Great informative video ! it's been some years, but I'll be getting back into the hobby. In the past i tried out different "power filter's" and i agree with everything you say about the Fluval C-series, except for one annoying fact. If you have a power outage, this filter intake tube stops working....the motor does re-start when the power comes back, but the intake tube loses its "priming", [ where the water vacuum inside the tube goes down to water level inside of tank.] so the motor is just spinning, burning up and at the same time, makes a hell of a lot of racket. On the other hand, the PF's that have the motor inside the tank go back to working perfectly like nothing happened. I also found buying a spring brush helped clean out the intake tube beautifully. Thanks for making such a great video !!!
Thank you very much for watching and for the kind words. I agree with you about the power outage/losing prime/racket thing. So true. Have a great evening!
Neatest trick I've found is to get a standard pipe-topped sponge filter and put it up over the bottom of the intake. When it lifts the sponge off the bottom it's time to clean that sponge. Triples the life of the meshcloth filter and carries extra bio.
The Fluval C4 is what I call a genuine HIT or MISS. If I were introducing our hobby to a complete newb, I would NEVER recommend the C4. My reasons, only the most patient/curious/hardy hobbyists should ever use this filter due to its few shortcomings compared to Fluval's King, the Aquaclear series. Now, once a newb properly qualifies for such an unusual and quirky HOB, he/she can have at it, if they dare. I'm going on almost 4 years with my C4 and I can't decide to retire it or keep trying to solve the hideous impeller issues. Yes, I'm that sadistic. Thank You, for this honest and straightforward upload; you've earned a subber.
wyzemann thanks for your sub I really appreciate that!!! And yunno I have heard horror stories about them but I have 5 of them(bought at different stores, and at different times) and I havnt had a single issue with any of them. I now consider myself a lucky C4 owner haha. But like you said the aquaclear is a far superior filter. I love the ones I have. I guess they are hit or miss and I also heard that fluval's customer service is crappy at best. Anyways thanks again for the sub and for watching! Have a good one!!!
I have an Aquaclear 70 and am thinking of getting another one for more filtration, I hear the the C4 is an "updated" version? Now I'm not sure if I should get the C4 or get another Aquaclear?
air_shampoo I own both of those filters and I will always much prefer the AC 70 any day. Remember AquaClear's claim to fame is that it imitates a canister filter's setup (open and free of restraints). So, you may place almost any type of media you desire for whatever setup you have. I hope my experience helps with your decision.
air_shampoo I agree with wyzmann the C4 just doesn't do as good of a job as the aquaclear and it's not a customizable. The aquaclear is quieter in most cases and will last longer. Not to mention that another aquaclear would match lol. Good luck!!!👍
Thanks so much for this video. I just ordered a C4 from Amazon for my 50g and will be getting it tomorrow. I'm a bit mechanically challenged so I really appreciate how well you explained all the steps.
Woods Walker hey thanks man! I'm glad I could help. If you run into trouble putting yours together be sure and let me know! I love all of mine and haven't had a single problem with any of them.
My motor is dyeing on my C2 (very very low flow, almost 0 flow on the high setting), I clean it every month to. Changed the impeller no change. Its 13 months old. Got one coming from Fluval so good customer service. Love the filter besides the motor problem, hoping i just got a bad one. Have had a foam pre-filter on the intake after 1month so I know no debre got in it.
I’ve never had that issue unless I didn’t get it back together correctly after cleaning it. That’s weird. I hope the new motor fixes your issue. Thanks for watching and commenting. Have a nice day!
@@allaboutdiy1375 Thank you! I tried a bunch of times thinking maybe I didn't have it right but I unfortunately I had it correct. It has to be the motor. I will report back and let you know. Fluval sent it out today, again very impressed with there customer service.
@@edyoung6573 that’s awesome. Most people have bad luck with them. I’m glad you got it sorted and yes, let me know what happens with the new motor. Good luck Ed 👍
@@allaboutdiy1375 oh man so I took my filter apart again late last night before I went to bed, I make my own mechanical filter pads (2 sided and then a polishing pad) I took the polishing pad out because I was having a hard time fitting it in the frame. Filled the filter with tank water, plugged it in and bam!! Running normal like it should! LOL!! So I got a spair backup pump coming today due to Fluval lives 2 towns over from me.
