H.O.T. Magnum Filter

[SomethingFishy]

On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being a piece of junk and 5 great) how would you all rate this filter?

I recently bought one for my 29 gallon FW tank. Generally I do more research before I buy but I got this filter which usually retails for $80+ at the local PetCo, Petsmart, or LFS, for only $40. Could not pass that up.

So far I am liking the quietness of my tank. I used to have a noisy Penguin BioWheel.

So what is the verdict.

p.s. - See my other post about the heater I bought too.

 

[Managuense]

as a supplement filter? 5

as a stand alone filter? 1-2

they have little to no capacity for bio-filtration....but have excellent mechanical filtration with the micron cylinder.

 

[Lotus]

You can get a kit to add a biowheel to the HOT Magnum if you want more biofiltration. The biowheel kits are a lot quieter than the biowheels on a Penguin.

We've been happy with ours, but have a HOT and an Eheim HOB on a 50g (always good to have two filters on larger tanks, IMO). I think it will be fine on a 29g.

 

[Avalon]

I've been pretty happy with mine. I bought my for use on a 29g. I'd rate it maybe 3.5. It's great if your bioload is small (it's a small filter for a small load!). Fill the media container with biomaterial and wrap it in filter floss. Works great! For the price, I think it's one of the better options available to you.

 

[fiugzel]

This post is from a long time ago, but I'll throw in my $0.02 on the HOT Magnum filter.

I use the HOT Magnum 250 w/ a biowheel on my 29g unplanted FW tank. It provides excellent flow and I like that I can throw in the micron filter for straight mechanical filtration after a water change when I've shaken up the gravel. Once a month filter changes and cleaning is a breeze, and even faster since I bought a spare carbon/media chamber (a whole $6) so I can minimize the time the filter is shut off and give myself more time to thoroughly clean the equipment.

The filter is nice and quiet. Actually, I hear more noise from the air pump in the cabinet then I do from the filter system. Can't give a true rating since I haven't used any other filter on this tank, but I like it and would recommend it.