Are External Filters As Scarey As They Look ?

[shelaghfishface]

the filters that i currently have in my tanks ( 4ft,3ft,2.5ft) are all cheap efforts off ebay,( tho they all work and are appropriate sizes, touch wood!!)

i would love to upgrade to some decent equipment, just so that i know all is working and well,and im doing the best for my fish
i have been looking at the fluval 4 plus internal (ebay inc del £28), but i keep getting drawn to an external filter, but too me they look so complicated, "priming" etc, pipework, and the list goes on, i was worried about having to drill so asked about that once before and was told that wasnt ness at all, but there are so many on the market, i wouldnt be happy to buy one where most of the instructions were in japanese,like the ones i have!( nothing wrong with japanese, i just cant read it)

i know this hobby shouldnt be all about cash, but in this case its definaltey a factor, i dont have any particularly messy fish and i do reg water changes and cleaning, so would i be better with an external?? or something like the 4 plus??

also can someone tell me the pros and cons of extermal v`s internal

many thanks in advance



ps, if you know where i could get hold of what you recommend would you let me know that too, im in dundee.

 

[fergalthefish]

i'm so glad you asked this as i was thinking exactly the same thing shelagfishface! they do look scarey!!!!! can't wait to see the replies!

 

[cheesy feet]

Generally externals are best, internals need cleaning much more regulary.They're easy as pie to set up...Basically you have 2 hoses going from the filter to the tank, 1 sucks the water in and it goes through the filter media, then it gets pumped back through into the other hose leading to the tank.Priming is what makes the whole thing easier, not complicated When you switch the filter off (to clean it) all the water is drained out the pipes, by pressing a button (some are self priming meaning they do it automatically) or leaver up and down this draws water into the pipes, so when you switch it back on it will work straight away.

 

[adamgreen240]

imo externals are much better

 

[DarkEntity]

the filters that i currently have in my tanks ( 4ft,3ft,2.5ft) are all cheap efforts off ebay,( tho they all work and are appropriate sizes, touch wood!!)

i would love to upgrade to some decent equipment, just so that i know all is working and well,and im doing the best for my fish
i have been looking at the fluval 4 plus internal (ebay inc del £28), but i keep getting drawn to an external filter, but too me they look so complicated, "priming" etc, pipework, and the list goes on, i was worried about having to drill so asked about that once before and was told that wasnt ness at all, but there are so many on the market, i wouldnt be happy to buy one where most of the instructions were in japanese,like the ones i have!( nothing wrong with japanese, i just cant read it)

i know this hobby shouldnt be all about cash, but in this case its definaltey a factor, i dont have any particularly messy fish and i do reg water changes and cleaning, so would i be better with an external?? or something like the 4 plus??

also can someone tell me the pros and cons of extermal v`s internal

many thanks in advance



ps, if you know where i could get hold of what you recommend would you let me know that too, im in dundee.

Externals are very simple to use these days, all of them for the most part have 2 holes on the canister one for input and the other for output.

you connect the pipe to the input and then attach a nother hose to the output, you put both in the tank and thats basicaly it.

Priming, basically usually involves pushing a button to suck water in through the input into the canister. Once the canister is full of water you then turn it on and the pump pushes water out the other end...and voila thats it.

 

[Mikaila31]

If you have internal filters like fluvals or similarly built ones, canisters are not that different in structure. Instead of sitting in the tank, canisters obviosly go outside the tank. IMO that is the biggest difference. In stead of lots of intake slots a canister has a single intake point. Hoses are simply attached to the intake and outtake and run to the tank, most are plastic and silicone. Depending on the hood you have you may have to cut a opening for the intake and outtake to go in. Other than that they really aren't that much different.

Also priming isn't nessisary. I have never done it, when ever I clean it I fill it back up with water before I hook it back up to the tank. Also with canisters you have different types of media avalible, most are not really nessicary, but having the water go through sponges with large pores first. Then something like filter floss last, means the debris is much more spread out through the filter media and not all caught in one spot which makes the flow slow down. Also canister can hold a lot more media than internals.

Here is a video on seting up a canister, it should make all your worries go away. All canisters are bulit in basically the same way. I have that same brand of filter, I use a XP3 on my 4ft tank and it only does a decent job. It is only 3yrs old and it randomly leaks every now and then, so it always sits in a shallow bin. I wouldn't recommend that brand, unless you found one really cheap.

 

[boardy]

I thought the same thing about canister filters when I got my 108l tank, for some reason I got a Fluval 4+ because I didn't think I'd be able to cope with a canister. Needless to say, the Fluval 4+ was crap so I took it back, and ended up getting a Fluval 205.

This came with a DVD on setting it up and tbh, it was 10x easier than I thought it would be. As mentioned before, it's literally a case of inlet, outlet, and pump with big bucket attached. That's basically all a canister filter is.

