# Emperor 400 vs. Aquaclear 500



## CStarr59 (Apr 15, 2006)

I've been using aquaclear filters for many years and they have always performed well. I've read so much about the Emperor 400 filters on this forum that I purchased one to give it a try. Im not very impressed at all with it. It didn't want to prime up and start even after I fill the box with water and it is very noisy. I understand that it will quiet down a bit with time and I really like the bio wheel, but the flow rate does not seem anywhere near the Aquaclear 500. I should have just spent the extra $$$ and got the XP3 and been done with it. Im running the Emperor 400 and the Aquaclear 500 side by side on a 65 gal tank and just posting my observations, this is just my opinion.


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

i have to agree with you sir.....althoug emperor 400 are good with bio wheel, but it very noisy and loud. piss me off. but AC 500 are good and very quiet. and yes you should spent the extra money on the xp3 or build your own wet/dry sump.


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## RB 32 (Mar 2, 2005)

I have had no problem with the Emperor 400 filters I think they are awesome filters..you just might of got a bad one.


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## Kemper1989 (Feb 14, 2005)

Im a fan of the AC 500 as well.


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## black_piranha (Jan 12, 2006)

i agree with u. i only own the emperor 400 and not the ac500. whenever the power goes out of my house and comes back on, it shuts off! and then to restart itself (which it never can) it makes all this noise. i then have to put in literally buckets of water in for awhile untill it can run byitself. next time i buy a filter, it would be an ac500.


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## Kemper1989 (Feb 14, 2005)

black_piranha said:


> i agree with u. i only own the emperor 400 and not the ac500. whenever the power goes out of my house and comes back on, it shuts off! and then to restart itself (which it never can) it makes all this noise. i then have to put in literally buckets of water in for awhile untill it can run byitself. next time i buy a filter, it would be an ac500.


What happens if your not around when the power goes out and comes back on? Does the motor burn out?


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## CStarr59 (Apr 15, 2006)

Well I'll give it a week and see how the Emperor 400 improves. If not I will stick to AC 500's and be done with it. Why mess with sucess, If it ain't broke don't fix it!


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

i love my ac500!


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## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

I am the exact opposite of most of you. I have had both filters and I really dont like AC 500s other than that you can put bio media in of whatever you want more effectively. Emperor 400s are nowhere near as noisy as you guys make it seem, at least mine arent loud at all. With the priming, you have to add water to both kinds to get them to prime, its not soley an emp 400 issue. Beyond that, it doesnt take much water added to get it to prime unlike what some of you have said. I must be getting the Minnesota version of these filters because they are much better than this thread makes it look like.


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## oryschakgp (Nov 5, 2005)

I have three emperor 400s and an AC 500 and I feel they both do a great job. I think the emperors are more efficient and definatley made from higher quality materials. Both of these filters can be noisy when water levels drop but that's just how it goes with a hob filter. I have read some stories about the AC 500s clogging and then overflowing thus siphoning water on the floor. I've haven't experienced that so I can't really knock the AC 500 for what is most likely inattention to maintenance (i.e., not letting the sponge clog). It is something to keep in mind I suppose. I'll stick with the emperors for now.


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## Fresh2salt (Jul 16, 2004)

I have both filters. I like the emperor a little better then the 500 but BOTH great hob filters


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Of the two I've only had the emps . And I aggree the priming on them is a bitch. mostly I think due to the larger intake tube. I would actually take a hose and shoot water up the intake till it worked all the air out. otherwise yeah they take a while to prime and are loud as hell. untill you get the water out of it. Once you get the water flowing right they are very quiet aside from the spray bar.

Personally after having owned 4 of these 280/400's I don't think I would buy another. Not unless I got it used for a great discount. Personally I don't care for hang ons. I do however very much so like my new CFS4.
Even if I could use my emp's on my new tank I don't think I would. Well maybe one of the 280's but only for the biowheel.


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## Wussola (Jan 25, 2006)

I have a bio-wheel and love it ... very quiet and never had a probelm with my water parameters.

but yes .. you should have got the XP3 since you already have one mechanical filter!!


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## CStarr59 (Apr 15, 2006)

Wussola said:


> I have a bio-wheel and love it ... very quiet and never had a probelm with my water parameters.
> 
> but yes .. you should have got the XP3 since you already have one mechanical filter!!


Can you tell me if the XP3's come prepacked or do I need to purchase additional items? And if so what exactly do I need? I would like to run 1 AC 500, and 1 XP3 on each of my tanks and feel safe that my filtering is sufficent. The only canister filter I have ran before was a magnum 350, easy as pie to use. Im not up to speed on the wet/dry XP3 and it's advantages and upkeep......


