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Oase Biomaster 350

Joined
17 Mar 2012
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Location
Dorset
Any thoughts from owners on here? I like the pre-filter idea and I’m thinking ahead for a new tank. Likely about 150-200L. I’m wondering though if I can use it in the meantime on a 60L or whether it’s a bit too much. I think I’ve seen mention somewhere of folks fitting a 600 head to get more flow but I’m wondering if you could maybe fit a 250 impeller to reduce the flow? Just a thought.
It’s a very expensive filter to my mind so if there are any issues with the Biomaster 350 I’ll look elsewhere. TIA.
 
I have the 350 running in my 200 litre set up, it is brilliant and the flow is great.
 
Like all Oase biomaster filters, it's generally well built (good plastics) but it suffers from issues caused by its complexity.
The pre filter sponges are too dense and will clog easily, flow is weak for its class, the trays have a stupid shape because of the pre filter so there's some bypass, the inflow and outflow that it comes with are bulky and unnecessarily complex.
As far as noise goes, it's not the worst ever but it's much louder than my Hydor Pro 600, which is MUCH more powerful and reliable.
If you want to buy a new filter that is of good quality and very affordable for that size tank, get a JBL E1502. If you can overlook the seemingly ugly and cheap plastic on the outside, you will find that it's a bulletproof filter with zero bypass and almost zero noise. You can use it on the 60L tank, just close the outflow valve a bit and it will be fine.
 
If it wasn’t for the pre-filter I’d just buy another TetraTec as I’ve got two, an EX400 and an EX600 and I know they’re quiet. The EX1200 would fit the bill but like others it doesn’t have the pre-filter of the Oase.
 
When I compare the pre-filter volume of the Oase to the Fluval 307/407, it seems that the 307/407 pre-filter can go for much longer without clogging, meaning you clean it less often. The pre-filter compartment of the 307/407 is huge.

In fact, I would venture to say that for the 307/407, you only need to clean the pre-filter when its time to clean the main filter, in which case, the advantage of the Oase prefilter disappears. For example, I open up the filter every 2 months to take out the purigen to regenerate it so if the pre-filter can last till then, thats good. (tip: I regenerate purigen every 2 months because if its slightly brown, it will regenerate to nearly new white - if you wait for purigen to turn dark brown, you might not be able to regenerate back to 'nearly new white').

However there are many factors to consider including how much fish you have etc, tank volume, total amount of filtration, so this might not apply to every tank.
 
I've got the 600 thermo and I really like it, very quiet and seem very well made.
The prefilter is great and I clean mine about once a fortnight, they are not overly powerful when full of media so wouldn't worry about reducing the impellor and if you do need to turn down the flow you can do so on the inlet and outlet.
For me a really good filter
 
I’ve got a “pre-filter” sponge in one of my tanks. It does reduce maintenance on the canister but it leaves a lot of the larger debris in the tank and it doesn’t look very nice - the sponge or the debris!
One thing I’ve noticed with a variety of canister filters is that they can all seem to suffer from bypass resulting in dirty bio media. My small tank with the in tank pre-filter sponge still has clean bio media though.
Is bypass a particular issue with the Biomasters?
I’ve got two canisters sitting in the cupboard unused so I’m not keen on spending a large amount of money on the Oase just for it to join them! ;)
 
I saw this a while ago but I’m not sure I can fit the extra plumbing in. I’m also wondering how convenient cleaning it will be?
D5CE043B-476E-4EB2-9B70-9D97BB4DD128.jpeg
 
I have the 250. I find it a great filter, although find it underpowered for my 200 litre tank and wished I'd got the 350, so you should be fine with that. I swapped the prefilter sponges out for the less dense ones. I find mine quiet (took about a week to bed in) and rrally easy to maintain. Just make sure you calivrate the heater. I matched mine againt both an in-tank mercury thermometer and an electronic probe thermometer.
 
I bought a Biomaster 350 a few weeks ago but I haven’t had the time to set it up until today. I’ll give my thoughts when it’s been running a while.
 
The 350 seems to work well. I’ve cleaned the pre-filter a couple of times and it’s easy enough. Anyone on here using the Carbon pre-filter sponges? Just wondering how well they work/last.
 
Thanks for that. Pretty much what I expected. I’m using Carbon in a bag in the top tray but due to the odd shape of the trays some of the flow bypasses the carbon.
 
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