Fluval....rena....eheim...canister Filters

[Bloo]

Great no problem then. But I'm afraid I have no knowledge of your current filter, so can't advise. With my Eheims it's pretty simple and I just flick the lever to stop the water flow and then disconnect the pipes from the filter. Holding them above the tank and open the lever switch again will release the vacuum and the water freely runs out. Not sure if that makes sense and if your current filter has the same lever switches.

 

[Teelie]

I'm getting sick of people trashing Fluvals and boasting how much better Ehiem is, blah, blah, blah. I've never had troubles with my Fluval and yet people keep trashing it. If we can't criticize shops, why are we allowed to do it to products? Ehiem is just overrated and overpriced IMO and I say don't bother unless you have the money to burn.

 

[Cheffi]

I'm getting sick of people trashing Fluvals and boasting how much better Ehiem is, blah, blah, blah. I've never had troubles with my Fluval and yet people keep trashing it. If we can't criticize shops, why are we allowed to do it to products? Ehiem is just overrated and overpriced IMO and I say don't bother unless you have the money to burn.

Isn't it just the same as say buying a Ford or a BMW?

 

[Teelie]

No more than saying Store x is bad and complaining about it which is usually not allowed here. A product's reputation is just as important as a store's and since we're not allowed to critique the reputation of stores, I don't see why we should of products. Like I said, I've never had/heard of problems with Fluval before but on this board, it seems everyone hates them and constantly boasts about Ehiem where all I've seen of them is good but over priced compared to the competition.

 

[CFC]

Having owned two fluvals (both of which leaked and broke down causing me to lose fish) and 6 Eheims (all of which are still going) i am quite entitled to have the opinion that Eheim are a far superior brand of filter. Eheims are expensive when compared to other makes but their reliabilty more than makes up for a few extra pounds.

 

[Teelie]

And yet if someone replaced filters with stores, the posts would be edited and the user likely warned against it. My point is if we're barred from commenting on store quality, product quality should fall under the same umbrella. I haven't had any problems with my Fluval yet people keep going on about how bad they are. Gets annoying after a while, not to mention the hypocrisy about stores vs product complaints.

I've had bad problems with some online stores in the past and should be entitled to my opinion but I'm not.

 

[Bloo]

Teelie I hear where you are coming from. And each to their own. But I hope or think that the majority of those who voted Eheim, had experience with Fluval too - and therefore feel as strongly as they do.
Just in the time here, I have seen so many threads of Fluval owners having various problems - now that might have been addressed in the new range - I don't know.

But - I can't ever remember anyone (here) complaining about an Eheim breaking down or being frustrated with it because it malfunctioned. Now I'm not saying Eheims are indestructible, but there's clearly a valid reason why they are so favoured. We'd all like to save money - but I'm not about to waste money on something that I don't have 100% confidence in.

 

[andywg]

Teelie, the reason a lot of people bash fluval is because they have had trouble with them. I used to think that CFC was a little vitriolic in his detest for Fluvals, then mine started playing up. I wouldn't have another fluval 04 or 05 if you paid me. I am even now getting more eheims so I don't even need the fluvals as backup filters.

A lot of people have eheims that are 20+ years old going fine. I started with a fluval 4+, it broke within 1 month. Swapped for another, that one broke. Got a biolife, this lasted 6 weeks. Got a second biolife, this one lasted 10 weeks. Bought a 204, this lasted for a year, and now whenever it is maintained it will leak. No matter what I do, the first time I connect it up after a clean, it will leak.

I recently bought a second hand 5 year old Eheim classic, works every time and has not set a foot wrong (and is quieter).

That is why I always recommend Eheim and say Fluval are cheap but unreliable.

Sounds to me like you have been lucky so far. I hope that doesn't change and you suffer the luck that CFC and I have.