External Filters....need Some Questions Answered.

[Lazerus]

Hi all….

Ok, I was in my LFS the other day and I was looking at external filters. I have an 84L tank.

I saw two brands…Fluval 105 (Up to 100L) & Tetratech EX600 (60-120L) Now, they are pricey at around €135 for the Tetratech and Fluval was €105 so it’s not an impulse buy by any means!

But the lad in the shop pointed out to me that the Fluval 205 (Up to 200L) was on sale at €85, which is actually a good deal from what I can see.

He said that if he had my tank, this is the one he would buy anyway, as it’s always better to have more filtration.

So, my questions are, is this statement true? I can see what he means by more filteration, but how would this work in my 84L tank? It it too much?

Would it be too powerful?

How do I add my mature media to it? Not really sure how it all works.

Also If anyone has any opinion on it....Which brand is the better of the two...Fluval or Tetratech?

Many thanks!

Edited for typo!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok firstly, never ever ever ever ever buy a fluval filter, they are really unreliable and break all the time. teh tetratec represents much better value for money.

you want a good reliable filter then ask people what filters they have that have been running for 10 years + they'll all be Eheims. But they do cost more than the tetratec's, the tetratec's are fairly new, only been going for a few years so people aren't reporting that level of longevity yet simply because no one's had one that long. weather they stand the test of time we'll have to wait and see!

ignore the manufacturers recommended tank sizes, look at litres per hour, and remember that the litres per hour is optimal. It's like when you buy a car and they give you the mpg, it's always downhill with no luggage and a tailwind! so you can knock maybe 20% (not exact) off the lph given but you want to aim for 5x turnover.

so on your tank you need 84l x 5 = 420lph, so for a manufacturers dodgy lph ratings look for around 500lph.

so the tetratec ex600 which claims to give 600lph would probably give a good level of filtration for your tank but not overkill.

 

[Fisses]

ok firstly, never ever ever ever ever buy a fluval filter, they are really unreliable and break all the time. teh tetratec represents much better value for money

I went and bought a fluval

i thought they was a good make?

 

[JenCliBee]

ok firstly, never ever ever ever ever buy a fluval filter, they are really unreliable and break all the time. teh tetratec represents much better value for money

I went and bought a fluval

i thought they was a good make?

tbh m8 ppl keep constantly slagging fluvals down and i upto now havent had a simgle problem with them i have a old 104 external which i think is a fair few years old with not even so much as an inkling of a leak on the other had ive had various tetratec externals and had nothink but problems... for some 1 to say dont buy a fluval external becasue a few ppl have had problems with them is a joke the fluval has warrenty just like the rest of the external so if u do have a problem they will sort it if ur like me u will be constantly checking tanks anyways so if a problem arises then it can soon be rectified ive always put my externals in a bucket/bowl anyways no matter wot the brand just 2 make sure if there is a chance of a leak then it will just be in a container instesd of all over the floor


jen

 

[shaz-killie]

I've got 7 fluval filters only one external though and none of them have ever broke, however I now need to replace my ehiem internal as thats playing up and only works sometimes and its the youngest filter. personally I'd buy tetratec, fluval or ehiem.

My next internal will prob be a tetratec or ehiem though.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i've had quite a few fluval's over the years, every one has lasted between 1 and 3 years then started having problems. i've had them dump the contents of the tank all over the floor, completely clog up and loose all flow overnight, all sorts of problems.

Just my experiences though!

 

[JenCliBee]

i've had quite a few fluval's over the years, every one has lasted between 1 and 3 years then started having problems. i've had them dump the contents of the tank all over the floor, completely clog up and loose all flow overnight, all sorts of problems.

Just my experiences though!

yep thats just my point exactly thats ur experiences my experiences with tetratec are just as bad but i would still recommended them just becasue i put it down 2 bad luck on my behalf also had a eheim leak everywhere aswell but again its the unluckiness hence y i dont think its fair 2 slag a particular brand off for personal experiences for me fluval have been by far the best and most reliable upto now

 

[8inary]

in regard Miss Wiggle's comments, im sure fluval's legal dept would like to see what you have said! (silly comment really miss!)

i and several of my friends, run fluval fx5 and have done since they first came out, without a single issue, it is a great
filter and certainly does a grand job at clearing any tank. Great choice.

