Hello folks, and thanks for those replies and information you have taken the trouble to add.

I imagined that there 'Must' have been other complaints about it as the design 'seems' awful. I expected far beter from Hozelock quite honestly.

The sponges are held down on plastic legs but the lid of the box has an excessivly narrow 'Lip' that is meant to retain the thing down - Unfortunatly it certainly doesn't.

It seems strange that they design such an item that clearly works under a pressure style system and do not make it substantial enough to hold the lid on once the sponges start to collect the slightest debris.

At the moment the box itself has already developed that bulging-belly effect which took 15 years to develop in the old BioZorb so it is cleary a design fault and in any terms not fit for its purpose. I shall be contacting Hozelock within minutes. Is there anyone particular that you spoke to? As the 2 times I have contacted them so far over incorrect parts and other parts missing in the box and how many of the 2 sponges supplied do you fit at once - they have given conflicting advice

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nah they do have extensions which fit into the top and project down,you put these in the ready made holes in the foam which then suspends them.
finn

Just by way of an update on this - I explained the problems and pleaded my case to Hozelock and the suppliers and have obtained a full refund.

My old 'Biozorb' is now back in place and within a few hours the difference was remarkable, I could actually SEE my fish again and just now I could see the bottom - result.

I should think\hope it will be as clear as Gin again by the morning, certainly by tomorrow night.

I will have to replace the old Biozorb eventually though due to its age and condition. So as I am now registered on the forum I shall have a darn good read over the coming weeks as I am due to have an operation that will nail my feet down indoors for a while.

My most grateful thanks for responding folks - seems a nice forum, I look forward to using it

Heal well, Barzey.

Are these filters placed partly below grade? If so, it may be that the soil is shifting and putting more pressure on them than they can handle. It's simple to prevent this. You just need the right gravel around them.

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mine are below ground but incased with decking around it and both sit on a paving slabs for stability. There is no pressure on the sides at all
finn

thats great. I didnt have any problems with Hozelock as the communication was good. They sent me a new bottom filter box and were concerned about the out come. Whether its warped boxes or ill fitting lids i am sure they will sort it. I am going to stick to the ecocels with the water passing down as opposed to coming up through the sponges as i got fed up with putting bricks on top of the ecopower + to keep it in place lol!!! hope the op goes well and good luck
finn

Hi again and thanks for your good wishes folks, thats real cool as the youngsters say thes days.

My filters have to be situated above ground but are nice and stable on building blocks and paving slabs, concealed with trellis and bushes. But the idea of putting the filter underground like that sounds excellent.

Must agree entirely with ?MightyFinn? there about the ?popping lids? they are indeed a nightmare although the boxes are made out of such poor density thin plastic its not surprising is it?

There is also doubt about their claimed flow through rate of around 900 which I think is absolute pie in the sky as I measured mine when I first set it up at 450 and it blew the lid off. Needless to say even after reducing that down to much less it still had the same undesirable effect after running about 2 hours.

All that coupled with the worst filtration results I have ever seen make those filters, in my own humble opinion, unfit for their purpose.

i.e. Tonight, after just 24 hours back on the old 15 yr old ?Biozorb? (With the water being filtered in the right direction) I can clearly see the bottom with ease. Also I called in at our local Water Garden Centre and have obtained an outlet fitting so that I can put a draining hole in the old ?Biozorb? when I give it a clean out next as I like that idea. So it may last a few more years yet.