Glenda,

I'm glad to hear your ornada's are doing well and yes, you are correct; a Whisper 3 isn't enough for a 75.

As to which of the large filters; both are very good. I tend to favor the Emperor myself and believe the 400 especially, to be about the most bang for the buck of any power filter on the market, but that's my opinion; other's may differ.

However, it also may depend on how you set up the tank.

What you plan to keep in it?

In the 75 gallon there will just be tropical fish like silver dollar and such, I was fixing it up for my husband in the den. The only kind I like, really are the goldies and they are in the 26 gallon bow front up here in the living area ..this was a setup I bought from Petco and it came with a Aqueon filter 30.. If it doesn't do good I might change it too, but I just have the 2 fish in it . I have a horror of a mess with that big tank and a bad filter. I ordered that Emperor 400 today , just have filled it with water and I'll wait a bit about getting fish for it.Thanks

Glenda,

When you next water change the goldies, put the used water into the 75. It's easy to get a new tank up and running practically overnight- if you have another one already well established.

An Emperor 280 would work well on the 26 bow front, BTW. It's really just half of a 400, but the parts are interchageable, which makes maintenance less complicated, and cheap.

All you need for "new" cartridges on an Emperor are extra media baskets. Use the "top" as a plate to hold pieces of bonded media sold in rolls for pond filters. Cut to fit and hold them on with rubber bands. Load up the inner baskets with charcoal and zeno, and you don't need more on the outer part.

As a very old timer with memories of noisy little air pumps that slipped belts at the worst possible times, and suction filters that had to be primed to get them to work off of the air pumps, I love power filters and truly appreciate how far we have come. Marineland makes some fine ones, but they and other power filter mfg. remind me of the HP trick with their printers; sell the printers cheap and rape/plunder on the cartridges.

Except that making your own refills for the filter is even easier than messing with ink.

Birdwidow,
I don't fully understand how you fix your filters and what is Zena?

Also I started feeding My one last Oranda a green pea every few days, found the veggie clip and he loved the zuchini, and as for the piece of orange...I am worried that he likes that too much!!!Thanks for any advice , I haven't started using the emporer yet as the a part was missing and they are sending it.
Do you ever use anything like the biomax in those extra media bags? It came with 2 empty slots and the smaller filter hasn't come yet.
Thanks,
Glenda

Glenda,

Emperor filters, both the 280 and 400, are made to hold a media basket, one on the 280 and 2 on the 400, which are inserted to fit between the slots on the inside of the frame nearest to the front of the filter; closest to the bio-wheel.

The basket will hold whatever media you may choose to use, although most use only charcoal and ammonia chips (Zeno).

The outer slots hold a thinner frame, also one on the 280 and two on the 400, which consist of a fabric cover, with some charcoal sealed inside that is frankly, supernunnary, as the baskets will hold all that's neally necessary.

Unless you get truly careless, the gray plastic media baskets will outlive the filter, so to "recharge" the charcoal, all you need to is empty the basket, clean and refill it.

What costs are the fabric faced cartridges that are so very cheap and easy to "refill" as a DIY.

For that, you need a frame and if you have the patience and an Exacto blade, you can make it from a used cartridge. Rinse it well to remove most of the muck, then let it sit to dry completely, as that will make handling it far less unpleasant and once dry, the old charcoal in it will drop out and into a garbage can pretty cleanly.

Start the clearing process by cutting away the old fabric on at least 2 sides and shake out the charcoal. Then, use the Exacto blade to remove the fabric along the edges, where it was heat sealed to the frame. You can't get it all off, but a wee bit remaining won't hurt.

Now you have a frame to hold fresh, clean and cheap bonded filter media that you can buy in bulk, cut to fit, and hold to the frame with rubber bands.

It will work very well although the premade cartridge frames are rather thin and flimsy compared to the baskets, and why I prefer using half a basket for the purpose. It allows me to handle them for cleaning without having them crack around the edges.

You didn't say exactly what part was missing from your new filter but Marineland will send anyone any parts reported as being missing from any of their filters, so if, as your post indicated, it was the cartridge, you could also just buy one and have it to use when the first one is due for replacement.

Having an extra is always handy. I keep duplicates on hand at all times, filled and ready for those days when it they need to be changed and I'm short on time. It also allows me to get the baskets and cartridge frames really clean, as I prefer to be able to empty them and leave them to soak in a hot water bleach solution. Then they rinse sparkling clean with virtually no scrubbing and once dry, are ready to be refilled.

Did that answer you questions? If not, tell me where I failed to explain it well enough to make sense.

BTW: The best deals on the bulk roll bonded media may be found on eBay, usually listed under Pond supplies.

So far, the best deals I've found on parts for most any Marineland filter is from Big Als.