I've been using this for a few weeks now and it is working better than I thought. I was using a small, cheap filter before purchasing this one, and so I have both of them working in the same tank. The canister filter alone left the water a little cloudy, but the combination of the two makes the water look pristine.

I own three of these and especially love the micron filter capability. The filters are very easy to clean and exceptionally well built. I use two of these on a 55 gallon live bearing baby tank and usually get a good month of high flow rates, alternating between cleaning one or the other every two weeks when using the carbon system. The flow rate goes down somewhat with the micron filter, but the water is left sparkling... A great trade off...

I've installed the HOT Magnum with the BioWheel attachment (HOT Magnum Pro) on my 55 gallon tank for about 6 months now, and I'm very impressed with the performance of this filter system. This canister filter is powerful and power thrifty at 250gph while using only 18 watts. I especially like having the filter out of sight hanging behind the tank.

This combination of canister filter and biowheel is pretty amazing. The water is very clear thanks to the no by pass design of the canister and the tank is well oxygenated due to the spray bar/biowheel component. The biowheel is also great at removing amonia and nitrite which becomes undetectable (amonia less than 0.25mg/liter and nitrite less than 0.1mg/liter) after a few days of running this filter. That's with a bio load of 12 adult Angelfish, 10 large swordtails, and 5 bushynose plecos! If you don't understand what all this mean, then trust me when I tell you the performance of this system is hard to beat.

Now for the down side: This filter is a pain to clean.
First of all, don't bother using the fine carbon that comes with the filter. This will cause your filter to clog up in no time if you have a heavily stocked tank like me. I threw out the carbon after the first week and replaced it with ceramic noodles, which does not clog at all. The nylon mesh sleeve works well to trap fish waste, but is messy to clean or replace, and you have to take the whole filter apart to do it. After I spent a few minutes taking this apart, clean it, reassemble it, and fill it with water, mine filter sometimes lose syphon and I have to take it apart and assemble it again. I have to pay special attention to the stupid red gasket that likes to fall out when I not careful. This is why I gave this filter 3 stars.

The power switch is located near the bottom of the backside of the filter. While it's nice to have a power switch, the placement is bad because it's right up against the wall and you have to reach all the way down the back of your tank to reach it.

So, to sum up. If you want one of the best performing and efficient filter and don't mind having to take a filter apart and get messy once awhile (for me that's about every 2 weeks), then this is the filter for you.

Additional note: The BioWheel Pro30 (the one with spray bar) is really fantastic in it's performance, and is key to the awesome performance of this system. This component can be used with other easier to clean internal canister or powerheads, so don't ever discard this attachment.

So I got this filter for Christmas, and immediately saw a change to much clearer water from my penguin bio-wheel 100. But, air kept circulating through, which made the water seem darker. I figured out that I didn't put enough water in the canister before starting it, and air was trapped inside. Now, my tank is looking better than ever, and I am glad the filter worked out. The cichlids love it too!

I owned the HOT Magnum Canister Filter prior to upgrading to an Eheim Ecco Canister Filter. I had to upgrade because this filter couldn't keep up with my medium size saltwater tank. However this filter works great for freshwater tanks from small to medium size. It's fairly cheap and reliable. It cleans like a champ and supplies are fairly cheap to operate it. This is a good buy.