Penn-Plax Cascade 300 Power Filter – Hang-On Filter with Quad Filtration – Great for Freshwater and Saltwater Setups

Bought for Daughters fish tank. Fish are still alive, and seem to be happy. They don't seem to want to talk to me about it, but I think since the water is clean, and they are not dead that it is working. I think it's a 70 gallon tank, it's giant. It's quieter than the old one that died, but I don't know if the other one was loud or just loud because it was dying. So far so good. 2 months in.

I just checked my Amazon purchases and I bought the 300 9 yrs ago and it’s still kicking wow! I have another tank and it needs a bigger filter. For the price you can’t go wrong and this thing moves some serious water.

For $10 how could I say no? It’s a fantastic little filter. It has adjustable flow which is nice. I had a horrible algae bloom in my 5 gallon planted tank and made the decision to strip it wash everything and get a new filter. Strange thing happened with my sand substrate. Even though I did the slow refill with the cup to controll the dusting of the water my whole tank was black. Idk what a mess. Particles everywhere. So this little filter had quite the task at hand. It took my tank from completely black and couldn’t see a single thing to almost clear again. One particle at a time. I rinsed the filter ever time I walked by and remembered. It has really shown what it’s capable of.

I purchased this filter when I bought a new 10 on tank for my fish in the end of November 2020. I noticed a high count in my 10 gallon. After doing a 50% water change, rinsing out the filters from that filter, I want to make sure it was running. I'm good reason my nitrate count was so high! I'm not sure how long it's been since that filter stopped working. I think I cleaned the filter pieces two weeks ago in my weekly water change and it seem to be working then. Since it's been longer than the return time from Amazon, I've been up having to trash it. It's not the impeller of the actual pump unit, as there is no power generating into the pump. I went to look for a replacement pump for this unit and I cannot locate any. That is a real nuisance.I have a small filter for a 2 gallon rescue tank that I'm forced to use until I order a new filter from Amazon. It does a really good job as I've had to use it in one of my 5 gallon tanks when the small back filter pump got clogged with plant debris and stopped. I used to clear the tank out once I got the pump working again.So, I'm sure I can actually recommend this filter at all. It ran OK in my 10 gallon. I have a lot of plants with a normal number of fish for a 10 gallon. I do, thankfully, have a sponge filter and when I went to clean the sponge off in the discarded water from the tank, I saw the water turn almost black. So, I'm very thankful then at least my sponge filter I was helping. I was very surprised at the nitrate level when I had just done at 50% water change in that tank last weekend.OK, I suggest you beware folks when looking for a new filter for your tank. I'm off to get another filter. I definitely will NOT use this brand if I can avoid it. Also, those internal air powered sponge filters are amazing. I have two running in my 10 gallon now while I figure out what to do about a filter and using that small rescue pump.Just an FYI, I bought 2 UPETTOOLS Aquarium Biochemical Sponge Filter from Amazon. One went into a 5 gallon, And the second one went into that poor 10 gallon tank. Set a 10 gallon tank is now running to sponge filters as well as the rescue filter. If you want to get your tank clean, I do highly recommend any internal sponge filter. I'm surprised how well they work. Not great for debris, like a hanging filter does, but I absolutely love them.

First one quit working after a day. The other two both came with broken parts, the thing that keeps it level or away from the tank. Both purchased at different times, both prime, not sure the vendors. Quick fix, just added a suction cup next to the part and the loop for airhose does the same thing, the other I put a little pad. Needed filter didn't want to wait.They are very quiet, have it right next to my bed and don't even hear water falling (water level high). Using it for a 40 gallon tank. Have to touch it to see if it's running. Filter runs great, can see the suction. Put squeaker (leak detector) under it, last filter leaked. It's very easy to set up, seems strong, quiet. I like it. The only downside is that it does not cause enough (hardly any) surface movement. I have two on a 55g, one on each end and added a bubble wall in the middle, just to have some surface movement. Second one is on my 20 gallon long, with a sponge filter. There is a humming/vibration noise to this one, only noticeable because it's also next to my bed. So far not too bad.Cheaply built, most problems can be fixed by taking it apart and starting over. If you have the money, go for an Aquaclear filter. If not, this seems to be a decent filter. I'm sure if you keep sending them back you should be able to find one without broken components.Get a feeding station if you have floating plants, blocks output perfectly.

Great little filter! I can't attest to the cartridge that it came with tho bc I have my own filter media that I prefer to use. I use these filters as backup filters mostly and to keep the water clean/clear bc there's no such thing as "too much filtration" and in case something terrible happens to my main filters. I just ordered another one of these for a 5.5 gallon QT tank that has a crappy bulky filter hanging on it. This will be perfect to just stick some cheap filter floss in since the QT tank is currently occupied and running meds. Love how simple it is to adjust the flow and seems to be as durable as my Aquaclears. So far I haven't found any rogue cherry shrimp hanging out in any of these that I'm using so that's a plus. Pretty quiet too! Definitely better than the other small filters I've tried in the past and these haven't broken down on me so I definitely recommend!