Advice Needed On What Filter.

[herald]

Hi all

I have got a Jewul Vision 180. Love the tank, especially the bow front but not that happy with the internal filter. It seems to work well enough but I think it spoils the look, big box in the corner.

I have read on here that its easy enough to remove, so no probs there. But a bit of advice needed on what filter to replace it with. I want to go for an external filter so its all out of sight in the cabinet.

My local shop stocks Fluval and Tetratec Filters. I was looking to get either the Fluval 205 or the Tetratec EX700.

Has anyone had any experience of these and are they any good

Also the heater that is supplied with the jewul filter clips to the edge of the filter (the top isnt submerged), can I use this in the conventional way and stick it to the tank glass, completely submerging it.

Cheers

John

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the criteria for a filter is to look for something that gives 5x tank turnover

so your tank is 190litres you times that by 5 to get 950, this is the litres per hour that you're looking for. every filter will give a rating for theirs.

now remember manufacturers ratings are much like a car manufacturer giving you the miles per gallon that they're car can do. the rating is the maximum possible, downhill in the car with a tailwind and no luggage!

So 950lph is the absolute minimum you should look for, if you can get to 1200lph or something like that it would be best.

the ex700 does 700lph so that's not gonna be enough cop, i can't remember what the 205 is off the top of my head but i think that's on the light side too.

the tetratec filters are very good and also very good value, i think there's an ex1200 which will be 1200lph so that would be a good choice for you.

 

[herald]

Thanks for that. The other option was Eheim Filter but my LFS doesnt stock them so it would have to be mail ordered. I like the idea of a spray bar with the Eheim but I suppose you could set that up with any filter. Any way thanks and I will have to have a look around.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the tetratec that i have came with a spraybar as standard, assume they all do

eheims are very good but are more expensive, if you can afford it then go for it, if you can't then the tetratec's are your best affordable alternative IMHO

 

[Davo86]

Agreed something like the Tetratec EX1200 would be your best bet and if you have a look online you can usually pick one up for about £65,
which is a bargain considering the EX700 is usually sold for around £60.

As for Quality they beat Fluvals hands down

 

[raptorrex]

I'd go for the 1200, as the real flow rate of the 700 is around 350lph. even the 1200 only manages 600lph.

 

[herald]

Many Thanks. It looks like its the Tetratec 1200 for me then. Will be going out this afternoon and spending me cash ha ha

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I agree with this discussion. I did some research here early on and the 5x recommendations helped me to not get something that would have been to weak in terms of flow rate. Since then I've become more aware of how many of the planted tank enthusiasts like to run filters that do 10x turnover in order to better ensure that mild pockets of ammonia are flushed out more thoroughly. I was also surprised that 5x was not as powerful seeming as I originally thought it would be. So I've since come to feel that anywhere in the range between 5x and 10x is much more reasonable than I originally thought, with 10x not being so "way out" as I originally imagined.

You are already making the most important decision by deciding to go with a large external cannister. Any of those will have much greater media volume than an HOB or internal usually, and more media volume is a major help. I agree with the "quality" comments of the cannisters mentioned, but its also important for people reading this to understand that models from any of the companies can often work well, given care and patience and all of them have fans on TFF. I agree that you'd want to jump up to the EX1200 over the EX700, so that your flow rate is up there higher. Another good piece of equipment to look at would be the Eheim Pro2 2028, which I think would probably pump in a comparable manner to the EX1200. Which one would be the quietest or last the longest would probably be a hard call.

Make sure you discuss your media choices to go in the trays!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[herald]

Right still deep in thought ha ha. Has anyone had any experience of the Eheim ecco pro series

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes, the ecco's are the only eheims that are not recommended, they are cheap for a reason, build quality is poor.

the tetratec would be better for your money than an ecco, any other range of eheim would be better if your budget will stretch that far.

 

[herald]

Ok so the ecco is out. What about the Eheim Classic series

 

[raptorrex]

Ok so the ecco is out. What about the Eheim Classic series

yeh, the Classic 2250 will pump 1200lph, roughly 900lph (real) bit on the pricey side. but it gives option to upgrade the pump and add extra media volume too. the 2260 pumps 2200lph roughly 1800lph (real). there are two, nice 2260's on ebay at the moment.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree, the ecco series is out. Its the classic series, the Pro II series or the TetraTecs to focus on. Do not underestimate how good the TetraTecs are, we've even been getting good reports from MW on them, in addition to rabbut liking them for a long time. I was pretty extreme about wanting silence and my Eheim Pro lived up to that reputation but the TT's might be just as good really, the longer term judgements are just still not all there for them as they are a newer company.

~~waterdrop~~