# AquaClear 110 VS Emperor 400



## nobody1973 (Jan 20, 2007)

I'm thinking about replacing my 2 emperor 400s with 2 AquaClear 110. The reason I'm thinking about doing this is because the emperor 400s are just to noisy. I have had a few people tell me to get the AquaClear 110 because you cant even hear them running. Is this true? I know there are a few of you here that have them and I would like to know what you think about them. I just don't want to go out and spend the money and get a worse filter than what I already have.


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

I have both Emperor and AC...over all the AC are way better and more quite then the Emperor..Emperor are just to noisy..Agreed.


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## Rice & Beanz (Oct 30, 2006)

Seems like any HOB with a bio-wheel is noisy!


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

i have both on my 200. they both work great. i prefer the emps tho, just because as long as i keep the wheels going i have good bio filtration, so cleaning on the emps is easy. ac's u have to be more careful.


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

I have 2 of each...the new style emp are the quietest...imo....the ac110's are just as noisy as any other filter that is loud........I think it all depends on the individual filter....like each filter has it's own personality....some noisy.....some not...the ac 110's..and the way they made the flow adjust was just a bad design...thats why I don't like them....kinda flemsy


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Leasure1 said:


> I have 2 of each...the new style emp are the quietest...imo....the ac110's are just as noisy as any other filter that is loud........I think it all depends on the individual filter....like each filter has it's own personality....some noisy.....some not...the ac 110's..and the way they made the flow adjust was just a bad design...thats why I don't like them....kinda flemsy


Agreed.

I have both new and old Emps and they are both great IMO. The reason the old Emps are noisier than the new ones is because of the output adjuster mechanism they have...it works very well (much better than the adjuster on the ACs), and I will never give up my old Emp 280 that I use as an auxillary filter for that reason or replace my old Emp 400 with a new one. On the other hand, I gladly have gotten rid of every AC I had lying around.


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## nswhite (Mar 23, 2005)

Does anybody have a link to the new emp?


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## skubasteve! (Feb 14, 2007)

emperor 400

I think thats the right one...


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## chris k (Dec 27, 2006)

Sometimes if you pull up on the intake tube assembly they quiet down considerably. They are louder when pushed down all the way. If you want to sell them you will have alot of takers.


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## nobody1973 (Jan 20, 2007)

I have one old style and one new style. I think they both sound about the same. The new one may be just a little bit louder then the other. Maybe I will just go with the aquaclear 110 and sell these emperor 400s. I just don't want to go out and buy them and there just as loud and these 400's.


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

i have 2 AC's needless to say, they are sitting on my shelf in the garage..........lmao


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## svtcontour (Jun 25, 2006)

assclown said:


> i have 2 AC's needless to say, they are sitting on my shelf in the garage..........lmao


Why not consider a single Eheim 2217 filter. I know its a canister but it has probably much more filtering capacity than the two AC110 or the two Emp400's and its dead silent. I think price wise it might be about 20% more than a pair of AC110.


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## nswhite (Mar 23, 2005)

Thanks for the link scubasteve!


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## nobody1973 (Jan 20, 2007)

svtcontour said:


> Why not consider a single Eheim 2217 filter. I know its a canister but it has probably much more filtering capacity than the two AC110 or the two Emp400's and its dead silent. I think price wise it might be about 20% more than a pair of AC110.


I bought a new XP3 canister filter last weekend. I just haven't hooked it up yet. I also want to keep 2 hang on back filters running but the 2 emp 400s I already have are just loud.


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## elk (Feb 3, 2007)

had 2 110`s on my 75 for 3 years worked fine but when water got a bit low waterfall efect was noisy.
then sold them and bought a fluval 304 on boxing day at superpet for 99.95 
all i can say is awesome and never will buy hob`s again.


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## Draven1 (Nov 5, 2005)

I have both the emperor 400 and the ac110 and I prefer the ac110, I believe it is less noisy than the emperor and I don't have the priming difficulty with the ac110 that I do with the emperor400. I belive they are both good hob filters but if I had to choose I would take the ac110 but I also would like to add that my emperor is an older model so perhaps the new emperors are better.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

svtcontour said:


> i have 2 AC's needless to say, they are sitting on my shelf in the garage..........lmao


Why not consider a single Eheim 2217 filter. I know its a canister but it has probably much more filtering capacity than the two AC110 or the two Emp400's and its dead silent. I think price wise it might be about 20% more than a pair of AC110.
[/quote]

nahh 2 ACs should keep that shelf filtered nicely.