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

I've had both filters and I'm a fan of the aquaclears. Both did their job well, but the priming issue was terrible with the emperor 400. I ended up just selling the filter for $1 to someone. I was already getting a new cannister and the emperor was just sitting around.


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## brutusbeefcake (Dec 8, 2004)

ive got two emp400s and sh*t i gotta look at the surface movement half the time to make sure their on- so yeah mine are quiet


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## Blue (Mar 23, 2005)

I got both originally, 1 of each. Now I have 4 AC500s and 1 Emperor 400. The Emperor is easier to give a quick service. (I spray the pads off with a high pressure water stream and reuse them. But if you wanna clean it thoroughly ac500.

I can see into the ac500, the black emperor is well black.
I find it very tough to restart the siphon in the emperor compared to the ac500. yes both need to be primed with a bit of water but the emp needs the water in the tank much higher it seems.

also AC 500s are almost always cheaper to buy than emp 400s.


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## Juggalo (Mar 1, 2006)

Kemper1989 said:


> i agree with u. i only own the emperor 400 and not the ac500. whenever the power goes out of my house and comes back on, it shuts off! and then to restart itself (which it never can) it makes all this noise. i then have to put in literally buckets of water in for awhile untill it can run byitself. next time i buy a filter, it would be an ac500.


What happens if your not around when the power goes out and comes back on? Does the motor burn out?
[/quote]
Yeah someone answer this!! I have a emperor 280, and the power goes off often here in the summer--monsoon storms. I work alot, so I am not always home when it does--will the motor not refill and burn out?


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## Phtstrat (Sep 15, 2004)

I've owned both for over a year and I'd go with the AC500 every time.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Juggalo said:


> i agree with u. i only own the emperor 400 and not the ac500. whenever the power goes out of my house and comes back on, it shuts off! and then to restart itself (which it never can) it makes all this noise. i then have to put in literally buckets of water in for awhile untill it can run byitself. next time i buy a filter, it would be an ac500.


What happens if your not around when the power goes out and comes back on? Does the motor burn out?
[/quote]
Yeah someone answer this!! I have a emperor 280, and the power goes off often here in the summer--monsoon storms. I work alot, so I am not always home when it does--will the motor not refill and burn out?
[/quote]

The emps are self priming. they just do it loudly. But the motor is still submerged so you should be ok.


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## Pnewb (Apr 10, 2006)

why not make a vote out of this?


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## Juggalo (Mar 1, 2006)

Pnewb said:


> why not make a vote out of this?


I can already tell you that the AC 500 (110 now) would crush the emperor, if there were a vote--like at least 70% to 30%


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

Juggalo said:


> why not make a vote out of this?


I can already tell you that the AC 500 (110 now) would crush the emperor, if there were a vote--like at least 70% to 30%
[/quote]

We already had a vote and it was pretty even in the thread. Both are good filters and you can't go wrong with either one. (in my book)


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## Juggalo (Mar 1, 2006)

b_ack51 said:


> why not make a vote out of this?


I can already tell you that the AC 500 (110 now) would crush the emperor, if there were a vote--like at least 70% to 30%
[/quote]

We already had a vote and it was pretty even in the thread. Both are good filters and you can't go wrong with either one. (in my book)
[/quote]
I think they are both good as well, but I do like my AC110 much better then the emperor. But you are right, they are both good filters--there are many worse ones out there for sure!!


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

Juggalo said:


> why not make a vote out of this?


I can already tell you that the AC 500 (110 now) would crush the emperor, if there were a vote--like at least 70% to 30%
[/quote]

We already had a vote and it was pretty even in the thread. Both are good filters and you can't go wrong with either one. (in my book)
[/quote]
I think they are both good as well, but I do like my AC110 much better then the emperor. But you are right, they are both good filters--there are many worse ones out there for sure!!
[/quote]

I'm the same, I like the aqua clear better. But the emperor still did a good job. I guess it's just what's a better price.


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## Juggalo (Mar 1, 2006)

b_ack51 said:


> why not make a vote out of this?


I can already tell you that the AC 500 (110 now) would crush the emperor, if there were a vote--like at least 70% to 30%
[/quote]

We already had a vote and it was pretty even in the thread. Both are good filters and you can't go wrong with either one. (in my book)
[/quote]
I think they are both good as well, but I do like my AC110 much better then the emperor. But you are right, they are both good filters--there are many worse ones out there for sure!!
[/quote]

I'm the same, I like the aqua clear better. But the emperor still did a good job. I guess it's just what's a better price.
[/quote]
Which ironically is the AC!!!


