11 replies to this topic

[Frontosaman]

Similar to my last thread about fish food, was interested to here peoples opinions on filters.

Hopefully this thread will give people confidence in knowing they can spent some good $ on some nice fish without thinking that they have to have the most expensive equipment.

My personal opinion is that the cheaper gear is just as good if used right but needs a little bit more maintenance.
And also you can have the most expensive filter in the world but if you don't maintain it you will have the shame water problems as any other tank.

Thoughts???

[malawiman85]

I mostly use sponges with no name power heads and they have been in use for years. I use two (900l/h & an 1,800l/h) in my 7 foot native tank and I have no problems with Ammo or nitrite plus I get good flow and the ability to add extra air easy as!

 

I have AquaOne Aquis and Eheim Classic canisters... Both have been going for +3 years and are great. The media in the AquaOne was minimal but I think is a better unit with more bio media added to it. The Eheim Substrat media seems to do an amazing job meaning the Eheim filters punch well above their weight.

 

I use sumps as well and are probably my preferred method of filtering big tanks. They are relatively cheap to setup but require a little bit more knowledge than setting up a canister out of the box. They are easy to set up if you do a little bit of research first. Best thing, they are easy to keep clean which prevents large scale nitrate production.

[Westie]

I use canister filters, and was quite suprised by what I have experienced with different brands.

This is what I have experienced so far:

Fluval FX5 - Very powerful filter which produces really good flow. Design of the filter makes for easy maintenance, but the fluval hose is a ribbed? hose so you can't use inline equipment (heaters co2 etc) unless you change the hose. Also, the pump on the outside can get really noisy. Almost like a pulsing motor noise. Easy enough to take off and clean, but too noisy for my liking. Came with sponge media which surrounds the media trays, but I had to fork out for media to put in the trays.

Eheim 2228 - Holds a fair bit of media (came with media pack when I purchased it), and silent operation to start off with. I don't like how it doesn't self prime to start off with, but is easy enough to prime using the Eheim "starter bulb". Easy enough to maintain. I found that after a short period of time, the flow would drop quite noticeably. Also, I could hear the motor at night, even when the impellar was clean.

Astro 2212 - Good filter. Cheap to purchase. Comes with media. Self priming once the canister was full, so easy to switch off, clean, and plug back in. I currently have 2 of these filters running on my planted display tank. Whisper quiet. Couldn't recommend any canister filter more than this one.

Sun Sun (eBay) filter - Very cheap to buy. I had one work for years, and never had a problem with it. Wne problem with this filter is that getting a replacement part was pretty much impossible. Cheaper to buy a new filter. Also, priming it was sometimes a pain, but was less of a problem if the filter hoses were cut as short as possible.

 

Hope that helps. And this is just in my experience. Don't take it as gospel.

Cheers,

[Mattymak]

I mostly use sponges with no name power heads and they have been in use for years. I use two (900l/h & an 1,800l/h) in my 7 foot native tank and I have no problems with Ammo or nitrite plus I get good flow and the ability to add extra air easy as!

 

 

 

I'm with you on that mate

[Frontosaman]

+1 on the 2212 Really good, and so well priced!


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[Clownz!!]

I own/ have owned a few canister filters in the past (FX5, 2213, 2x Whale 500's, Rensun and recently HW-304B (Ebay Filter)).

 

Now in my opinion it really depends on whether sound, performance, reliability or price over time are the deciding factors for you!

 

- So sound wise the Whale 500 is by far the quietest canister filter I have even owned! Far quieter than the FX5 and marginally than the 2213. But not to say the 'eBay filter' was loud, as it was also very quiet, just not as quiet.

 

FX5 ☆☆☆

2213 ☆☆☆☆

Whale 500 ☆☆☆☆☆

Rensun ☆☆☆

eBay Filter ☆☆☆

 

- Reliability, to this day I have never had an eBay filter nor a Whale 500 die or have any needed replacement parts unlike a 2213 and an FX5 that I have owned of which I had to basically scrap because of the part replacement costs.

 

FX5 ☆☆

2213 ☆☆☆☆

Whale 500 ☆☆☆☆☆

eBay Filter ☆☆☆☆☆

 

-Performance, well they all do the job and since overkill is kind of my thing when it comes to filtration and I have multiple brands of filters on the same tanks I cant exactly comment on their individual performances.

 

-Price over time, The whale 500 filters use up a mere 18 watts (a very light on power filter) of electricity and when when compared to the eBay filter that I own uses 55 watts (given it does have a 9 watt UV steriliser and filters about an extra half as much). So in all there can be a difference but how significant? I do not personally wish to work out the correct mathematications but will on request on a filtration capacity to power usage basis.

 

​As for replacement parts. People always assume that there are no spare parts for these 'eBay filters' but I just bought a replacement globe 9 watt UV globe designed for my machine for ~5 bucks so I would assume that the other parts are not too hard to find and relatively cheap.