The C4 works fine but I found it to be more difficult to clean and I dont see the use of the trickle part. Overall it holds less media than a similar sized AC. Mine was very slightly noisy at first but it settled after a while so I dont hear it at all. Recently, I got annoyed at all the filter parts and replaced it with a AC 50. I think AC are just simpler and work just fine. One little thing... The flat top of the AC can be used as a little table for fishfood or water conditionner bottles
Tiberiu Nicolae yes all true, I do find the aquaclear to be a great filter but I honestly like the complexity of the c4. Although it is harder to clean it is great at what it does. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference. Again both are good filters. Thanks for watching!!!
Had this filter. It's OK. Hard to clean, too noisy rattles all the time, The gimmick with the rocks on top is a waste, does nothing. Media is good and overall filters decent.
My filter (this filter) is new and is so friggin noisy its unbelievable I expect it to hum but its joined by a rattle grinding noise thats disgusting.You can hear it from other rooms in the house and it has to get shut off at night.Any idea what to do to make it quieter?
That’s crazy. I’ve owned probably 8 of them over the years and as long as they were put together correctly, they were silent. Maybe some batches had defects. I would make sure the impeller and the impeller housing in the motor are perfectly clean. Also make sure all the internal pieces are fully seated into their respective groove. You’ll know if you have them installed incorrectly because the lid won’t fit right and the pieces won’t go in easily. Other than that I would try and pack the filter with as much media and filter floss as you can and go from there. Sorry to hear that and I hope this helps. Thanks for watching and commenting. Have a nice day and let me know what happens!
@@allaboutdiy1375 I pulled it apart the impeller assembly is so cheaply made the impeller rubs on the motor housing because the shaft its mounted on is weak sauce and the torque from the motor bends it where its mounted thus the impeller grinds against the housing.I phoned up Fluvel tech support and got some lady whom imagined she knew everything but knew nothing but did agree that my motor was messed up because it was so loud she could hear it over the phone still it didn't matter they wouldn't send me a motor (pretty sure it would of been garbage anyway) Thats why I buy crap like this at Amazon they gave me my money back right away apparently they are sick of customers returning defective fluvels.
You can still use it though. Tanks can be used up to a certain gallon. For goldfish it's suggested to use a filter for a tank bigger than the one they're in.
Hi, its Jacob. I replied to your comment, but I don't know if you will see it. I changed my mind about attending the meet and greet. Feel free to call or text me and we can talk more about it. Take care.
JacobsAquarium hey I got your comment, don't know if you got mine. Anyways bummer you won't be there but I totally understand. No worries, I'll get down to the nursery sometime soon and we'll get a tour going. I would love that. Have a good one and good luck.
Sounds good my friend, by the way, great video. I'll give you a shout out in my next one, that should boost your views a bit. Always willing to help out my fellow hobbyists on UA-cam. Have fun, see you someday. Take care.
JacobsAquarium that would be awesome and thank you!!! Any help is much appreciated. I'm hoping to place an order in the near future. Thanks again Jacob. Keep doing what your doing!
Excellent review, definitely considering this. I see you're still answering comments so can you please help me out? I have a 4 foot tank that's around 252 Litres (66 US gallons) and will hopefully be heavily planted. I have heard a lot of confusing or conflicting information surrounding filters, (I unfortunately have to be picky because I do not have the space for most canister filters). Would this filter really do the job? I have heard others say you need to get a filter that's capable of filtering much more than your tank's capacity but this filter seems very promising. Thanks
Mustafa Kurtay it’s a normal micro fiber cloth that I cut to fit. I used that because it traps a lot of fine debris for crystal clear water. You can use any material that you want for filter material as long as water can pass through it and it doesn’t have any chemicals on it obviously. Thanks for watching. I hope this helps.
Brandon, ever since I serviced this filter about 10 days ago, it's been louder than normal on the slow flow, it's a louder hum / vibration (quiet still on the fast flow), why do you think this is?