Since the Fluval 205 which I had running in my tank for all of 3 days, I have moved to a TetraTec EX1200 and would recommend TetraTec EX series canisters to anyone. The Fluval's just don't seem to have the power to do anything, the media trays are tiny, and they can be pretty noisy. The only Fluval I'd ever get is the FX5 but even then, I think I'd have to be certain there were no other options.

Don't be afraid of the canister, it will become your best friend, and your fishes best friend

Adam

 

[T1KARMANN]

no matter what exturnal filter you use its still best to have a interternal filter to polish the water

get a good external like EHEIM and a small internal to polish the water then clean the internal once every 2-3 weeks

 

[MermaidMel]

Woohoo for this thread, been toying with it for ages

I am going to go for the Tetratec EX700 and here is a video for it
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgI5vXicWdc

 

[shelaghfishface]

brilliant advice from everyone, many thanks, i will start looking this week for my 1st external cannister filter.. looking forward to it now

many many thanks again to all

shelagh xxxxxx

 

[shelaghfishface]

hi mermaid mel, i looked at the video, that all looks straightforward enuff (even for me lol)
so im going for that one too TETRATEC EX700 it is, thanks ever so much for that, ill post when i have it and all set up
xxxxx

 

[three-fingers]

also can someone tell me the pros and cons of extermal v`s internal

The pro's to me are:

External filters can hold much more filtration media than standard internal filters, and generally speaking provide more turnover. They are also usually less maintenance, and take up less space in the tank. You can get all sorts of intake/out take attachments that can make them invisible if you like your tank to look as natural as possible.

Cons:

More expensive and take up a lot of space outside the tank.

ps, if you know where i could get hold of what you recommend would you let me know that too, im in dundee.

The internet is much cheaper for externals than anything I've seen in any shops...
Recommendation's are always fun, because every filter brand seems to have it's own fan-club on here lol, I'll probably whatever I say.
But in my opinion if you want something good value for money go for the Fluval 05 range or a Tetratec, lot's of people here hate Fluval because they have had big problems with their filters in the past, while Tetratec external filters are relative newcomers, so it's hard to say if a tetratec filter will still work after say 5-10 years.

Eheim are usually more expensive, but worth it quality wise if you can afford them. The professional line are the easiest to use of the Ehiem's I've seen (just as easy as , and very forgiving when it comes to maintenance (shop I work in uses prof 2 and 3's on their tanks).

I've never had any problems with my fluval 305, and I think it does an excellent job - but now that I've had to deal with them and after hearing so much about their reliability, I'd certainly go with a Ehiem professional filter next time I ever need one. If you shop around on the internet, your bound to find a very good deal.

Eheim classics are cheaper and very reliable too, but much more fiddly IMO I'd rather have a fluval or tetratec just for conveniance.

Since the Fluval 205 which I had running in my tank for all of 3 days, I have moved to a TetraTec EX1200 and would recommend TetraTec EX series canisters to anyone. The Fluval's just don't seem to have the power to do anything, the media trays are tiny, and they can be pretty noisy. The only Fluval I'd ever get is the FX5 but even then, I think I'd have to be certain there were no other options.

As a member of the fluval fan-club P) I feel the need to say that the Tetratec EX1200 is for tanks up to 500l while the Fluval 205 is only designed for tanks up to 200l...so it's not exactly a fair comparison.

It's also more expensive than the fluval, though better value for money considering the size of tank it's rated for .

 

[shelaghfishface]

excellent points thankyou , i wont rush to but the one i said, i will shop about, the prices are a big diff from internal, but then as you say 3fingers ,worth it in the long run, space isnt really an issue as i have lots of that under the tanks,so that wont put me off,
think i will jst take my time and do a big price comparisn,i can afford to as the filters i have at the moment are working fine so no rush.

you really are very nice people on here and it surprises me how any question i ask, isnt a silly one, from the thread you can see that at least 2 others were wanting to ask the same thing, so thankyou ever so much for your time and expertize, it really is very valued

shelagh xxxx

 

[boardy]

As a member of the fluval fan-club P) I feel the need to say that the Tetratec EX1200 is for tanks up to 500l while the Fluval 205 is only designed for tanks up to 200l...so it's not exactly a fair comparison.

It's also more expensive than the fluval, though better value for money considering the size of tank it's rated for .

A valid point yes, but as you said the 205 is designed for tanks up to 200l. The 205 couldn't cope with my 108l tank fully cycled, the water params were all over the shop, I just couldn't rely on that, and it seemed way too small for 200l tanks. The EX1200 is certainly overpowered for a 100l tank, but I actually got it cheaper than my 205, so I wasn't complaining at all.

Adam

 

[waterdrop]

no matter what exturnal filter you use its still best to have a interternal filter to polish the water

get a good external like EHEIM and a small internal to polish the water then clean the internal once every 2-3 weeks

hey T1, are you suggesting one of those little prefilters on the input pipe or a whole separate internal?