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I got a Sunterra pond filter as part of a complete pond kit. At first, I was quite happy with the filtration provided, but quickly learned that there are other issues with this filter design that make it worthless.

1) The clamps are designed to fail. There is no other way to look at it. They are attached to the filter bucket, and snap over the lid. Around the circumference of the lid is a thin O-ring gasket. This gasket is nearly impossible to keep in place as you are putting the lid over the bucket. Further, even if you do get it in place and sealed correctly, it is not likely to stay there long. The major problem is that Sunterra used cheap, thin plastics throughout this filter. When I turn the pump on, I can actually see the entire filter bucket stretch, and it rises up out of the hole in the ground about an inch. This stretching of the plastic weakens it. The clamps also stretch, and after less that one season, lost their ability to securely hold the lid in place. The result is that any time power is cut to the pump, some of the clamps will release because they don't have enough force to hold the lid down when the pump is not pushing against them. When the power is restored and the pump pressurizes the filter, it will leak profusely between the lid and bucket.

We have left home for several hours only to return and discover that our power went out for whatever reason, and when it was restored the filter leaked, resulting in a near-total drain of our pond and destruction of our pump as it ran dry. Luckily the pump was high enough off the bottom of the pond that our fish still had some water, and so survived.

2) The restricted filter indicator doesn't work, at all. I've had the filter so clogged up that water was barely coming through the filter at all, and still the red clogged-filter indicator never popped up.

3) The reverse-flow cleaning system doesn't work, at all. In order to clean the filter, you have to disassemble it and wash out the sponges with a garden hose. This is the only way to get them clean. You could run your entire pond's water supply through the filter and it would do nothing to clean it. This is nothing more than a joke.

4) The sliding selector for run or clean is also prone to leaks. The design is simply poor, but might have had a chance of working if Sunterra had not used such thin and cheap plastics.

In the end, there is no fix for this junk filter. I've contacted Sunterra and they sent me replacement clamps. Those lasted no longer than the originals. Avoid this filter, it is not worth any money or your time and frustration. If this is any indication of the quality of Sunterra products, I would avoid the company altogether. I would have rated this item at zero stars if that were available. Maybe I can make a planter out of the filter bucket- that's about all it would be good for.

As an alternative, look here: Pressurized Bio UV Pond Filter - 2000 gallon This is a quality filter that gets good reviews. You get what you pay for with Fish Mate (Animate), unlike Sunterra where you pay and get nothing.

We bought this filter a year ago and it's still going strong! It helped clear up our green water quickly and helps keep it clear! The "cleaning" feature on the pump doesn't work as well as I thought it would. We still open ours up and rinse out the filter frequently, but overall, this is the best filter we've ever owned! It's easy to clean and operate!

I "upgraded" to this pump (or so I thought) from a smaller, non-uv pump from Sunterra. It was a huge mistake. The biofilter arrived, and after hooking it up, it broke immediately. Trust me, I knew what I was doing, but this thing just wasn't designed to work properly I guess. Water went shooting up into the lid (where the see-through plastic label is) and started shooting out from the edges. (Not from the edges where you clamp--which is also known to happen--but from the edges of the lid above--where there SHOULDN'T BE ANY WATER.)

I took it apart (as if to change the lightbulb as directed) and of course two of the four cheap screws sheared off immediately from my use of the appropriate screwdriver. I noticed that water had flooded the glass tube around the uv lightbulb--not good! I drained it, hooked it all up again, and the same thing happened. After a third try, I removed the filter from my pump, cursed the day I bought it, and came here to read/write reviews.

I will be letting the company know that I want a replacement, asap, overnight or better. (I only live three hours away from them.) Of course, after reading reviews I may just go with the Fish Mate that everyone is talking about.

My wife and I completed our outdoor pond (550 gallons) in early June 2010 and have been fighting a severe algae problem ever since. We've tried everything from chemicals to box filters along with Algae Eaters. We even just let the pond sit for a month to see if the algae would die. Our water would be filtered through a pump and box filter then down a waterfall for good circulation and nothing worked! Every time we changed the water, 2-3 days later the pond would be a bright green color and you couldn't even see 2 inches into the pond.

We bought this filter in combination with their 2,000 gallon per hour pump and within 3 days we could see a slight difference. We were able to see the stems on our plants up to about 6 inches deep. Two days later (5 total) we could see the bottom of the pond (24 inches) and by day 7, the water was crystal clear. So far, no performance problems. I'll update this review if I have any.