Jason Maslen sometimes when the impeller is slightly dirty around the magnet portion it can vibrate due to the restricted flow of the "low" setting. What I would do is take it apart again and make sure the motor and the impeller are very clean and make sure to re assemble the unit perfectly. Also inspect the impeller shaft for wear. If the metal impeller shaft is worn, the impeller itself will be allowed to move around on the shaft and cause a vibrating or humming noise. It could also be that the pickup tube isn't sitting in its channel above the motor correctly. Try these steps and let me know if it works. I hope this helps. Good luck
Thanks for that Brandon, the unit was only purchased 6 weeks ago so hopefully it's not impeller / shaft wear. I'll take it apart again and let you know how it went.
I'll never buy a fluval filter again. I had these filters before and had problems with the impeller every single time making noise prematurely. I contacted fluval and they wanted me to send back the entire filters. It took me 2 months and many emails back and forth to explain to them that I can't send them the filters back because all of my fish would die without filtration. So finally they sent me a new motor for 1 of them but that's it. Sold the rest and bought some eheim filters to replace them and haven't had a problem since. Also this c series filters are a gimmick, and I hate products that don't function as they're supposed to. When I had mine, a bit of water would bypass on top of the trickle chamber and spill over into the chemical basket. Not only that, it bypasses the mechanical filtration too because I found dead leaves, java moss bits, and detritus building up on top of the trickle foam pad. I also just sold my fluval canister, not enough warranty unfortunately and even if maintenance kits were covered, I'd have to go filterless or wait two months explaining to customer service why I can't send in the parts.
Pray4Mojo wow sounds like you had a bad experience with them. Bummer, I have heard bad things about their customer service but I have never had to call them so I wouldn't know.
Jason Maslen there are a ton of options for that! You can find them pre made to fit on amazon and aquarium co op.com or you can make your own by cutting a car wash sponge to fit the tube. The latter is my preferred method since it's cheap and DIY. Another option is buying small sponge filter replacement sponges that are the correct diameter for a fluval c4. I hope this helps, thank you for watching!!!
Car sponges have antifungals. Just use a standard aquarium sponge filter with a bottlecap wedged into the bottom instead to the weight base and slip the riser tube up over the C's intake. When the sponge gets full it'll lift it off the bottom.
I have a 50g C4 and I’m having problems all the time with it not flowing properly so It in turn not doing a good Job at filtering the water. Any tips ? I am trying to get the tank ready for new fish and it’s slowing down the process and I’m getting them in a week so need advice on what to do please.
Shirley Elderkin ok so first thing to do is take it completely apart and make sure there isn't any debris clogging any of the passages. Then make sure the impeller on the motor is free from debris and clean, next make sure all sponges and filter material is clean and not too tightly packed and last be very meticulous on how you assemble the filter components. If they aren't properly installed, they filter won't work to its full potential. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions let me know.
Great informative video ! it's been some years, but I'll be getting back into the hobby. In the past i tried out different "power filter's" and i agree with everything you say about the Fluval C-series, except for one annoying fact. If you have a power outage, this filter intake tube stops working....the motor does re-start when the power comes back, but the intake tube loses its "priming", [ where the water vacuum inside the tube goes down to water level inside of tank.] so the motor is just spinning, burning up and at the same time, makes a hell of a lot of racket. On the other hand, the PF's that have the motor inside the tank go back to working perfectly like nothing happened. I also found buying a spring brush helped clean out the intake tube beautifully. Thanks for making such a great video !!!
Thank you very much for watching and for the kind words. I agree with you about the power outage/losing prime/racket thing. So true. Have a great evening!
Nice review. I have a c2 & never had a problem. 4 years I think.😀
Great video ! Thank you
You are welcome. Thank you for watching
Neatest trick I've found is to get a standard pipe-topped sponge filter and put it up over the bottom of the intake. When it lifts the sponge off the bottom it's time to clean that sponge. Triples the life of the meshcloth filter and carries extra bio.