I have had friends who swapped out their ehiems due to issues and got the fx5 and havent looked back!

Other filters such as ehiem are better made, and are supported better in regard to parts, however are more expensive.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

right, i'm really not going to get into an argument over fluval's, pop over to the hardware section of the forum and see how many people agree with me if you're really that bothered.

 

[shaz-killie]

must admit after joining this site it has put me off of buying fluval as my main external again even though my 104 has run faultlessly for years. maybe the faults started in later models I don't know but it is one of the reasons I'll not be replacing fluval with fluval in my big tank. smaller tanks I don't mind as I have plenty of spare filters

 

[8inary]

Miss - then dont make such sweeping statements like that - many people in this forum have fluvals, and are very happy with them, seeing someone like yourself who is an experience poster in the forum, should know better!

sadly, its people like Miss, who actually put others off from buying fluval by making such comments, quite unfair really, as they are a good filter

 

[rabbut]

Realy, IMO, Miss Wiggle's comments are justifyed. I've had the same issues with them, and works seem to die more often than they should also.

TBH, the only failures I have heard of fron Tetratec, have either been user induced (dropping, applying brute force, not loobing the seals e.t.c) or from ONE batch of EX1200's that went out with dodgy motor units. With Fluvals, I hear loads of people that have given them excellent treatment report pretty much every failure under the sun. Some may argue that this is because Fluval are more popular. TBH, I know as many Fluval users as I do Tetratec's and I always hear of Fluval's failing before time, and rarely hear of issues from Tetratec users

Fluval internals are another matter, the best on the market. Why couldn't they put the same quality into their exturnals?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[shaz-killie]

lets hope your right hun as I think i'll be going do the tertatec route. I'm glad the majority of my fluvals are internals then and would then make sense why I haven't had any issues

 

[8inary]

'justified' - to be honest, it isnt, it is clearly a sweeping statement on all fluvals being cr£$ is what you two are saying, unfortunately, i have seen this topic many times in this forum, and it still gets the old fluval -v- ehiem war going every time.

whilst i appreciate that some people may get one filter and love it, and another may hate it, but to come out and say they are all bad is to be fair stupid. thats like saying ok i hate a french person, therefore all french people i hate - or you didnt like a certain flavour of ice-cream, therefore all of them is bad.

i know people will stick with what they like regardless, me, well, im with the fx5 - ive had various filters before, including ehiems, however the fx5 has done a great job for me, they are not as well built as the ehiems, nor is there the range of parts - but for what i paid, i really cannot complain

 

[rabbut]

If the FX5 is the only Fluval you have had, I'm not supprised it's not given issues yet. It's not quite got the the 3 year mark at which IME at least, is where Fluvals typically start to fail

To avoid making a sweeping comment, the FX5 has thus far appeard to be reasonably OK for reliability, with only a few motor failures. This said, this was the case for the 04 series and 05 series at this point, and the 04's were s?#!, and the 05's are now starting to fail like flies hit by fly spray if work's customers make a representative sample. Granted, not all will die, but if the 05's go the same way as the 04's, most will... FX5, well, we'll wait and see. For the price of it, 8inary has a point, they are basically a disposable filter... You don't mind if they fail just outside warrenty, as they weren't that expencive anyway. Eheims run far longer than Fluvals, it's been shown in prictice time and again, and you save money through buying an Eheim, as you don't have to buy 3 Fluvals in the 10 yours you run the filter for, the origional will still be doing it's job if you do go Eheim

To avoid this becomming an Eheim vs Fluval war, for what it's worth, Rena are good also in my limited experience with them. Tetratec's if they carry on the way they are going should be good also, but haven't been about long enough to tell long-term realy.

All the best
Rabbut