I have tried them all, and for reasonably priced HOT filters, nothing will outperform an Emperor, bar none.

The refillable media basket allows you to mix and match whatever type of ingredients you want; is easy to clean, and unless you get really careless, will last forever.

I've been looking for a foam prefilter I can fit onto the rectangular intake, to allow me to use one in a baby tank, but so far, no luck; they are all made to fit round intake tubes.

Otherwise, for less then about 100 gal tanks, I use the Emperors exclusively now. (Sumps in the big ones)

I also never buy refills. Instead, I bought extra media baskets and use half of one to hold blanket filter cut from rolls and held on with rubber bands.

It's a cheap and easy way to always have clean media.

The bio-wheels do not need replacement unless they are damaged, but do need some periodic cleaning. Just drop them into a bucket of used tank water and swish the bio wheels around in it, to get rid of any crud that may have built up on them.

A soft brush will clean the plastic ends, which need to be kept clean to insure they will rotate freely. I bought a super soft baby brush and keep it by the sink in my fish room just for that use.

However, regardless of the filter you use; always get one rated for at least twice the tank capacity you will use it on.

But whatever you do: water change!

No matter how good your filter, none will replace clean water! Never less than a 50% change weekly.

And, the next time you need to buy any tank equipment or filter media replacement, because what an intense aquarist will do to save may not appeal to a casual fishkeeper, you can still save on your replacement cartridges.

Pass on the junk sold at Wal-Mart and try Foster & Smith.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/Shop.cfm?N=2004