Roger Crouch yep that’s a good trick. I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for watching
The Fluval C4 is what I call a genuine HIT or MISS. If I were introducing our hobby to a complete newb, I would NEVER recommend the C4. My reasons, only the most patient/curious/hardy hobbyists should ever use this filter due to its few shortcomings compared to Fluval's King, the Aquaclear series. Now, once a newb properly qualifies for such an unusual and quirky HOB, he/she can have at it, if they dare. I'm going on almost 4 years with my C4 and I can't decide to retire it or keep trying to solve the hideous impeller issues. Yes, I'm that sadistic. Thank You, for this honest and straightforward upload; you've earned a subber.
wyzemann thanks for your sub I really appreciate that!!! And yunno I have heard horror stories about them but I have 5 of them(bought at different stores, and at different times) and I havnt had a single issue with any of them. I now consider myself a lucky C4 owner haha. But like you said the aquaclear is a far superior filter. I love the ones I have. I guess they are hit or miss and I also heard that fluval's customer service is crappy at best. Anyways thanks again for the sub and for watching! Have a good one!!!
I have an Aquaclear 70 and am thinking of getting another one for more filtration, I hear the the C4 is an "updated" version? Now I'm not sure if I should get the C4 or get another Aquaclear?
air_shampoo I own both of those filters and I will always much prefer the AC 70 any day. Remember AquaClear's claim to fame is that it imitates a canister filter's setup (open and free of restraints). So, you may place almost any type of media you desire for whatever setup you have. I hope my experience helps with your decision.
air_shampoo I agree with wyzmann the C4 just doesn't do as good of a job as the aquaclear and it's not a customizable. The aquaclear is quieter in most cases and will last longer. Not to mention that another aquaclear would match lol. Good luck!!!👍
wyzemann thank you!!😊
Thanks so much for this video. I just ordered a C4 from Amazon for my 50g and will be getting it tomorrow. I'm a bit mechanically challenged so I really appreciate how well you explained all the steps.
Woods Walker hey thanks man! I'm glad I could help. If you run into trouble putting yours together be sure and let me know! I love all of mine and haven't had a single problem with any of them.
Woods Walker Do you think the c3 is good for a 36 gallon bowfront? or should I return it to Amazon for a c4
noahmeme2 get the c4 and set it to the lowest setting. It will work great for you.
Great description
My motor is dyeing on my C2 (very very low flow, almost 0 flow on the high setting), I clean it every month to. Changed the impeller no change. Its 13 months old. Got one coming from Fluval so good customer service. Love the filter besides the motor problem, hoping i just got a bad one. Have had a foam pre-filter on the intake after 1month so I know no debre got in it.
I’ve never had that issue unless I didn’t get it back together correctly after cleaning it. That’s weird. I hope the new motor fixes your issue. Thanks for watching and commenting. Have a nice day!
@@allaboutdiy1375 Thank you! I tried a bunch of times thinking maybe I didn't have it right but I unfortunately I had it correct. It has to be the motor. I will report back and let you know. Fluval sent it out today, again very impressed with there customer service.
@@edyoung6573 that’s awesome. Most people have bad luck with them. I’m glad you got it sorted and yes, let me know what happens with the new motor. Good luck Ed 👍
@@allaboutdiy1375 oh man so I took my filter apart again late last night before I went to bed, I make my own mechanical filter pads (2 sided and then a polishing pad) I took the polishing pad out because I was having a hard time fitting it in the frame. Filled the filter with tank water, plugged it in and bam!! Running normal like it should! LOL!! So I got a spair backup pump coming today due to Fluval lives 2 towns over from me.
@@edyoung6573 lol that’s awesome, always nice to have a backup! Good stuff
The C4 works fine but I found it to be more difficult to clean and I dont see the use of the trickle part. Overall it holds less media than a similar sized AC. Mine was very slightly noisy at first but it settled after a while so I dont hear it at all. Recently, I got annoyed at all the filter parts and replaced it with a AC 50. I think AC are just simpler and work just fine.
One little thing... The flat top of the AC can be used as a little table for fishfood or water conditionner bottles
Tiberiu Nicolae yes all true, I do find the aquaclear to be a great filter but I honestly like the complexity of the c4. Although it is harder to clean it is great at what it does. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference. Again both are good filters. Thanks for watching!!!
Thanks ! Great explanation 👍
Had this filter. It's OK. Hard to clean, too noisy rattles all the time, The gimmick with the rocks on top is a waste, does nothing. Media is good and overall filters decent.
would this be good for high maintenance animals like turtles?