IMO Emps are the better overall filter. No chance of it leaking like with the AC's. They are made out of better plastics. Noise is ony an issue durring start up and when you don't keep your water level up. the additional bio filtration the Emps offer is more then enough reason to go with them over a AC.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Old emps-Rule-New emps-Suck big time-Ac's-just never been a fan of them-


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## nobody1973 (Jan 20, 2007)

BlackSunshine said:


> i have 2 AC's needless to say, they are sitting on my shelf in the garage..........lmao


Why not consider a single Eheim 2217 filter. I know its a canister but it has probably much more filtering capacity than the two AC110 or the two Emp400's and its dead silent. I think price wise it might be about 20% more than a pair of AC110.
[/quote]

nahh 2 ACs should keep that shelf filtered nicely.

IMO Emps are the better overall filter. No chance of it leaking like with the AC's. They are made out of better plastics. Noise is ony an issue durring start up and when you don't keep your water level up. the additional bio filtration the Emps offer is more then enough reason to go with them over a AC.
[/quote]

What do you mean no chance of it leaking like the AC's? Are they known for leaking? Also the noise i'm talking about isn't from low water level. My emp 400s just seem to run loud.


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## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

AC ALL THE WAY


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## shoal king (Oct 27, 2006)

yeah AC's arn't that loud but if you really want something quiet go with a canister. i have a 404 and an AC500 on my 110 and you cannot even hear the 404 at all.


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## Wussola (Jan 25, 2006)

I just bought an AC110 for my tank for the same reason that you're thinking of getting one. I had a Biowheel in the past and it was a little noisey. So when it can time to buy a new larger power filter for my new 75 g tank - I also debated between the Emp 400 and AC110. The AC110 is definitely quiter than the emperior biowheel and I'm happy with my decision to buy it.

Just as an aside ... I bought it at Petsmart. they were selling if for $69.99. I went on their website and printed out the website price (which was $39.99). I presented the print out at the register and they were more than happy to price match their website price. Ended up with an awesome deal on it.

I also have an XP3 and that is absolutely noise free. I have to put my hand on it to make sure it's running!

Best of luck to you!


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## mike123 (Jul 17, 2006)

I hate the emp 400's. I've had two and i think that they are garbage. I like the penguin 350's much more than the emps, but ac 110 is my favorite HOB filter.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

mike123 said:


> I hate the emp 400's. I've had two and i think that they are garbage. I like the penguin 350's much more than the emps, but ac 110 is my favorite HOB filter.


Really?

I was excieted about the new Penguin design because the old ones sucked...damn biowheels always stopped. I've got two new Penguin 350s on a non-p 75, and 2 new Emp 400s on my rhom's 75 and am not impressed at all with the Penguins. Emps have better flow, the biowheels are always in contact with water even if they were to stop because of the spray bar, bigger filter pad surface area, bigger media trays, and more sturdy plastic. The only thing the Penguins have on them is the see through lid.

I would never trust an AC to be my primary filter, but I don't hate them...they have their place. They are great for mechanical filtration, but iffy at best for biological.


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## nobody1973 (Jan 20, 2007)

Wussola said:


> I just bought an AC110 for my tank for the same reason that you're thinking of getting one. I had a Biowheel in the past and it was a little noisey. So when it can time to buy a new larger power filter for my new 75 g tank - I also debated between the Emp 400 and AC110. The AC110 is definitely quiter than the emperior biowheel and I'm happy with my decision to buy it.
> 
> Just as an aside ... I bought it at Petsmart. they were selling if for $69.99. I went on their website and printed out the website price (which was $39.99). I presented the print out at the register and they were more than happy to price match their website price. Ended up with an awesome deal on it.
> 
> ...


You have got to love the price match at petsmart. If I get the AC110s I'll be sure to price match them there. I just did it last weekend with my Xp3 saved me $80.00.


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## Zip (Apr 17, 2005)

nobody1973 said:


> What do you mean no chance of it leaking like the AC's? Are they known for leaking? Also the noise i'm talking about isn't from low water level. My emp 400s just seem to run loud.