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## Guest (May 5, 2006)

It all depends on what kind of filtration you are looking for. I love Aquaclears when I need to quickly add something to my water, like peat. A lot of water runs through the media. I also use it to polish my water.

Emperors are much better bacteria wise, but are prone to damaged impellor casings and can be much noisier.

For the money tho, why not just buy a cannister. For 2x the price, you are getting a 10x better filter (with most cannisters...Ehiems, Xp Series, Fluval etc..).


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Juggalo said:


> Which ironically is the AC!!!


yeah you can get AC's pretty cheap. I think Petco is having a silly sale on them. like 30 bucks. 
The emps will run you twice that. once your at the 60 dollar range you might as well get a cannister for the same price.


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## RAZORTEETH (Feb 6, 2003)

have two emperor 400's i have no problems even when power goes out they come right on like they have been runnin the whole time


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## oryschakgp (Nov 5, 2005)

Blacksunshine420 said:


> Which ironically is the AC!!!


yeah you can get AC's pretty cheap. I think Petco is having a silly sale on them. like 30 bucks. 
The emps will run you twice that. once your at the 60 dollar range you might as well get a cannister for the same price.
[/quote]

Is that sale at the store or online? Online they're 60 bucks still.


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## Juggalo (Mar 1, 2006)

zombietime said:


> Which ironically is the AC!!!


yeah you can get AC's pretty cheap. I think Petco is having a silly sale on them. like 30 bucks. 
The emps will run you twice that. once your at the 60 dollar range you might as well get a cannister for the same price.
[/quote]

Is that sale at the store or online? Online they're 60 bucks still.
[/quote]
Yeah, I am curious about that also!! $30 for the AC110? That would be unbelieveable--in fact I don't believe it.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

I wanna say that was a sale petco had online about a week ago. Maybe it was Dr.F&S. I didn't pay huge attention to it since I have no need for one. altho I was supprised to see it that cheap too. The sale may be over now tho.


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## Juggalo (Mar 1, 2006)

Blacksunshine420 said:


> I wanna say that was a sale petco had online about a week ago. Maybe it was Dr.F&S. I didn't pay huge attention to it since I have no need for one. altho I was supprised to see it that cheap too. The sale may be over now tho.


I see at petsmart.com, you can buy the AC110 for only $39.99!! That is not on sale either! In the store itself they are like $75 or so. So $40 plus $9 shipping is a good deal I think. Basically $49 for a AC 110 delivered--not bad at all


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Juggalo said:


> I wanna say that was a sale petco had online about a week ago. Maybe it was Dr.F&S. I didn't pay huge attention to it since I have no need for one. altho I was supprised to see it that cheap too. The sale may be over now tho.


I see at petsmart.com, you can buy the AC110 for only $39.99!! That is not on sale either! In the store itself they are like $75 or so. So $40 plus $9 shipping is a good deal I think. Basically $49 for a AC 110 delivered--not bad at all
[/quote]

THATS WHERE IT WAS!!! Yeah they were running a sale a couple weeks ago and they were even cheaper then that. Even still, great price.


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## Juggalo (Mar 1, 2006)

Blacksunshine420 said:


> I wanna say that was a sale petco had online about a week ago. Maybe it was Dr.F&S. I didn't pay huge attention to it since I have no need for one. altho I was supprised to see it that cheap too. The sale may be over now tho.


I see at petsmart.com, you can buy the AC110 for only $39.99!! That is not on sale either! In the store itself they are like $75 or so. So $40 plus $9 shipping is a good deal I think. Basically $49 for a AC 110 delivered--not bad at all
[/quote]

THATS WHERE IT WAS!!! Yeah they were running a sale a couple weeks ago and they were even cheaper then that. Even still, great price.
[/quote]
I will check like weekly to see if and when they go on sale again, then buy one perhaps. I don't need one right now, but having a great backup filter is a good idea--you never know when one is gonna quit on ya!!


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

IMO, AC500's are cheap ass pieces of junk. They do the job, but they lack all quality whatsoever. I have 3 AC's myself;AC200,AC300,AC500; and even though they work, and do filter well, I have had my 200 and 500 both break on me.

On the other hand, I have an Emp 280 and an Emp 400. By far, the best filters I have ever owned. I do have problems priming them and starting them, and they are a lil noisey because of the spraybar, but they are excellent filters, with alot a possibities for media. They are also big and a lil ugly.

With Price, I bought my 280 on sale;29.89, my 400 also on sale;37.99. My 500, on sale, 39.99.

All from Dr. F & S Red tag sale.


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