My filter (this filter) is new and is so friggin noisy its unbelievable I expect it to hum but its joined by a rattle grinding noise thats disgusting.You can hear it from other rooms in the house and it has to get shut off at night.Any idea what to do to make it quieter?
That’s crazy. I’ve owned probably 8 of them over the years and as long as they were put together correctly, they were silent. Maybe some batches had defects. I would make sure the impeller and the impeller housing in the motor are perfectly clean. Also make sure all the internal pieces are fully seated into their respective groove. You’ll know if you have them installed incorrectly because the lid won’t fit right and the pieces won’t go in easily. Other than that I would try and pack the filter with as much media and filter floss as you can and go from there. Sorry to hear that and I hope this helps. Thanks for watching and commenting. Have a nice day and let me know what happens!
@@allaboutdiy1375 I pulled it apart the impeller assembly is so cheaply made the impeller rubs on the motor housing because the shaft its mounted on is weak sauce and the torque from the motor bends it where its mounted thus the impeller grinds against the housing.I phoned up Fluvel tech support and got some lady whom imagined she knew everything but knew nothing but did agree that my motor was messed up because it was so loud she could hear it over the phone still it didn't matter they wouldn't send me a motor (pretty sure it would of been garbage anyway) Thats why I buy crap like this at Amazon they gave me my money back right away apparently they are sick of customers returning defective fluvels.
Does this filter allow filter bipass? Or does it really force the water through all the filter stages?
If it is properly maintained it works as described.
Why my fountain piece is not spraying water? It sprayed when new, after 2 months it's not anymore.
Well it’s either clogged or it’s not properly installed. Make sure to set the filter on full flow on the pickup tube. Thanks for watching
Love this video thank you. I've watched this a couple of times. Quick question please. What size are those bio balls? 1.5?
Those were the 1 inch variety. Thanks for watching!
@@allaboutdiy1375 thank you my friend. Please continue with your amazing vids! God bless.
@@alfonsoacastro thank you, I appreciate that! Have a good one
@@allaboutdiy1375 cheers 🍻 brother.
I'm looking for a filter for a freshwater high light planted 15 gallon aquarium. Is the Fluval c4 to big for that setup?
LUIS CORDERO yeah the c4 is probably too big for that small tank. Try a c3 or a c2.
You can still use it though. Tanks can be used up to a certain gallon. For goldfish it's suggested to use a filter for a tank bigger than the one they're in.
Is this good for my 80L tank ?
No, this filter is too big for a 20 gallon(80 liter) tank. Your fish would be flying around in there. Try the fluval c3
Hi, its Jacob. I replied to your comment, but I don't know if you will see it. I changed my mind about attending the meet and greet. Feel free to call or text me and we can talk more about it. Take care.
JacobsAquarium hey I got your comment, don't know if you got mine. Anyways bummer you won't be there but I totally understand. No worries, I'll get down to the nursery sometime soon and we'll get a tour going. I would love that. Have a good one and good luck.
Sounds good my friend, by the way, great video. I'll give you a shout out in my next one, that should boost your views a bit. Always willing to help out my fellow hobbyists on UA-cam. Have fun, see you someday. Take care.
JacobsAquarium that would be awesome and thank you!!! Any help is much appreciated. I'm hoping to place an order in the near future. Thanks again Jacob. Keep doing what your doing!
Excellent review, definitely considering this. I see you're still answering comments so can you please help me out? I have a 4 foot tank that's around 252 Litres (66 US gallons) and will hopefully be heavily planted. I have heard a lot of confusing or conflicting information surrounding filters, (I unfortunately have to be picky because I do not have the space for most canister filters). Would this filter really do the job? I have heard others say you need to get a filter that's capable of filtering much more than your tank's capacity but this filter seems very promising. Thanks
I would get 2 of these filters for the 4 foot, 66 gallon tank you have. 1 might not be enough water movement.
@@allaboutdiy1375 awesome, thank you very much
@@Brian_Damage no problem, good luck and make sure to keep them clean!
thanks for the video, just a quick question: is it just a normal micro fiber cloth? or anything made specifically for aquariums?
