If you have used a Penn Plax Cascade Canister filter, you might realize that the Cascade filters are a great deal. One of the amazing Cascade filters is the Cascade 1000.
The Cascade 1000 has a flow rate of 265 gallons per hour and is recommended for aquariums of up to 100 gallons.
If you have just bought an aquarium, the first thing you must do is buying a filter. Giving you fish a clean and filtered environment to live in is the best thing you can do for it. If you don’t use a filter, you can suffocate and kill your fish.
If you’re looking to buy a filter, the best choice would be buying a Cascade 1000. In this article, I’m going to tell you exactly why.
Why You Need Aquarium Filtration?
The very first thing you must do when you get an aquarium is to buy and install a filter.
As the fish swim around, they excrete waste. The waste releases ammonia, which is very dangerous for your fish and can kill them.
The fish also breathe in oxygen that is trapped in the water. If the water is not replaced with new filtered and oxygen-rich water, the fish will suffocate themselves.
These problems are dealt with using filters. A filter will suck in all the dirty water, pass it through the media which will purify or filter the water and send it back into the tank.
This cycle makes sure that your fish lives in a clean and healthy environment and stays alive.
Penn Plax Cascade 1000 Canister Setup
This is one of the areas where the Cascade filters including the Cascade 1000 really stand out. These filters are some of the easiest to install filters. Even if you are new to filters, it should take you approximately 30 minutes to put it all together. The filter also comes with media and the tubing that is required to put the filter together.
The filter also allows you to store it anywhere it fits by its state of the art flow valves. These flow valves can freely rotate 360° so you can position them however you want.
These especially come in handy when you want to place your filter in a tight place. A normal filter will prevent you from doing so because of its input and output tubes but the rotational flow valves allow you to position them to fit in.
Moreover, while setting up the filter you have to put in the media. The Cascade 1000 comes with 3 large media trays unlike the 700 which only came with two. The large media trays allow you to store more media in the tray requiring less frequent media changes as well.
If you are new to filters and don’t have a lot of knowledge of them, you can simply follow the instructions and use the media that comes with the filter.
However, if you are a fish enthusiast and want to customize the media, you can do that too. Penn Plax separately sells multiple media that you can buy and then customize the tray as you wish.
Priming
After installing a filter, you can’t start it right away. Before you do, you have to prime the filter. Priming a filter is pushing out all the air in the filter and sucking in water so that it can work.
Usually, it is difficult to prime a filter but that is not the case in the Cascade 1000. This filter has an easy push-button self-priming system. All you have to do is push the prime button on the filter about 6-8 times and then start the filter.
Operation
After you prime the filter, you can start it, and as soon as it starts, the first thing that you will notice is just how quiet this filter is. If you have had any prior experience with filters or even seen one, you would know how loud filters actually are. But this filter is an exception and makes little to no noise. If you don’t want your filter constantly disturbing you, then the Cascade 1000 is the best option.
If you feel that the flow rate of the Cascade 1000 is too fast or too slow, you can use the cut-off valves on the flow valves to adjust the flow as you wish.
The filter media also work really well. The floss pad does a really good job at removing fin particulate matter and the coarse sponge works well at promoting bacterial growth to remove ammonia and nitrates.
Cleanup
After using the filter for some time, your filter will start getting dirty and you will have to clean it. This is a very simple process in the Cascade 1000.
Simply turn off the filter, disconnect the hoses and wash it in the sink. Unfortunately, you can’t get to the motors and other moving parts.
Comparable Fish Tank Filters
FLUVAL 406 Aquarium Filter
Fluval is a well-known brand among aquarium pet lovers due to their quality filters. The Fluval 406 has a very large filtration capacity making it an amazing option for keeping a 100-gallon tank clean for a very long period of time. It has a flow rate of 383 gallons per hour. Its flow rate can also be adjusted.
The filter comes with 4 large media baskets included. Despite this filter not being the quietest, it operates quietly with its sound dampening impeller design. Furthermore, the impeller is designed to last a long time. The impeller and the other parts make the Fluval a long-lasting filter. Some users say that their filter lasts about five years.
HYDOR PROFESSIONAL 450 External Canister Filter
The Hydor Professional 450 is one of the quietest filters on the current market. It has a powerful pump with a flow rate of 320 gallons per hour and is ideal for a 100-125 gallon tank. This filter comes with everything you need to set it up. It provides mechanical, biological and chemical filtration. It is also easy to prime this filter which makes using ad maintaining it very easy.
Pros
Cheap
Quiet
Sturdy base
Cons
High power use
Not as powerful
Conclusion
Choosing a good filter is a very important and very difficult step to make. The Cascade 1000 canister filter is a great option if you want a filter that is easy to clean, install, powerful, quiet and cheap. It is a definite step up from the cascade 700 which had a flow rate of only 185 gallons per hour and was ideal for a 65-gallon tank.
