Penn-Plax Cascade Aquarium Canister Filter

Upon delivery make sure you inspect! Mine was delivered cracked! Called Chewy and the customer service was great. New unit shipped right out. Set up is easy. Takes way more pumping to get going than it supposed to, but once it starts you get a solid flow. Clean up is easy. The problem is when the power goes out, this thing will leak like crazy. The first time it went out on my 150g during a storm AT NIGHT. I had 2 working in tandem. When the power went out, it emptied 75% of the tank on the my floor and caused the basement ceiling to cave in. Found this all in morning. Fixed the basement and moved on. Scrapped unit and put a new one in. Tested it over and over. No issues. Only for a power Upon delivery make sure you inspect! Mine was delivered cracked! Called Chewy and the customer service was great. New unit shipped right out. Set up is easy. Takes way more pumping to get going than it supposed to, but once it starts you get a solid flow. Clean up is easy. The problem is when the power goes out, this thing will leak like crazy. The first time it went out on my 150g during a storm AT NIGHT. I had 2 working in tandem. When the power went out, it emptied 75% of the tank on the my floor and caused the basement ceiling to cave in. Found this all in morning. Fixed the basement and moved on. Scrapped unit and put a new one in. Tested it over and over. No issues. Only for a power surge to happen in the afternoon, this time my daughter found it while in basement. Water through ceiling. Strike 2. Lost about 25% water on floor. Damaged Celling again. Strike 3, i tried again. Maybe it was me. Nope, power went out, I ran right to the tank and check, And there it goes again. Leaking out the top this time. Caught it before damage to floor. But it’s over for Cascade. Unfortunately, Is just not leak proof. this unit has failed me and cost me new flooring and ceiling. DO NOT TRUST THIS FILTER. … more

Horrible filter for set up, takes YouTube videos and research just to get it “working”. Even once everything is done according to the instructions it won’t work. 0/10, I wish I could give it no stars. Don’t waste your money

I have had 2 1200's in 50G and 150G turtle tanks for the past 2 years. They have held up well to the messes the turtles make with regular maintenance. They are pretty easy to disconnect and clean, but you can't let any air get in the hoses, otherwise starting them back up can take 30+ minutes. I got this to run in my 50G tank and put the 2 1200s in my 150G since they weren't providing enough water movement in the tanks by themselves. The only thing I would add is valves at the top of the plastic parts that hang over the side of the tank in order to purge air from the hoses and get it re-started faster.

Works great initially and had a strong output. Then after a few weeks, the flow became very weak. I kept cleaning it every few weeks just to maintain a tiny spout of water, making sure none of the tubes, baskets, or motor was clogged. Finally decided to swap the filter out. The body of the filter is fine but the motor or other mechanism quickly loses efficiency after a few weeks of use. Go with a Fluval or Eheim instead.

I have three Penn-plax 1200's in operation on 125 gallon and 60 gallon aquariums . this is my first small one I want it for some twenty's and thirties that the 1200 is a bit too much flow for. they are also very easy to use with shut offs on intake and exhaust lines many other companies dont have on theirs . I would like to say I have raised all kinds of fish and other aquatic life since the 60's Penn_ plax has been a trusted name all this time . For the money this company puts out great filters hang on backs as well. Chewy has good prices and good service keep it up Penn Plax and Chewy .com !

If your going to use this for turtles make sure you feed them outside your tank like in a plastic container or something because turtles make alot a mess when eating and the filter is not able to polish the water as good.

This products directions were terrible. Very confusing, hard to read, and they lied when they said you only need to prime it a couple of times to get it to run, no you need to prime it many, many, many of times and it’s still a complete pain in the butt to even get it to “turn on” there is no on/off button or a simple just plug into a wall, no they made it extremely difficult to get it started. The only reason I gave it 3 stars is because it’s keeping my water clear. Just scared to see what happens when I need to clean it because it literally took forever for it to prime it the first time. For the amount of money I paid and for it to be supposedly one of the top best, you could definitely improve This products directions were terrible. Very confusing, hard to read, and they lied when they said you only need to prime it a couple of times to get it to run, no you need to prime it many, many, many of times and it’s still a complete pain in the butt to even get it to “turn on” there is no on/off button or a simple just plug into a wall, no they made it extremely difficult to get it started. The only reason I gave it 3 stars is because it’s keeping my water clear. Just scared to see what happens when I need to clean it because it literally took forever for it to prime it the first time. For the amount of money I paid and for it to be supposedly one of the top best, you could definitely improve your product..... … more

I have had the Cascade canisters before. What I really like about ordering them through chewy is that they guarantee them for one full year. That means you don’t have to deal with the company that sells these! They do a good job of filtering your aquarium and give you lots of options as to what filter media you choose to use. They are very straightforward in assembling and using. I have used this particular brand for the past five years.

This review is much needed because I own a female yellow slider and have been struggling for over a year with a beyond disgusting tank. I used three different internal filters and I still have two in all at the moment but them alone did not work. The feeding and the poop from the turtle is the part that made the smell fill a room. I googled the top best filters and the Penpex cascade filters popped up, I watched YouTube videos and read reviews to see the set up of media and the size I needed. I only have about 10-15 gallons of water in my tank but In a 38 gallon tank, so I ordered up the 30 gallons cause I need a shallow filter due to the lack of water needed for most standard hang on filters This review is much needed because I own a female yellow slider and have been struggling for over a year with a beyond disgusting tank. I used three different internal filters and I still have two in all at the moment but them alone did not work. The feeding and the poop from the turtle is the part that made the smell fill a room. I googled the top best filters and the Penpex cascade filters popped up, I watched YouTube videos and read reviews to see the set up of media and the size I needed. I only have about 10-15 gallons of water in my tank but In a 38 gallon tank, so I ordered up the 30 gallons cause I need a shallow filter due to the lack of water needed for most standard hang on filters (that I have tried). This filter was not very hard to get together but was hard to get to work. I bought extra media such as bio balls and ceramic balls and extra cloth to add the media I wanted after researching. I still used everything it came with just added thicker layers of bio and chemical materials. Make sure that the base after the media is filled with water and set to prime. Reading the instructions tells you exactly how to hook up and set up the material. The biggest issue was the input hang on plastic piece was so wabbly and would not suck up water, and the output had barely any water going through the waterfall (making awful sounds) so I took out all the plastic and just used the rubber tubes. I primed it for about two hours trying to get water to flow but once it was just black rubber tubes the flow was amazing and steady and it was all worth it and IT IS AMAZING! I have had it for a month now! My tank is so clean! I also have two plecos and two internal filters but this was well worth the buy, it’s not loud, but you can hear the water flowing out. One mistake is that I cut by tubes too short before I realized the plastic tubes did not work but overall I would buy again if I had another tank! Very pleased … more

Seal on upper portion of cannister filter leaks causing a loss of proper vacuum which cause insufficient filtration. Currently have the 65 gallon rated version of this cleaning my tank until a replacement 200 shows up.