleasantly surprised to get a lot of time out of this pump. I have now learned enough about aquarium-keeping to realize that I'd be best off making the investment into a serious piece of equipment once this goes pear shaped. - The particulate filters aren't just rectangles. When I want to replace them I'll have to do some creative cutting. Not a huge deal but figured I'd mention it. All in all, the pump is doing what I have asked it to do on the terms I wanted. I'm not going to simultaneously credit it for being affordable and fault it for being made of cheap materials. You have to pay for quality. If I were paying for quality and got this I'd be upset.

Good design and materials looks fine, but worked for couple of minutes before it stopped then later on the same day worked again then stopped then worked then stopped for good I have tried everything but with no chance to work again, loss of money for me

لايعمل جيدا يعمل لمده دقيقه وبعدها يقف دوران الماء وكانّه فصل منه الكهرباء ويرجع يشتغل بعد 10 دقائق سيئ للغايه

This has been a really good filter for my 60gallon axolotl

المنتج ممتاز جداً صفاء حوض السمك كرستال لكن مايطول ويخرب محرك الداخلي بسرعة حاولت اصلحة لكن للأسف كل الفنيين قالو مستحيل يتصلح والشركة لا توفر قطع غيار ولا ترد على الإيميلات ولا الرسايل

Bought this as an extra filter for my 90 gallon already running a fluval fx 6. It definitely has some power to it. No issues there. The media baskets are super thin plastic and feel cheap. The bio balls they give with it are pretty much garbage. They don't provide any clips to hold the intake and out take tube's in place on the rim of the tank. Just some suction cups that you can use on the inside of the tank, and I suppose you could use them in the outside aswell if you don't have a background on the outside of the glass. It would be nice if they includes not just a spray bar, but also an adjustable out take nozzle. I've only have it for a week, so we'll see if it holds up and doesn't leak. Overall for the price, it's decent and does what it's supposed to.