Penn-Plax Cascade 150 Power Filter – Hang-On Filter with Quad Filtration – Great for Freshwater and Saltwater Setups

The story of my review may be like a few others . I ordered the first Penn Plax Cascade Aquarium and it arrived on time and by appearance not damaged. Putting it together was easy. I put it in my 20gal fish tank. I plugged it in and the motor and impeller started up and it started to work just fine. I then checked on it about an hour later and the motor was humming and the impeller had stopped. I took it out and checked the directions and all was correct. I put in back into the tank and it ran for about a minute and then the impeller stopped working. I tried to hand turn the impeller by hand but it would not work. While the unit worked initially it seemed to be doing a good job and the motor was very quiet. So I put in a return request. I received a response within a few hours. I returned the unit and within 3 days my replacement came. I put it together and plugged it in and tested it in my sink. It worked just fine. I then put it into the tank. Again it worked fine. I checked on it in an hour and it was working perfectly. I have now had it 2 weeks and I love it. No problems, motor quit and it does a good job to keep the water clean. I like the option of being able to adjust the water flow. I would highly recommend this product. My only advice is that after you put it together test it first before putting it into your fish tank. I was impressed with Amazon's return policy. I have been buying from Amazon for more then 6 years and purchased almost 80 items, this was only the 2nd time I had to return an item. I gave it 5 stars because not matter what the item is or where you purchased it you will get lemon from time to time. In the end the new returned item worked great.

Really nice, filters the water really well and really quiet at that

Nice and quiet, although outlet not as adjustable as advertised. The intake should be fully submerged, or the motor becomes damaged and sounds awful

I spent many days researching different aquarium filters. I wanted something that would get the job done but that would do so without being so powerful that the fish wouldn't have a chance against it. This is the filter I came up with. I offered plenty of suction and cycles; however, it also had a flow adjuster that would allow me to reduce the flow during the fish's feeding time. I received exactly what was described. I have a 10-gallon tank, and this filter is a bit of overkill for a tank this size, but it does a superb job of keeping the water crystal clear. I've been changing the filter about once every month, and this seems to be the proper changing frequency. The only negative I'd say is that I wish the flow rate of the water being returned back into the tank were a little more variable. While I am able to reduce it some, it's still too strong to keep the fish food from being forced all through the tank in a matter of second. However, my fish have learned to be ready once they see me opening the hood at the front of the tank. They immediately move to the middle portions of the tank, which is where a majority of the food usually ends up! Thus, without a doubt, I recommend this filter (and size) to anyone with 10 gallons/above.

filter worked less than a week then the motor stopped working