 

In conclusion, I personally think that if on a budget (like I generally am) go for a decent respected seller on eBay and get yourself one of HW-304B I have had no problem with mine so far and it has UV and a massive media volume! And if you are willing to spend a little more pop down to Vebas and pick yourself up some whale 500s my longest living filters yet!

[Redevilz]

I have an Astro 2208, it is almost silent which is fantastic.

[Mattymak]

I've got an eheim pro 3 i think it is & it does a great job & fairly quiet, along with the aqua one aqualis 2400? (not 100% sure on the name)

[Jeff]

Eheim Pro 3 2080. I've had it for 6 years and bought it second hand so not sure how old it is.  Had Ollie at Aquotix give it a good service about 6 months ago (got a few new parts which is the beauty of the Eheim as parts easy to come by) and runs like a dream

[silverscreen]

on my display tanks inside....

 

my 6ft i have eheim 2080 with the full eheim media pack...on one end and on the other i have a 2226 eheim full of eheim media and for a extra water polish i have a otto 2000.

 

the only issue i have had with the 2080 is priming it...there is a rubber boot that locks under the impeller housing...it looks like it doesnt belong there but once you figure it out problem solved.

 

the 2226 struggles to prime so i give it a push along with the otto 2000  run a bleed line and away it goes.

 

otto 2000...hasnt missed a beat.

 

and my 4ft i have a 2229 wet and dry eheim...not sure what they were trying to do with this design but i think they missed it....the float on the side jamms and it just runs as a normal canister filter...avoid these ones.

[Kleinz]

Filters wot I have/have had running

 

Internal.

 

Given the power requirements of internals, I just tend to opt for a canister instead where possible.

 

Eheim 2212 ,2008 Nice and quiet. Pretty low power consumption. Sponges are pricy to replace. ☆☆☆

 

Otto 400, 600,800,1200, 2000 Great flow. Powerful filters. They benefit from adding a 3rd or 4th filter cup. Give off a very loud buzzing when sponges get a bit clogged ☆☆☆☆

 

Resun. Rubbish media and fairly high power consumption, but cheap as chips and hard to kill ☆☆☆

 

Rena Filstar iv4 Very quiet and reasonably low power consumption. Rip out all those dainty cylinders and throw out the charcoal  sachets and put some manly media and you can't go wrong ☆☆☆

 

 

Canister

 

Eheim- Superior media but lowish flow means you should forget about using wool or fine sponge or you will be forever changing it. Worth considering is the lower power requirement over cheaper canisters and thus a lower operating cost. Most of the models with built-in primers seem to have leakage issues. So very un-German to put out filters with issues like this...

 

 Classic    2213  simple but effective flow can slow a bit  ☆☆☆

 Classic     2215  simple but effective flow can slow a bit . Annoying to crack as has no media separation ☆☆☆

 Classic    2217  Simple and strong flow. Annoying to crack as has no media separation ☆☆☆☆

   Ecco      2236 overly fragile clips to secure opening lever which will inevitably vacuum lock on. Good luck!. Great design on paper, horrible in practice ☆

   Pro         2224  Nice and quiet. Easy to maintain. ☆☆☆☆

   Pro         2228  The best filter Eheim ever made. Easy to use/maintain and bulletproof. No primer for Eheim to screw up .As solid and reliable as the Ju88 Gunther Eheim used to bomb Russian peasants in.  ☆☆☆☆☆

   Pro II      2026   Eheim redesigns the  flawless 2226 and improves it by giving it a leaky primer O-ring. Other than that it's a solid performer ☆☆☆☆

   Pro II      2028   Eheim redesigns the  flawless 2228 and improves it by giving it a leaky primer O-ring. Other than that it's a solid performer☆☆☆☆

   Pro III     2075   More Primer leak issues. Other than that a good quiet filter. WHY would Eheim redesign their "mech" noodles as lightweight plastic that floats? Very annoying. ☆☆☆

 

Otto PF-450G Toss the wool and replace with expanded clay or other decent biomedia.These filters are beasts, and their high flow with chunky 22mm tube means they are pretty much unstoppable. Excellent bang for buck.☆☆☆☆

Otto PF-300G  As above, but had some issues with a leaky tap. Exactly the same as a 450G but a smaller impeller gives lower flow.  ☆☆☆☆

 

Aqua One cf2400 Very high power consumption but low maintenance canister. Good once you add better media.  ☆☆☆

 

Observations:

 

Whale- Not got one yet, but have noticed very low power consumption for claimed flow. If true this is a big plus. On the down side they really skimp on the amount of media for a premium price canister.

[Redevilz]

Good Post Kleinz...

If you don't have the money to buy a Eheim 2228 (me haha) would you recommend the otto PF-450G?