Choosing A New Filter......

[Mr Melt]

Allright lads.

By God, I have you all tortured with my endless questioning. I have got my hands on bogwood, fixed the lights on the aquarium and everythings sorted.

Now as I wait for the substrate to arrive I need to make a choice: what filter do I opt for?

I was advised by my LFS to buy an external filter over an internal; when I asked, they recommended an Eheim Classic 2213 (350 Litres) for around £55 locally.

I'm not too sure on what filter would be best to be honest - 2 or 3 things are important for me; low noise (so I can sleep at night without the thing roaring constantly), good filtration and maybe a possible air valve or something similar to add a bubble effect (much like your standard airstone).

The airvalve is optional for me of course, but I AM looking for the best filter for value of money as well like......

If its any help, my tanks a Juwel Rio 180, and I am using silver sand as a substrate.....

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Yeh the eheim is a good choice as is the Fluval 205. Can pick those up on eBay second had for £30-40. New on the Internet £60ish. I'm sure others can help a little more

 

[Mr Melt]

Yeh the eheim is a good choice as is the Fluval 205. Can pick those up on eBay second had for £30-40. New on the Internet £60ish. I'm sure others can help a little more

Is it quiet?

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Very quiet.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

fluval 05's are well know to leak prob stay clear, you could go All pond Soulutions 1000EF £45 1000 liters per hour, mines silent as can be no problems of leaks so far. The Eheim Classic 2213 is rated at 250L max btw not 350 but a good choice

 

[Mr Melt]

fluval 05's are well know to leak prob stay clear, you could go All pond Soulutions 1000EF £45 1000 liters per hour, mines silent as can be no problems of leaks so far. The Eheim Classic 2213 is rated at 250L max btw not 350 but a good choice

Its for my Juwel Rio 180, so the Eheim Classic 2213 should be more than adequate regardless (especially with a sand substrate) =P

 

[KISSfn]

My Eheim is so quiet that if the outflow tube wasn't aimed high to agitate the surface, I could not tell it was on!

 

[mattlee]

rena XP3 over the eheim all day. eheim 2213/15/17 are constantly getting trapped air inside the canister and no matter how much you tilt the dam things it never all comes out. my washing machine is quieter.........

wouldnt trust the build quality of the all pond solutions. after hearing many poor reports of their external filters and seeing a recent topic on here about one of their tanks it seems the build quality and workmanship on these too is very poor.

 

[Tizer]

I have a fluval 305 for my rio 240 tank, never leaks, never has leaked and if it does, its only ever a £5 "rubber band" seal that needs replacing. I'd recommend getting the 305 instead of a 205, it will give you that extra bit of filtration per hour, which will handle a little over stocking if you choose to. However, the only negative point about them is the tubing, its ribbed and when i came to look at doing Co2 it kinda prevented me looking at "inline" reactors. Not a biggy really though! Good bit of kit, pretty quiet too.

 

[StandbySetting]

If it were me I'd go for a filter capable of shifting 1500-1800 LPH, that gives you lots of scope for future use especially if you choose to go for a planted set up.

 

[leecasey]

I recommend the APS filters. Yes their pipe work is a bit brittle and can easily snap when assembling, however I told them I snapped it and they sent me a complete set of replacement pipes free of charge, next day delivery. Value for money you can't beat them. The actual canister is good built quality in my opinion. just the trays and pipes a bit flimsy but its not a problem in my opinion.

 

[Crazy-Fish-Man]

I have 2 Fluval 205s. One for my 125L tropical and the other for my 90L marine.

Highly recommended. Very quiet, good prices if you shop about and lots of media choice. Comes with a good manual and instructional DVD.