Merlin and Coralife sea storm 100 Fluidized Bed Filters w/ a few ? ? ? ?

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

I had started using these along with my current filters on 4 tanks I am using 2 of the merlin fbf and 2 of the coralife sea storm 100's fbf. I have 1 on 4 different aquariums they are 55 gal tanks. I do like the merlins adjustable features but the sea storm is great also. Does anyone else use the fbf filters? I plain on buying 4 more for my other tanks. The ones I have now have been running for about 1 month now all are mounted to the back of the tank and all my tanks are freshwater. and all tanks are fancy goldfish I have never used this type of filter and I was wondering if anyone had any pro's or con's about them. I plan on keep my current filter set ups on each tank and just adding these as a supplement. AND do you know if there is a certain type of sand I can get at like home depot etc. in case I have to replace it or must I buy the manufactures 10.99 for a 2 1/2 lb replacement sand? Thanks

[Mgamer20o0]

you can use your own sand. the great thing about them is the surface area for the bacteria. the bad thing with them is if the power goes off it dies off faster then any other type of filters. i would put a ubs in case the power goes out. i seen people claim as little as 10 mins with out power and it dies off.

[1oooop]

you can use your own sand. the great thing about them is the surface area for the bacteria. the bad thing with them is if the power goes off it dies off faster then any other type of filters. i would put a ubs in case the power goes out. i seen people claim as little as 10 mins with out power and it dies off.

UPS... also, wow... no wonder my instincts told me to get gravel dies off really FAST

[Riiz]

Even with a smallish UPS of around 350va, it will be able to keep a large powerhead of 10watts going for a few hours+.