Mstng,

You hurt yourself, by not giving your location. I just processed your registration, and if the geo-location IP info is correct, you are in the Pensacola area.

I don't like cartridge filters generally; I've seen them used on commercial pools and I have NEVER seen that work out well. Mark (mas985) has one on his home pool in California, and does like them.

But we both agree that they work much better on the west coast and in arid areas then they do in south-east with leaves, debris and thunderstorms. Unless your pool is screened or in the middle of a 500' x 500' parking lot, if you are in Florida, you probably do NOT want a cartridge filter.

DE filters can work well, but . . . they don't do algae! Live algae stops them up almost instantly. Sand filters are much more forgiving.