Review of the Sunsun Hw-302 Canister Filter




I recently purchase the Sunsun HW-302 Canister filter. I bought it on Ebay for $58. I was the market for a filter for my 55 gallon freshwater community set up. My aquarium budget was definitely exceeded for the year
so it had to be (what I considered to be) a bargain.


I did some research on the Sunsun Hw-302 and mostly found either 3 year old reviews or others queries researching the same product.







The filter arrived in a couple of days and actually exceeded the sellers estimated delivery. The outside of
the box contained pictures of the instructions to get the filter going. The instructions are a poorly translated mess (at best) that was illustrated with pictures of the filter. This being my first canister filter,
it did not give me the warm and fuzzies, but I had read about this issue & was not shocked. The instruction manual is basically the whats on the box.







According to the specs it runs at 264/gallons hr. & should do the trick as the tank's main filtration. I'm still keeping
the 2 hang on back filters and under gravel it has. I'm not claiming to be an expert on any phase but I think
you can never have too much filtration.





The filter came with 3 pieces of (cut to size) filter wool. I combined the 3 piece of filter wool and made it the bottom
most of the 3 filter trays that were included.





For the next tray (the middle tray), I purchased a mesh bag of Fluval activated carbon.



For the top tray I mixed a half bag of Flumax Bio-cubes & a half bag of ceramic noodles in a mesh filter bag.
Why the mix??? Because someone gave me a free half bag of Flumax Bio-cubes & a half bag of ceramic noodles.





Putting it together was not as bad as I thought it would be, in fact I was done in 20 minutes.



I poured about 1 1/4 gallons of water from the tank into the filter body (with the media trays inserted).
I lined the filter cover (contains the motor) to the filter body and snap the cover locks.




I attached the inflow/outflow (labeled in & out) to the filter top and attached the tubes...pretty easy. I
attached the return to the top of the tank and suction cupped the intake in the water.
This came with an attachment (labeled #4 on the picture) that is used to suck in dirt that floats at the top
of the water. I did not use this piece because I felt it would suck in too much air when the tank level
drops and kill the suction of the filter.



I Primed the filter and could hear the water rushing down the tubes to the filter. Plugged it in and it
worked like a charm. No leaks, the tank is crystal clear, runs very quiet, and is well worth the $58.

I have a SunSun HW404A

Excellent filter, absolutely dead silent!

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1x350L Goldfish, 1x 286L Planted, 1x190L Cherry shrimp, 1x140L Feeders, 1x130L Planted, 1x119L Peppermint BN breeding colony

Is this filter good for a 37 gallon
freshwater planted aquarium

I've got a 46 gallon and just purchased this filter to add to the magnum HOT filter I currently have running. I haven't used the filter yet because it just came in today, I did get it put together and it seems to be a well built filter. I would definitely do something similar to what the previous poster did and combine the media in the bottom basket then add carbon and some biological media to the other baskets. I think with a 37 gallon tank, this filter should be sufficient because it turns over around 250 gallons per hour. Ideal is to turn the water over 4 to 6 times per hour and this will turn over a 37 gallon right at 7 times per hour. I would definitely have an additional filter as a backup though in case something ever goes wrong or goes out with one so your water quality doesn't deteriorate, especially if you overstock. I'm sure other more experienced hobbyist can give you more details, I'm still a bit new at the hobby but am happy to share the advice I have gotten and researched.