If you don't stick a little piece of plastic they give you into the AC to tilt it forward, it can empty most of your aquarium water onto the floor if the filter media becomes too clogged....this happened to a friend of mine. Also, the the AC relies on a seal to prevent water from leaking out of the unit - the container holding the water in the Emporer is of completely solid construction - no places for water to possibly leak from, no seals.

In my opinion, the AC is more cheaply made and designed than the Emporer, but does definitely have more suction/priming power. I also think the AC is a bit quieter on average, but if I tweak around with my Emporers, they are nearly as silent - just a bit more finicky in that regard.

Like someone above reported, I also have an AC in my basement, filtering a shelf there.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

[quote name='BioTeach' post='1849141' date='Feb 25 2007, 12:13 AM'
They are great for mechanical filtration, but iffy at best for biological.[/quote] 
Why you say that. The sponge has a ton of area for the bacteria to colonize. Plus you get a bag of ceramic rings which doubles your bio exposure on the AC filters


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## watermonst3rs (Feb 15, 2004)

We sell both at my shop, I have 2 Emp 400s. Theyre loud as hell. The ACs are super quiet except the lid rattles a bit. Plus the AC does 100 more GPH, has a large carbon and amonia bag. I sell people strictly the AC 110s, I dont like my 400's. I'm gonna swap them out for some ACs soon.


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## mike123 (Jul 17, 2006)

Really?

I was excieted about the new Penguin design because the old ones sucked...damn biowheels always stopped. I've got two new Penguin 350s on a non-p 75, and 2 new Emp 400s on my rhom's 75 and am not impressed at all with the Penguins. Emps have better flow, the biowheels are always in contact with water even if they were to stop because of the spray bar, bigger filter pad surface area, bigger media trays, and more sturdy plastic. The only thing the Penguins have on them is the see through lid.

I would never trust an AC to be my primary filter, but I don't hate them...they have their place. They are great for mechanical filtration, but iffy at best for biological.
[/quote]
I hated the emps because the biowheels would always get stuck, i have 2 penguins running fine, one is brand new and the other one is about 3 years old.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

I have an AC110 and love it. It's not noisy and really does a good job of keeping the tank crystal clear. I also have an Emp 280 and like them as well but would have to take the AC over the Emp 400. Bio-filtration is really good on the ACs.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Dr. Giggles said:


> They are great for mechanical filtration, but iffy at best for biological.


Why you say that. The sponge has a ton of area for the bacteria to colonize. Plus you get a bag of ceramic rings which doubles your bio exposure on the AC filters[/quote]
[/quote]

It's not a surface area issue, it's a maintainence/design issue. You have to rinse the sponge and no matter how careful you are you will reduce your colonies risking a mini-cycle. Eventually you will have to replace the sponge too as it deteriotes over time since it is your mechanical filtration media as well (that's their primary job...biological is secondary). If you don't use the ceramic rings, you're really asking for trouble.

You don't have that issue with a biowheel. With the Emps, you don't have to fill the media trays with extra biological material, though doing so makes them virtually foolproof ...even for the people that can't seem to keep their biowheels going because they don't know how to check their spraybars and pins monthly (5 second job). Biowheels never need replacing and rinsing/swapping out filter pads has a negligible effect on total bacterial counts.

Emps are just easier to maintain for reliable biological filtration (as well as more reliable) and ACs are better left to mechanical filtration. Now if you add a biowheel to the ACs, then you have the PERFECT power filter IMO!


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## nobody1973 (Jan 20, 2007)

Well I did it. I went out a bought 2 new AC110. I can't believe how quiet they are. If I knew how quiet these really were I would have bought them over the emperor 400s the first time. I guess time will tell if they hold up as a good over all filter. Anyway, thanks for all the input and suggestions guys you all were really alot of help.


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## Cal68 (Mar 23, 2007)

cant say much about the emp. i never owned one. i have an ac 500 for over 5yrs and its still running







i just use the sponge filter and fill the rest with bio balls.


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## hle_81 (Dec 3, 2003)

My Aquaclear filter are not noisy at all. I've had bio-wheel filters in the past and they were so noisy. I prefer Aquaclear over the Emperor, but both are good filters.


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