Mustafa Kurtay it’s a normal micro fiber cloth that I cut to fit. I used that because it traps a lot of fine debris for crystal clear water. You can use any material that you want for filter material as long as water can pass through it and it doesn’t have any chemicals on it obviously. Thanks for watching. I hope this helps.
Brandon, ever since I serviced this filter about 10 days ago, it's been louder than normal on the slow flow, it's a louder hum / vibration (quiet still on the fast flow), why do you think this is?
Jason Maslen sometimes when the impeller is slightly dirty around the magnet portion it can vibrate due to the restricted flow of the "low" setting. What I would do is take it apart again and make sure the motor and the impeller are very clean and make sure to re assemble the unit perfectly. Also inspect the impeller shaft for wear. If the metal impeller shaft is worn, the impeller itself will be allowed to move around on the shaft and cause a vibrating or humming noise. It could also be that the pickup tube isn't sitting in its channel above the motor correctly. Try these steps and let me know if it works. I hope this helps. Good luck
Thanks for that Brandon, the unit was only purchased 6 weeks ago so hopefully it's not impeller / shaft wear. I'll take it apart again and let you know how it went.
Jason Maslen yeah since the filter is new make sure everything is back together correctly and that the lid is on snug.
It worked like a charm, thanks for that Brandon.
Jason Maslen you are very welcome, I'm glad I could help. Good luck man and thanks for watching, commenting and asking questions!
I'll never buy a fluval filter again. I had these filters before and had problems with the impeller every single time making noise prematurely. I contacted fluval and they wanted me to send back the entire filters. It took me 2 months and many emails back and forth to explain to them that I can't send them the filters back because all of my fish would die without filtration. So finally they sent me a new motor for 1 of them but that's it. Sold the rest and bought some eheim filters to replace them and haven't had a problem since. Also this c series filters are a gimmick, and I hate products that don't function as they're supposed to. When I had mine, a bit of water would bypass on top of the trickle chamber and spill over into the chemical basket. Not only that, it bypasses the mechanical filtration too because I found dead leaves, java moss bits, and detritus building up on top of the trickle foam pad.
I also just sold my fluval canister, not enough warranty unfortunately and even if maintenance kits were covered, I'd have to go filterless or wait two months explaining to customer service why I can't send in the parts.
Pray4Mojo wow sounds like you had a bad experience with them. Bummer, I have heard bad things about their customer service but I have never had to call them so I wouldn't know.
Brandon, any tips or tricks on a pre filter sponge for the C4 intake tube?
Jason Maslen there are a ton of options for that! You can find them pre made to fit on amazon and aquarium co op.com or you can make your own by cutting a car wash sponge to fit the tube. The latter is my preferred method since it's cheap and DIY. Another option is buying small sponge filter replacement sponges that are the correct diameter for a fluval c4. I hope this helps, thank you for watching!!!
Car sponges have antifungals. Just use a standard aquarium sponge filter with a bottlecap wedged into the bottom instead to the weight base and slip the riser tube up over the C's intake. When the sponge gets full it'll lift it off the bottom.
I have a 50g C4 and I’m having problems all the time with it not flowing properly so It in turn not doing a good
Job at filtering the water. Any tips ? I am trying to get the tank ready for new fish and it’s slowing down the process and I’m getting them in a week so need advice on what to do please.
Shirley Elderkin ok so first thing to do is take it completely apart and make sure there isn't any debris clogging any of the passages. Then make sure the impeller on the motor is free from debris and clean, next make sure all sponges and filter material is clean and not too tightly packed and last be very meticulous on how you assemble the filter components. If they aren't properly installed, they filter won't work to its full potential. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions let me know.
Hi, would this be ok for my 10 gallon tank? Or should I just go with the smaller versions?
Arviel Diquit inwould go with the smaller version, you don’t want your tank to be a whirl pool lol.
i want one just cause.
Decent filter it’s just super noisy
Would you recommend fluval c4 or aquaclear 70 for a 50 gallon tank ?
Tony Serrato either one is a good filter in my opinion. for that size tank I would run 2 of them. One on each side.
aww, I came here to see explosives.