marisa wrote:In the XP3, the microfiltration pads are the white, soft squarish pads that go at the very top of the filter media (they probably are polyester). They're supposed to trap the finest particles and "polish" the water. I used to use them, but found after about a month, the flow of the filter would often be dramatically reduced, like something was clogging the filter, and the filter would need to be taken apart. The microfiltration pad would always be slightly moved around and was extremely soft and soggy. I stopped adding one when I read from others who had XP3s that they had the same problem and had stopped using them. Now, a filter that needs cleaning will clog and the flow rate will drop as well, but without the microfiltration pads this doesn't seem to happen nearly as quickly.
The Fluval 4+ and the XP3 are two totally different types of filters, the XP3 being a canister (outside the tank with a lot of biomedia) and the Fluval 4+ being a submersible filter that's placed inside the tank. You can't compare the two for power, efficiency and maintaining water quality. A canister filter is far better than a submersible filter. Fluval does make canister filters, the 404 model currently being the one closest to the XP3 in terms of gph and size tank it's meant for. I have never used one. There is some debate over which is better, it seems that more people prefer the XP3 for design and ease of use (but some do like the Fluval 404).
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